Ventura and Zelzah

Set in 1970s suburban Los Angeles, Bryan’s slice-of-life novel of wild adolescence follows four friends as they navigate changing friendship dynamics amid the era’s quintessential sex, drugs, and rock ’n’ roll hijinks. Newly 14-year-old Douglas is determined to make this summer one to remember. After persuading his parents to allow him to let loose—citing hard work at odd jobs and maintaining good grades—Douglas and his friends Weddy, Hank, and Ronnie traipse across the Valley, watching Jaws at their local theater, attending Fourth of July fireworks and summer picnics, riding coasters at Magic Mountain, and playing plenty of basketball. Over the course of one interpersonally tumultuous summer, Douglas discovers sides of his lifelong friends that he never knew and struggles to navigate his on-off relationship with his crush Natalia. Douglas’s narration is occasionally stilted and overly adult—sometimes feeling more like memoir than novel—but his energetic approach to the pressure of impending adulthood is endearing. Bryan’s cathartic homage to the joys of adolescent years wisely centers teens’ unbridled capacity to live life untethered as they learn from their mistakes. All characters cue as white. Ages 15–up. (Mar.)

Correction: The text of this review has been updated to reflect a character's age.