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The Last Year at Westridge: A Nostalgic 1980s Coming-of-Age Novel of First Love, Friendship, and Loss
Houston, 1989. Senior year is supposed to be the best year of their lives.
Jack Wilson and his five closest friends have grown used to moving through life together—band practice, football games, school dances, late-night movies, and endless lunches at the same cafeteria table.
For Jack, senior year also brings something he has quietly wanted for a long the chance to become more than friends with Sarah Miller.
At first, the year unfolds exactly as it should. First dates. Inside jokes. College plans. The thrilling, terrifying feeling that life is finally beginning.
Then Sarah collapses.
As doctors search for answers, the group begins to fracture under the weight of secrets, heartbreak, illness, and the growing realization that friendship cannot protect them from everything.
Jack wants to hold them all together. He wants to fix what is breaking. Most of all, he wants to believe that love, faith, and loyalty will be enough to carry them through.
But some years do more than mark time.
Some years shape the rest of your life.
Set against the music, movies, football fields, and mall culture of 1989, The Last Year at Westridge is an adult coming-of-age novel about first love, friendship, faith, loss, and the unforgettable season when childhood ends.
For readers drawn to the emotional sincerity of A Walk to Remember, the friend-group nostalgia of The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and the adult reflection of Stand by Me.
Jack Wilson and his five closest friends have grown used to moving through life together—band practice, football games, school dances, late-night movies, and endless lunches at the same cafeteria table.
For Jack, senior year also brings something he has quietly wanted for a long the chance to become more than friends with Sarah Miller.
At first, the year unfolds exactly as it should. First dates. Inside jokes. College plans. The thrilling, terrifying feeling that life is finally beginning.
Then Sarah collapses.
As doctors search for answers, the group begins to fracture under the weight of secrets, heartbreak, illness, and the growing realization that friendship cannot protect them from everything.
Jack wants to hold them all together. He wants to fix what is breaking. Most of all, he wants to believe that love, faith, and loyalty will be enough to carry them through.
But some years do more than mark time.
Some years shape the rest of your life.
Set against the music, movies, football fields, and mall culture of 1989, The Last Year at Westridge is an adult coming-of-age novel about first love, friendship, faith, loss, and the unforgettable season when childhood ends.
For readers drawn to the emotional sincerity of A Walk to Remember, the friend-group nostalgia of The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and the adult reflection of Stand by Me.
546 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 2, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 26, 2026
Character driven! It will keep you turning until the last page! Hopeful for a possible series!
July 21, 2026
Book is good, but the AI audiobook narrator is awful and ridiculous. Reads ‘IV pole’ as ‘four pole’ and has the emphasis on the wrong syllables all the time ‘ new YEARS eve’ and more. Made it impossible to listen to Get a human reader!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews