Waiting on Wednesday: Labor Day

I am so excited for the summer season of books to be released. Can't wait for the new releases by some of my faves: Christina Baker Kline, Elin Hilderbrand, Patti Callahan Henry, Jennifer Weiner, Julie Buxbaum.

The forthcoming book I am highlighting this week is Labor Day by Joyce Maynard. It will be available July 28.  

I recently read Maynard's The Usual Rules (another book with an adolescent main character) and absolutely adored the book.  After some research on Maynard I realized I had read and owned her other YA book (The Cloud Chamber) as well. Maynard tackles adolescent issues so adeptly and compellingly.

Amazon's write up for Labor Day below:

With the end of summer closing in and a steamy Labor Day weekend looming in the town of Holton Mills, New Hampshire, thirteen-year-old Henry—lonely, friendless, not too good at sports—spends most of his time watching television, reading, and daydreaming about the soft skin and budding bodies of his female classmates. For company Henry has his long-divorced mother, Adele—a onetime dancer whose summer project was to teach him how to foxtrot; his hamster, Joe; and awkward Saturday-night outings to Friendly's with his estranged father and new stepfamily. As much as he tries, Henry knows that even with his jokes and his "Husband for a Day" coupon, he still can't make his emotionally fragile mother happy. Adele has a secret that makes it hard for her to leave their house, and seems to possess an irreparably broken heart.

But all that changes on the Thursday before Labor Day, when a mysterious bleeding man named Frank approaches Henry and asks for a hand. Over the next five days, Henry will learn some of life's most valuable lessons: how to throw a baseball, the secret to perfect piecrust, the breathless pain of jealousy, the power of betrayal, and the importance of putting others—especially those we love—above ourselves. And the knowledge that real love is worth waiting for.