The Tribes of Palos Verdes: A Novel

by Joy Nicholson

In The Tribes of Palos Verdes  by Joy Nicholson, Medina Mason is a defiant, awkward newcomer to the affluent beach community of Palos Verdes, California. As her parents' marriage disintegrates and her beloved brother falls prey to the temptations of drugs and the lunacy of their mother, Medina surfs to survive, finding a bitter solace in the rough comfort of the waves. This is the moving story of growing up "different," of the love between siblings, and of one girl's power to save herself.

Genres: Fiction, Young Adult, Coming Of Age, Novels, Contemporary, Literary Fiction, Womens

222 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[Kelly (and the Book Boar) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Find all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/

“Surfers live by the rules of the wind and moon, because the wind controls how big the waves are, while the moon pulls the tide back and forth like a puppet on a string.”



This might have possibly earned its fifth star for being a “right place at the right time” kind of read, but I can’t imagine a universe where it would have scored less than four from me. If you know me (and Mitchell), you are aware that we enjoy a little . . . okay a lot of despair when it comes to some of our fave reads. What can I say????



The Tribes of Palos Verdes first appeared on my radar on one of those “books that will soon be a movie” lists that I am addicted to. I immediately wanted to read it simply for the cover . . .



But alas, the library didn’t have it. When the movie trailer popped up as an advertisement over on the Faceplace, I went looking to the library once again. I even gave up one of my seemingly endless porny book requests in order to beg them to buy this one. (I’m pretty sure they bought it simply to encourage me to not be such a perv all the time.)

The Tribes of Palos Verdes delivered misery in spades. Told from 15-year old Medina’s perspective, this is the story of what happens when her family transplants itself from the Midwest to an exclusive Palos Verdes neighborhood. A place filled with humble abodes such as the following and Average Joe types of neighbors like Donald Trump and the missus . . . . .



From a philandering father to a mentally unstable mother to a brother who attempts to fade into the woodwork via drugs to her own sad tale of being used (and abused), this story pulled no punches. I am always appreciative of authors who don’t feel the need to waste words, and Joy Nicholson delivers a real wallop here in barely over 200 pages. I also appreciate genre benders and The Tribes of Palos Verdes fits that bill as well as it appears it was originally released as an adult novel, but will definitely find its own tribe with older teens who like their fiction a little gritty.

Sidenote about the film: If Jennifer Garner can pull off this role I will eat my hat.

[Alisha Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you look at cover of the hardcover version of The Tribes of Palos Verdes you would probably think that it's about a girl who surfs with guys. Yes, there are guys in this book and yes, the main character, Medina, does surf, it goes much more deeper than that. Medina uses surfing as an outlet to escape the pain she feels and the horror of her home life.

Throughout the book, you see Medina painfully coming of age while dealing with drugs, sex, and being the only female surfer in her town. The dysfunction in the family is excellently portrayed. Medina's father is having countless affairs and due to this her mother's eating herself to death and has a weird obsession with Medina's twin brother Jim. Medina feels unloved and unappreciated by everyone except Jim. As much as this book is about Medina coming of age, it's also a poignant story about the love that siblings have for one another.

The Tribes of Palos Verdes is for anyone who always felt like they didn't fit in to one group. You have a heroine who you feel sympathy for and want her to come out on top. Medina remains strong despite being bullied by her peers and her mother. The Tribes of Palos Verdes was a beautiful and poignant coming of age story. It was gritty, real, and, yes, depressing. It was an extremely quick read and it is highly recommended.

[Jenneffer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this up from a free shelf in a doctor's office. From the cover, and the jacket description, it seemed like it would be an easy beach read. How pleasantly surprised i was to discover a beautiful coming of age novel to rival the likes of 'the outsiders' or 'the heart is a lonely hunter.' That is to say, quality, lasting and moving.

The protagonist uses surfing as a coping mechanism for her tumultuous surroundings, and i had just taken my first surfing lesson when i read this book. You could call it kismet or chance that we found each other, but either way, i am glad we did.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

One evening I was drawn to a quiet character driven movie with Jennifer Garner and Cody Fern. As with more recurring frequency, the films I enjoy most turn out to be based on novels. This is one. The book flows more smoothly and in chronological order. Set in the wealthy beach community of Palos Verdes California; the story is told though the young female Medina Mason. At times gawky, others displaying a brave defiance; she thrives. He brother however falls to the temptations of drugs. It's a powerful, emotional, inspirational story of love between siblings within a family torn apart by divorce. An impressive debut with beautiful prose and compelling characters.

[Moon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Emotional incest is a real thing that happens and this book bummed me out.

