cover image Wildman

Wildman

J.C. Geiger. Hyperion, $17.99 (336p) ISBN 978-1-4847-4957-9

Lance Hendricks plays by the rules. He’s first chair trumpet, his 4.0 GPA has won him a college scholarship to study business, and he and his longtime girlfriend are about to have sex for the first time. He’s a machine, always moving forward, until his car dies in rural Washington State, far from his Oregon home. The car was a gift from his absent father, and Lance won’t leave it, even when the repairs drag out for days. During this unscheduled break from regular life, Lance hangs with the locals at the town’s one bar, answers to the nickname Wildman, jumps trains, and spends time with lovely and unconventional Dakota. Debut novelist Geiger strands Lance a couple hours and a world away from comfort, setting up a dramatic climax in which Lance has to decide who to be—the rule-following boy he was raised as or the man who wants to play music and can’t stop trembling when he’s with Dakota. The book’s world is a bit binary—it’s either dreams or drudgery—but it effectively conveys the necessity of finding one’s true self. Ages 14–up. Agent: Sara Crowe, Pippin Properties. (June)