Tender by Valerie Hobbs

Rating: 10 of 10 stars

Liv's mother died at her birth. At that event, Liv's father, Mark, handed her over to her mother's mother "like a bundle of laundry" and has had no contact with her since. Now a teenager, Olivia--Liv--has to move from New York City to live with her father in rural California. When she meets him for the first time, their lack of history together promises to be an immense obstacle to creating a relationship.

Liv cannot forgive her father for abandoning her and he is not a willing conversationalist. His girlfriend Samantha, however, is more approachable and proves to be Liv's first new friend, helping her feel more welcome in her new circumstances.

Mark dives for abalone off the coast of Santa Barbara so when the young man who manages Mark's lifeline breaks his arm, Liv must fill in. It is turnabout: his life is in her hands this time.

I hardly know how to describe the author's style though that is precisely why the story is such a success. I mean, it is the how of the story's writing rather than the what of it. Here are three shots aimed toward that target explanation.

Hobbs has an unerring eye for the detail that absolutely transfers to the reader the image or sound of the event she recounts. The silky fall of a scarf from a coathook, the consolidation of Chinese take-out into one of its boxes after the meal, the sound of disbelief behind a polite reply--all ring so true that I find myself remembering similar events in my life with the retrospective clarity she grants me.

She can show a how a person develops or changes believably. To do so requires the ability to create a character with enough depth to embrace change, and the ability to convey the psychological truth of that character as he or she does so.

Hobbs writes in an unhurried manner; there are no missing bits as a story knits itself together. Whether it is the reaction of women in Samantha's beauty shop to Liv's dyed black hair with orange tips like flames, or the description of Mark's boat floating above him while she tends his air hose, Hobbs effortlessly creates small moments to advance nuances of the story. Yet she is also economical, with no gratuitous description or filler. She can successfully begin a new chapter after an elapse of several weeks or several hours.

Altogether this is a thought-provoking story, sensitively written, about people who are themselves tender and well worth your time in getting to know them.

Usual Borrowers: Middle school
Genres: Adventure, People and relationships
Also: 8 1/2 or Better List