Keel Kissing Bottom

June M. Blurton is a retired speech/language pathologist.

Mary is the oldest child in a dysfunctional family in Nova Scotia. Her
mother is a boat fanatic. Her father, an amateur oceanographer who keeps
specimens in tanks in the basement, is lost to the sea while collecting
new specimens. Her three younger brothers present a solid phalanx to the
world, and never accept their sister. Mary herself is a plain,
bottom-heavy teenager who is teased at home and at school. Her one ally
is her beautiful cousin, Sarah. When Mary decides to leave the Maritimes
and head to Toronto in search of Sarah, her only means of transport is a
huge horse named Joe How. He gives her miles of security, but she sells
him out in the end.

Parts of this book are delightful, especially Mary’s thoughts and the
descriptions of the scenery during the early part of her journey. The
pain of teenage angst is vivid and true to life, and the characters are
nicely depicted, but some of the incidents (especially those that take
place in the city) are bizarre without being funny.