I like the way it was written. The emotional distance the main character keeps from the story hits all that much more.

Good story I just was not in the right head space for this much sadness. Family trauma always hits me the hardest. I hated the emotional dependency the adults had on literal children.

[Shannon Valdes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was surprised to read some of the negative reviews on here because although it was a terribly sad book, I believe it was very beautifully written. "The water under my house shimmered like blood and glitter." I already want to read this book again.

[Becca · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have been recommending this to a lot of people lately, so I decided to give it another read to make sure it merits my praise. I have demoted it a star and now feel too hesitant to actually RECOMMEND it to anyone. It is well written, to be sure, but it is hardly tame in its presentation of this girl's sexual life.

An insightful book reflecting some interesting struggles that teen girls are facing, especially in the materialistic climate of coastal Southern California. The heroine of this novel, Medina Mason, struggles with her parents' divorce, her brother's growing drug problem, and her own mistakes as she tries to find a place in her peer group. It's scary to take this journey with her as you repeatedly feel your heart break with hers. This is well-written and fun/interesting journey. Unlike any other adolescent novel I've read. Deals honestly and sincerely with troubling issues.

To be fair, Nicholson uses Medina Mason's sexual mistakes as a yardstick by which to measure the character's mental stability as the world around her falls apart. But, though this chronicles Medina's life ages 13-16, I think it would take the maturity of an older high school student at least to pick up on that subtle difference between what Medina Mason does to feel better about herself, and what behavior is self-destructive in its indulgence. The sometimes explicit tellings of her encounters are not easy to digest, but they are not meant to be--Medina Mason does not live in a carefully sheltered environment. Actually makes me wonder why being 'sheltered' is considered such a horrible thing in the first place.

[Lennie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Medina Mason is a teenager living in the well-to-do neighborhood of Palos Verdes. Her father is a heart surgeon to the stars in Beverly Hills and her mother is a former model. She has a twin brother named Jim who is her best friend. They all live in a mansion that sits close to the shore in the Lunada Bay area but despite living a privileged life, things aren’t going so well for Medina. She has a hard time being accepted by her peers, her relationship with her mother is strained and her parents are having marital problems. Luckily for her, surfing offers an escape from all her problems. Sometimes surfing can be a religious experience and other times its pure domination like when she catches the perfect wave…the tube wave that is high, fast, and shaped like a cave. If she couldn’t surf she would die. The Tribes of Palos Verdes is a coming-of- age story about a girl who is struggling to find her identity and experiments with sex and drugs while figuring out who she is trying to become.

I live in a beach community not too far from Palos Verdes so it was a thrill for me to read a book in which the setting was close to home. I enjoyed this story and found Medina Mason to be a likeable character. She always presented herself as a strong person but I think deep down inside, she was like all other teenagers, and just wanted to be accepted. Because she never really fit in with the other “cliques”…like the popular” towel” girls who sunbathed on expensive Bill Blass towels or the “Bayboys” who surfed in the Lunada Bay, she formed her own. She considered her and her brother to be their own “tribe” and in a way this strengthens their relationship so they always have each other to lean on when life gets difficult. I give this book four stars.

[Dana Al-Basha | دانة الباشا]

After watching the movie yesterday I thought to myself there must be a book... a memoir, and I was right there is a book! The movie was so sad and heartbreaking and so accurate and true in describing the falling family dynamic after and during a divorce and it's effect on the couple and on the children, and how much children suffer during the ordeal and sometimes they have to pull the family together and act like grownups. It's so sad.

[Maddie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Is it possible to give a book 0 stars? I honestly wish I had never read this stupid book. It was such a time-waster, all of the characters were so freaking dumb and I hated all of them, every single one. Not any of them had any redeeming qualities. I didn't get inside the heads of any of the characters, I feel like their feelings weren't described, only the outside of them. Or if they were I just couldn't relate because the story was just so crazy. I can't understand why the mother kept on eating, that was never explained. Something else that was never explained was why Jim got so crazy and started hurting Medina at times. Also why Medina became such a slut. And the casual use of hard drugs in this book in insane. I just hated everything about it. Never read this.

[Helena Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this from a student. Female surfer--what's not to love!?!?!

Now that I've finished it, this is actually a much darker novel than I expected when I heard the protagonist was a female surfer. A theme of the book, sadly, is that a person cannot save anyone but themselves, no matter how much they may love or want to save another. The protagonist values her independence, and as a result she is willing to save herself even if the choices she makes are not popular with her family, her community, etc.

