The Captain and the Queen

Phillip
Vega
Genre: 
Young Adult

MULTI-RACIAL:  “Captain” is the nickname of the main character and storyteller. “Queen” is Calista/Callie, his girlfriend.  Set in the fall of their senior year, in 1986 Long Island, New York, this is their coming-of-age tale. Captain is a Hispanic middle-class average kid. Callie is the daughter of a Greek tycoon. Their love would be forbidden but their passions say otherwise. How long can they hope to last when reality enters their private boarding-school world?

This story excels in characterization. It is easy to identify with Callie and her relationship with her wealthy but distant dad. The school-life scenes and settings are well written and easily take the reader back to high school again. Sports, work, parents, the school play, friends, and fights—they are all included. Where the story bogged down a bit was in pacing and dialogue. Captain told the story completely from his point of view, which tended to jump back and forth between times. The pacing dragged where every small action or conversation was related in fine, step-by-step detail. There was a considerable amount of Captain’s internal dialogue on every page. Profanity was also on almost every page.  The one sex scene, near the end of the story, was rich in details and heat. Captain and Callie did find their happily ever after, just not in the traditional sense one might expect…or when.

Emerson Matthews