I thought this book was great - full of humor, love, passion, sex, and a satirization of life in a small Wyoming town in 1963. The protagonist of the story is 13-year old Sam Callahan who is forced by his grandfather to move to Wyoming from South Carolina with his more than promiscuous mother. While there, he meets and befriends Maurey in school, a girl who is anxious to find out the mysteries of sex. Well, they find out all right and soon Maurey ends up pregnant! The novel is full of interesting characters, including Sam's mother, Lydia who does not know for sure who Sam's father is. There is also Hank, a local Blackfoot Indian who falls for Lydia, Maurey's mother Annabel who has an affair with the high school coach and ends up in a mental ward, and her father Buddy, who cannot accept Maurey's pregnancy. Overall, a high recommendation for this one if you are not easily offended. It does get pretty graphic. This is the first of a trilogy about GroVant, Wyoming. I will be looking forward to reading the remaining books. There was also a movie made of Skipped Parts that I will be on the lookout for.
From Publishers Weekly
Confirming the promise of Sex and Sunsets and Western Swing , Sandlin has created a lighthearted, amusing and tender story of preteen wisdom, adult immaturity and the fine line between. It's 1963 when 13-year-old Sam Callahan and his tart-tongued, divorced, misbehaving mother, Lydia, are banished to the hick town of GroVont, Wyo., by Lydia's Southern-gentleman father, Casper. The only other intelligent sixth-grader in GroVont is spirited, pretty Maurey Pierce. Sharing their books, Sam and Maurey set out to discover what happens in the lost paragraphs between the first kiss and the happily ever after. With some coaching from liberated Lydia, the kids begin practicing for their first real sexual experience. Complications arise when Sam--envisioning romantic futures in the humorous, perceptive short stories he writes--finds himself in love with Maurey. Strong-willed Maurey, however, insists that they pair off with others for "normal" dating, even after she discovers she's pregnant. Hilarious teenage dating scenes are neatly contrasted with Lydia's unwise romantic entanglements and the pathetic snobbery of small-town social cliques. Narrated in Sam's adolescent voice--authentic in its tone and use of the vernacular--this offbeat, engaging novel elicits nonstop chuckles and, sometimes, a tear or two.
Confirming the promise of Sex and Sunsets and Western Swing , Sandlin has created a lighthearted, amusing and tender story of preteen wisdom, adult immaturity and the fine line between. It's 1963 when 13-year-old Sam Callahan and his tart-tongued, divorced, misbehaving mother, Lydia, are banished to the hick town of GroVont, Wyo., by Lydia's Southern-gentleman father, Casper. The only other intelligent sixth-grader in GroVont is spirited, pretty Maurey Pierce. Sharing their books, Sam and Maurey set out to discover what happens in the lost paragraphs between the first kiss and the happily ever after. With some coaching from liberated Lydia, the kids begin practicing for their first real sexual experience. Complications arise when Sam--envisioning romantic futures in the humorous, perceptive short stories he writes--finds himself in love with Maurey. Strong-willed Maurey, however, insists that they pair off with others for "normal" dating, even after she discovers she's pregnant. Hilarious teenage dating scenes are neatly contrasted with Lydia's unwise romantic entanglements and the pathetic snobbery of small-town social cliques. Narrated in Sam's adolescent voice--authentic in its tone and use of the vernacular--this offbeat, engaging novel elicits nonstop chuckles and, sometimes, a tear or two.
it took a little while to get into this book, but once I did, I couldn't put it down. Made me want to be a kid again.