[Scott Duffin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm looking forward to reading the book. I grew up in Palos Verdes and actually knew some of people which this book is based on.

[gladys · Rating 3 out of 5]

oof this one hurt.

[Tay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Exhilarating and excruciating. Narrator Medina (twin of Jim) pushes through the boys club with her brother's help to become an athletic surfer. The author brings to life all of the space surrounding the characters and the flow of energy--both invigorating and corrupting. Young adult surfing culture is juxtaposed with the twins' dueling, divorcing parents who spawn alienation, enmeshment, rejection, and isolation in their children. To be honest, I found myself needing emotional breaks when reading because of the abuse and neglect suffered by the teenagers. I kept going, though, because I admired character Medina's drive and commitment to her sport and to her brother.

[Megan Mcewen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not as trashy as I was hoping it would be, but not as deep as she probably hoped it would be.

[kw · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book shaped my personality more than I’d like to admit

[Anna Elena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! Shit! I am! Blown away!

Okay. So. At first I found it hard to separate the movie from the book, bc I watched the movie not long ago and loved it so much I ordered the book that night. But after a while the book really took me in and the only thing that stuck with me were the actors, which was fine.

In the first few pages, I wasn’t a fan of the structure. It felt choppy and like a weird stream of consciousness, like a scrapbook of random thoughts and experiences. But later I really came to love this style. I like following Medina’s train of thought and her small town anecdotes, they were really internal and I felt like I saw through her eyes.

God damn this book is sad. It’s happy and funny at times and so, so horribly gripping. I think it kind of triggered me because those tense family dynamics are so familiar to me. The mother’s character - you understand her and why she is the way she is, but you hate her for it. I hated her guts but I understood her, and I get the point. I really felt Jim the whole way through. This entire book is a GREAT encapsulation of complex, difficult emotions wrapped up in one - resentment, family ties, love, hatred, resignation.

I loved this book. It took me in and spat me back out (is it cringe to say like a wave?)

[Erica Lyn Burden · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was recommended by an IG female surfing group and I expected something light-hearted. I've never been so glad to be disappointed.
Those of us who grew up in abusive homes will recognize the struggles of the main character, Medina. Her anguish as the scapegoat and the horror at watching her twin brother destruct under her family's shadow are described in little details. Death by tiny cuts. The writing style that slowly reveals the damages done works perfectly for that, and more perfectly still for the artful descriptions of waves, surf wax on boards, and even the sickly smell of red tide.
I didn't know I was going to see reflections of myself, my brother, my family, or the threads of boarding that aided in our escape from our home. I'm glad I did. I recommend this book for anyone, it's intentional, it's powerful. But I especially recommend it for those who have or still are growing up in the hell created by disordered parents.

"I'm going to surf until I die."

*I won't remove a star for this, but the fat-phobia stuff is rampant in this book. It's almost a lazy depiction of mother's loss of control. I also found myself wishing this wasn't a rich person's narrative, because the other issues in the book are so relatable that the affluence air almost feels off*

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this book up at the library simply because the title caught my eye. I didn't really know anything about it or the author and decided to give it a shot.

I read the whole thing in one sitting and it was a surprisingly decent, but somewhat twisted story. It's about a very dysfunctional family in southern California. The narrator is a 14/15 year old female who turns to surfing as a way of coping with her problems. Her twin brother, on the other hand, tries to be the "good guy" and finds that he has a really difficult time dealing and eventually turns to drugs. The story's much more complicated than that but that's kind of the gist of it. I felt like at times it was incredibly realistic. At other times not so much. The mother was very clearly a psycho but the father seemed a bit too clueless also.

I don't know, overall it was a good read and I'd recommend it but it's not necessarily something I'd go out of my way to recommend either.

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

A depressing coming-of-age story about a young girl who is an outlier in her affluent LA suburb, and her efforts to survive when her family melts down around her. I'll add that Palos Verdes is my home town, and the editor of this book really should have hired a fact-checker. I found it hard to believe the author had actually lived there bc there were so many errors in geography etc. For me, this was highly distracting from the storyline, which was actually quite good.

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wasn't sure I was going to finish this one at the beginning, didn't care for the format. It was almost as if the character Medina Mason was writing into a journal, but I got hooked on the story and was surprised by the ending. I understand this was made into a movie in 2017 with Jennifer Garner, so I'm also surprised that there was not more hype about the movie, but I do plan to watch it. I just can't see Jennifer Garner playing the part of the crazy mom Sandy Mason.

