“Cycling is not one of my core strengths,” she explains matter-of-factly as she dusts herself off, and we’re hooked. She looks straight into the camera and talks to us as she’s riding a bicycle over rolling hills and across vast fields of flowers-that is, until she bites it and lands face-first in the dirt. Emmy winner Harry Bradbeer brings an infectious energy to this stuffy setting by having Enola break the fourth wall from the get-go with amusingly self-aware asides, a tactic he used frequently on the many episodes of “Fleabag” he directed. Despite having a famous sibling, she’s very much her own person in the way she goes about playing detective.
all these years of hearing him on my parents' old soul radio stations and now the ones I listen to on my own.Based on the Young Adult novel series by Nancy Springer, “Enola Holmes” finds Sherlock’s younger sister stirring up trouble, solving mysteries and carving out her own place in wealthy Victorian England. "What You Won't Do For Love" is the jam! I just assumed. PS- Today, I learned that Bobby Caldwell is white. I can't wait until I have the opportunity to use it. In fact, I think reading this book was worth it only because it contains the phrase "douche cougar." I don't know why but after I read that I laughed and I'm still laughing. For a sophisticated, amusing and pleasant read, I would recommend this one. This is more of a general coming-of-age novel, classic teen finding himself in the world. In fact, that part is a small section of the story. This book is more than a coming out story. Also, those mean girls said some really mean things.
I especially liked reading how Alex talked with his friends and Lucy, Dade's lesbian friend, always tossed off a hilarious sarcastic zinger. The dialogue is also wonderful and the main source for humor in the book. Sometimes I just had to wince while reading because Dade's feelings were so raw and real. Burd was able to capture the feelings that anyone has for a first love whether straight or gay.
I really liked how Dade could be so innocent at times and just full of feeling. The language in the book is very authentic, not only with the dialogue, but the narration too.
I thought it made the book very sophisticated and creative. I really like these kind of background details in any novel, weaving in all these different elements to tell one story. Her story inundated the news and by association she also flooded the lives of Dade and his friends. There was also the kidnapping case of Jenny Moore, a local girl who disappears. Burd created all these nifty bands and song titles that create a silent soundtrack for the story. Yes, it's contemporary, it's the US, it's Iowa but there was also a rich setting that helped propel the story. What I loved most about this book is the world that Burd created. There's no heart stopping action or anything like that but it's the words that will keep you reading. These moments and decisions and discoveries drive the plot so that we really get inside Dade's head and see all these outside influences and experiences that help shape him into the young man he's learning himself to be. He travels with Alex who takes him to places he never meant to go. He befriends a new girl on the street who is also gay and becomes ones of his biggest confidants. He goes to work and sidesteps the fury and uncertainty of twins Jessica and Fessica. He hangs out with his parents and watches them fall apart. It's the little things that make up Dade's journey. Dade spends a lot of time hanging around the house, listening to his music, thinking. He tries to hang around Pablo but he can't really stand Pablo's jock buddies anyway. When the book starts Dade is (to steal a quote from Xander on Buffy) "a font of nothing" or rather the kind of guy who keeps to himself and blends into the background. I feel like we really see the evolution of Dade over the summer and what's funny is that Dade sees it too and even he is impressed with himself. Quiet, lyrical, thoughtful, honest and sometimes surprising- those are the words I'd use to describe this book. While Dade copes with his loneliness he meets a small-time drug dealer named Alex and suddenly, his summer veers onto a very different course. Dade has been sleeping with his classmate Pablo for a couple of years but Pablo is too busy with his girlfriend to give Dade any extra time. Everyone is always the same and nobody knows that Dade is gay.
Dade Hamilton is just passing the time until he starts college in his boring Iowa town.