Growing towards self-acceptance
Stephen prepares to leave high school and his long-term home, undergoes emotionally devastating change, and becomes ready to accept himself.
Book details
Janet E. Cameron - Author
A coming-of-age story about leaving a familiar place, falling in love, and facing painful change. Stephen’s compassion, humour and eventual movement towards self-acceptance are central to its emotional arc.
It's the spring of 1987 and 17-year-old Stephen Shulevitz has less than three months left in high school in the small town in rural Nova Scotia where he's spent most of his life. But as Stephen prepares to leave Riverside behind he falls in love with exactly the wrong person. And just like that everything changes. What follows is emotionally devastating but Stephen survives with his compassion and sense of humour intact and, at the end, he is ready to accept himself and take steps towards finding happiness on his own terms.
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Sign in for personalised guidanceA coming-of-age story about leaving a familiar place, falling in love, and facing painful change. Stephen’s compassion, humour and eventual movement towards self-acceptance are central to its emotional arc.
Stephen prepares to leave high school and his long-term home, undergoes emotionally devastating change, and becomes ready to accept himself.
Despite the story’s emotionally devastating events, Stephen survives with his compassion and sense of humour intact.
The phrase “exactly the wrong person” leaves the relationship’s difficulty unexplained. Notice what makes it challenging, how the story treats Stephen’s feelings, and whether his choices remain his own.
This is a grounded book brief while Suitabook strengthens the analysis: the current material supports only a cautious reading; another book-specific source is still needed.
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