[Kristina · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a quick read, and something I picked up on a whim, but also because the audiobook was read by Jorjeana Marie, my absolute favorite narrator for audiobooks. Coming of age story that is emotional, sweet, but also sometimes painful to listen, in the end I loved the character, her strength and determination to do what she loves.

[Lara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember that summer by this book...vicariously living the life of a surfer girl.

[Kara · Rating 2 out of 5]

This had the potential to be really good, but was too short to develop the characters and story. The ending was rushed and maybe too convenient.

[Realini Ionescu · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Tribes of Palos Verdes, screenplay by Karen Croner, based on book by Joy Nicholson


The Tribes of Palos Verdes is an entertaining motion picture, although the viewers and the critics are right when they do not rate this offering very highly, for most of the story is familiar and it seems little- if anything- is new in this narrative.

The Masons move from- was it Minnesota?- to the beautiful, sunny, resplendent, splendid, radiant, luminous Palos Verdes, that seems as close as a land can get to a Paradise on Earth.
One of the main benefits that can be extracted from this feature is that it demonstrates the Psychology principle of Hedonic Adaptation and the falseness of the illusory California Myth, whereby people think that if they would only move to California, they would become the happiest humans on earth.

The reality- like the scenario in The Tribes of Palos Verdes- is different and the research shows that once people settle in California- and for that matter in almost any other place: a paradisiac Caribbean island, Bucharest, whatever- they Adapt to the sun, the sand, spectacular palm trees and mesmerizing ocean and start complaining about pollution, traffic jams, the severe drought and more.
Medina Mason aka Maika Monroe is the main character of this film, the daughter of Sandy and Phil, but most attached to her brother, Jim Mason, who is the archetypal teenager confronting issues like drug addiction, difficulty in dealing with drama that takes place in the family.

Jim Mason is a talented, appreciated doctor who loves it in California; he makes a lot of money, enjoys membership in an exclusive club, plays tennis and would slowly move away from his wife and family.
Sandy Mason aka Jennifer Garner is not just disappointed with Palos Verdes, but she experiences more than the aforementioned Hedonic Adaptation and her mental health is deteriorating, in part because of her husband’s attitude, but there is also a feeling that maybe it was Sandy, with her outré behavior that encouraged the spouse to look for solace in the arms of another woman.

Jim Mason is having an affair with Ava aka Alicia Silverstone and he is making a strange, inappropriate move when he talks to his daughter and asks her support in breaking the news of the upcoming separation to her mother.

The man even says that we are maybe not meant to live with the same person for the entire life- and those who experience serious marital trouble would agree with him- and explains that his partner has a son and he wants Medina to meet with them.
The fact that the girl keeps in contact with her father makes her a “bête noire” in the eyes of her mother and brother, the latter even punches his parent when the family conflict reaches a nadir and he is totally on the side of the wife in this terrible fight.

Sandy has a few breakdowns, tries to keep the father of the children within their household, resorting to humble begging and violent hatred in turn, talking about the “twenty years she fucked him”, the viciousness of this affair and the evident absurdity of the move all the way to California, to which the husband replies that she wanted to have a Mercedes and a good life.
In one other scene, the infuriated, abandoned wife drives to the club, where her spouse is playing double tennis, in the same team with Ava, his new partner, and the angry woman is shouting on the field, attracting the attention of the players and all the nearby onlookers, using very harsh words for the “despicable „woman who will see that she is just one in a long line of adventures…

Medina has lunch with her father, Ava and her son, Adrian, who is an interesting activist, a lover of animals who would later take the protagonist to the beach, where seals are released back into the sea, after having been kept for some months and fed enough to face life in the wild again.
After an unhappy sexual encounter, very close to a rape, in the camper of a surfer, the rapprochement with Adrian is much better; the two have a good chemistry and rapport, even if in a bizarre way, the closeness with the brother is the one that would continue, when all others are over.

Medina accuses her mother and says that she exaggerates in her closeness to Jim, who is treated like a husband, in what looks indeed too much like an embarrassing, if not outright incestuous, Oedipal relationship, but in her turn, the sister appears to be too close to her brother.
Jim runs into trouble because of his use of drugs, pills that he takes and those bring him on a hospital bed, in very serious condition and furthermore, suspected to be the arsonist responsible for the burning down of houses in the neighborhood, after he uses flares to incendiary effect at his own home.

