Turns on a Dime

Steve Pitt is a Toronto-based freelance writer and an award-winning journalist. He has written many young adult and children's books, including Day of the Flying Fox: The True Story of World War II Pilot Charley Fox.

In the space of a week, young Jo’s world has turned itself inside out.
She is a young teenager, growing up in British Columbia during the
1950s. Jo is used to being a bit of an oddball at school. While her
classmates seem to care only about Elvis, Sputniks, and hoola-hoops, Jo
is determined to be a writer, and she is often teased, even taunted, for
her ambition. At first, Jo did not care. She had the friendship of Mack,
a beautiful older girl who used to babysit Jo and her annoying brother
Ian when they were younger. But ever since Mack returned from a family
trip to Toronto, she’s been using Jo as an excuse to get out of the
house and meet boys. Just when Jo is ready to end their friendship, Mack
blurts out a secret that shatters Jo’s self-image forever.

This is the second book of Julie Lawson’s Goldstone Trilogy, a series
of three novels that are connected by a unique piece of jewelry that
passes through a family from one generation to the next. Although set in
the 1950s, today’s young-adult readers will easily appreciate its
multiple themes of family relationships, peer pressure, friendship, and
betrayal. The book’s narrative, which moves smoothly from beginning to
end, successfully combines humor and drama that will keep readers
entertained. Highly recommended.