Reviewed by Michael McManus for Readers’ Favorite
Four young people are going to camp this summer as counselors. Three of them are brand new to the game. Cassie and Mark are a little more than friends, but they will be separated at the end of summer, because Mark is going away to school. They both want to have a “fling” this summer, in a place that is famous for people “hooking up” for the season, but they don’t want to have their “friendship” get in the way of their fun. They decide that the best way for them to have the freedom they desire is to pawn themselves off as twins. No one at camp will know that they are connected romantically, so that should give them the freedom they think they need. Tessa is a little rich girl with high ideals and a definite chip on her shoulder. She immediately goes to war with her cabin-mate, Cassie, and leads a boy she just met, Tucker, on a chase for her heart that would confuse a chess-master. Tucker, the only one who has experience at the camp, having spent many summers there, spends a summer in total confusion, vying for Tessa’s heart and thinking there is no way to win it. Will these four young folks find what they are looking for in each other, or will they be forced to find romance and good times somewhere else?
Ryan Ringbloom tells this story in a most unusual way, speaking to us in the first person from the perspectives of her four main characters. While this is a very difficult way to tell a story, it is most effective. We learn how the events unfold from each of their points of view, giving the characters the optimum avenue to express their thoughts. “Wait” is thoroughly entertaining and somewhat unpredictable. There are some adult situations, but since it is directed at a less mature readership, I can recommend it to young people who are coming of age. I don’t believe there is anything here that would shock a young adult audience.