In other words, the narrative of the film offers twists and surprises, but the overall effect is not enough to make this a memorable motion picture that would stay with you for long…
Or maybe it will…

[Pauli · Rating 3 out of 5]

The novel “the Tribes of Palos Verdes”, written by Joy Nicholson, published in 1997, deals with the difficulties of growing up in an unstable family and trying to fit in in a new environment.
The Masons move from Michigan to an exclusive coastal town in California. Phil, the father, hopes to improve his career as a cardiologist there. The mother Sandy, an ex-model, is mentally unstable and a pathological overeater. The 14-year old twins Medina and Jim are very close but deal with the new situation differently. Jim adapts to the new environment and becomes part of the popular kids. Medina is bullied by her classmates and struggles to fit in.
When the father moves out and the parents get divorced, the situation at home exacerbates. The mother does not only praise Jim to the skies and emotionally manipulates him against his father, but she also does not seem to care about her daughter at all.
Surfing, for Medina, is the only escape from her pain of feeling unloved, from the problems at home and from the pressure of the superficial society she lives in. Jim, who seems to enjoy the attention of his mother at the beginning, also struggles to cope with the situation and escapes into drugs.
The novel was darker than I thought I would be. I was shocked, confused, and angry about the characters during my reading journey. Because the story is told by Medina as a first-person narrator, the reader can understand her thoughts and inner conflicts very well. During the novel you can see the protagonist facing all her problems, challenges, and conflicts, from trying to find her place in the materialistic and superficial society, to seeing her family breaking apart and losing her most-loved person.
I am lucky enough to never have been in the situation Medina is in. This sometimes makes it hard to identify with her and the other main characters.
Although the novel has no tension and I often could not relate to the characters, it is thought-provoking and deals with important topics. I give the novel 3 out of 5 stars.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. I've put off writing a review about this, because I like literally didn't feel anything while reading it lol. Usually I either really like a book or I have reasons why I didn't like it, but I couldn't have felt either of those emotions any less than I did!

I wanted to really like this book, because it was one of the first books I ever checked out from the new library I am working at. Also, I had never even heard of it before browsing the shelf and being intrigued by it's cover. Then I realize it's a movie with Jennifer Garner, who I really like. AND it's an older book, which I tend to have been liking more lately??? Like not such mainstream books, I guess? But it did nothing for me!

I guess the only few comments I can make are that I did enjoy the chill feel about the book, I guess. I like how they surfed and how they were stoners. I feel like it just put a vibe on the book, and I could somehow almost feel and smell being by the beach. BUT I also don't care about surfing in the slightest, so it's not like I was having the best time in the world reading about surfing. But I do think Joy Nicholson did a good job with the setting.

The characters were so unlikable... for no reason.... seriously. If the characters were all assholes with no social skills for a reason, we never really find out the reason. Or have any sympathy for them. Medina's mother is THE most immature, emotionally and mentally unstable, unusual woman there is. It's truly almost creepy how bad of a mother she is. But all we know is that she used to be a model..... was she always this unlikable? And maybe that's why the Mason kids are so unusual and unlikable themselves because their mother was seriously off her rocker. The only characters I suppose I *liked* would be Medina's father and Adrian, but barely.

This was just one strange book - but I didn't hate it OR love it. It just is. And I keep going back and forth between whether I even care to see the movie or not.

[Shae Petersen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book as it delved into some real issues that can be faced for teens, particularly divorce, slut shaming, drug use and family relationships. I didn’t enjoy the characters as such and found the plot disturbing (mainly the psycho mother). I found the representation of surf culture to be accurate, but obviously not all surf culture is that negative, but definitely a lot of the issues that were presented are present. I found it sad that Jim died, but also can see how that can happen through drug use and unsupportive parents. I wouldn’t necessarily recvomend this book, but am glad I read it so I can see the movie when it comes out.

[Moa · Rating 4 out of 5]

En 14-15 årig tjejs berättelse ur ett jag-perspektiv är trovärdig och rörande. Tonårstiden är en tid av starka kontraster och det blir synligt genom berättandet hur Medina emotionellt distanserar sig från mycket av det som sker runt omkring henne och istället drivs av sin nyfikenhet, lust, och sitt behov att fly - vilket drar henne till havet, surfingen, och det sexuella uppvaknandet.

Boken är även en skildring över den amerikanska drömmen och dess nedgång- genom boken fallerar drömmen allt mer, medans föräldrarna fortsätter leva i blindo om vad som betyder något.

[Jess · Rating 1 out of 5]

I needed a book for insomnia reading during vacation and this one was available from the library and so I read it in one night and am so glad it was contained to one night only. The characters are all caricatures of "bad rich people," so thinly drawn their actions aren't believable. Nothing about this book needs to be set in Palos Verdes--it could have been set anywhere, and other than mentioning cliffs and peacocks, the author doesn't seem to know anything about the area or other neighboring places. This one really wasn't for me.