Set in the late '80s and early '90s, In the Middle by Zelmer Wilson chronicles the teenage years of Miller, a bright but troubled kid living in Arizona with his father, an Army veteran and his stepmother, Alma, a woman he's secretly attracted to.

A quiet, pimply-faced seventh grader with a troubled past (he's spent time in a juvenile hall) Miller has a difficult time making friends until the next year when he meets Ray and Eli. During the next couple of years, Miller's relationship with his father grows more strained as he tries to keep his attraction for his stepmother carefully hidden. It isn't until he goes back South to visit her mother that he realizes that he wants to become a writer. Even though his attraction to his stepmother seems to be the main premise, it actually doesn't feature that prominently, more of an undercurrent as he encounters different girls. In fact it seems that it is mostly his relationships with the various girls in his life that provide the catalyst for his growth and change.

When I first read the blurb for In the Middle the premise sounded interesting and it wound up being a fairly easy read that did not disappoint. Since it's literary fiction, it has an almost memoir feel to it (White Teeth by Zadie Smith quickly comes to mind) and I couldn't help but wonder how similar Miller was to the author, Mr. Wilson. Of course that merely points to good writing and how realistically Miller was portrayed.