Enter Tom (Kestrel) - Softcover

June Oldham

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0670810002 ISBN 13: 9780670810000

Publisher: Viking UK Juv., 1981

Synopsis

Tom develops a crush on the new physic teacher, Miss Faulkner, and it soon leads him to unexpected difficulties

About this title

From School Library Journal:

Grade 7-12-- In this coming-of-age novel, 17-year-old Tom Taylor falls madly in love with his beautiful new physics teacher. He plots various ways to meet and impress Jonquil Faulkner, none of which work, as several humorous encounters ensue. Jonquil barely notices that Tom exists, while classmate Kate develops a crush on him. Tom, Kate, and several other students' relationships are well developed. Tom begins to realize that his infatuation with Jonquil is futile, and he really likes Kate, but she has begun to date someone else and thinks she is pregnant. In the end all turns out well. The story line is believable, but very British, and sentence structure is at times very difficult. The character of Tom is not as understandable as is the character of Alan in John Rowe Townsend's Downstream (Lippincott, 1987). Both authors are British, but Townsend writes in a more universal and understandable fashion. --Kenneth E. Kowen, Atascocita Middle School Library, Humble, TX
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Publishers Weekly:

Set in the North Country of England, this novel covers a few of the most con fusing weeks of Tom Taylor's young life. Tom is a Sixth Former, gettng ready to apply for college, and his sort- of love story begins when he meets Miss Faulkner, the new physics teach er. He finds himself unable to breathe properly in her presence. It's the kind of crush that renders him unable to do his schoolwork or understand his friends, and it lands him into fix after fix. The plot defies easy encapsulation, but Tom's relationships with his femi nist mother, the little girl he baby-sits and his schoolmates are quirky and engrossing. Oldham's intelligent, fun ny style calls to mind the films of Bill Forsyth (Local Hero) and a lightheart ed K. M. Peyton. Tom's painful pursuit of Miss Faulkner is better than farce-- it's true-blue adolescence and readers of all ages will recognize it with a pang. Ages 12-up.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Viking UK Juv.
• Publication date: 1981
• ISBN 10: 0670810002
• ISBN 13: 9780670810000
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 1