Across The Pond by Storyheart

Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
Pub. Date: September 2008
Pages: 120
Format: paperback
Source: from author

Finding himself packed off to friends in the USA, fifteen-year-old English born Fred Squire is not happy. Then he meets Brittany.

Struggling with his feelings for Brit and the language, Fred is further confused when he meets Brit's flirtatious friend, Angel.

Escaping from a confrontation with Steve Harris, the neighborhood bully, Brit tells Fred her dark secret about Harris, and Fred's world is turned upside down.

Life continues to throw Fred a curveball when he catches a baseball worth a small fortune. Further run-ins with Harris, a crazy family BBQ, and a chase through a mall all add to Fred's American adventure.

"Brit and her Brit", know that their young love will be followed by heartache when Fred has to return to England. But not before some final twists in the tale.

In some certain aspect, this book was kind of nice. It showed me a lot of differences between America and Britain that I've never been aware of. I knew they speak different English, but never realized the words could cause so much misunderstanding and embarrassing moments. I also learnt a bit more about their separate habits of eating, watching sports and the likes. The biggest surprise was how much a baseball meant to the players, as much as the crazy fans in America.

Well, yet, in other aspects, Across The Pond wasn't a book I would recommend to readers. The plot was okay, but I felt like something was missing - the thrill, the climax was never there. Everyday of Fred's stay in America was like a routine: he would eat something in the morning, went out in the afternoon/evening, and later went to sleep with Brittany's kisses lingered on his lips. The only thing that seemed to be interesting was Fred's confrontation with Steve Harris - which, I had to say, wasn't elaborated really well either.

I didn't like the characters, the way the author portrayed them was vague, nonetheless, they turned out flat. At some points I couldn't understand why did what they did. Brittany told Fred her deepest darkest secret even though she didn't get to know him well enough; then Angel made a scene crying, telling Fred she knew how Fred loved Brittany and wished she could get someone like him - yet I believed they met only once, in a few hours, and Fred didn't exactly do anything that would make her feel that way. The girls acted a little bit dramatic sometimes and it annoyed me. As for Fred, he was caring and sweet - I just wish he would stop calling Brittany "love" all the time - it sounded pretty corny and old. And it'd have been nicer if Storyheart took more time to let them fall in love because it was so fast and sudden in my opinion.

Rating: 2.5/5