Book Report: Gravity

Not only is Gravity by Scot Gardner Australian fiction I pulled from a bargain bin in Melbourne, it is also teen fiction! Good luck finding this book, my fellow Americans. Amazon has one copy for $42.

"Saturday night. Nowheresville.
And Adam Prince has had a gut full.
He knows every face in Splitters Creek, and in his eighteen years has explored every dream job and future on offer. He wants more than a job at the local sawmill, and so much more than his cracked family can give.
Adam needs to escape. To run.
To find a future worth dreaming about.
But no matter ho hard he runs there are some things that will never let him go."

First sentence:
"Win, lose, or draw, there's always Saturday night."

This story opens with Adam, the protag, disgusted by the familiar bar setting around him. He leaves, and against better judgment, starts to drive home. He never makes it.
A car crash is the inciting event, the catalyst that sends Adam out on his own and into the world he's always wanted to see. He's been bound to Splitters Creek by his family: his mentally damaged older brother and overly-religious father, all of them having been abandoned by their mother who is now living in the city. Adam wants to find her, to find out why she left, to ask her to come back.

To my surprise, the story had lovely hints of 'What's Eating Gilbert Grape'. Adam is unflinchingly generous. He takes it upon himself to help where ever he sees it's needed: taking care of his brother, taking care of his brother's young son, helping clean up a mess of paint in a hardware store--which ends up earning him a job. Though he wasn't planning on getting one, he takes it, partly because of his attraction to a female coworker.

Through his job he also meets Harry, a young guy about the same age who invites Adam home for drinks. They become friends, and Adam ends up sleeping over when things don't go so well with his mom. Through Harry and his sister, Adam experiences the city's bars and clubs and women, and over the course of a few days, discovers that the grass isn't always greener. His experiences cause him to mature and figure out what he really wants and needs. He keeps trying to talk to his mom and finally, after a week, they come to a heartfelt understanding.

Just in time for bad news from home.

Simon, Adam's brother, has gone missing.

The end of the story feels complete. Adam has changed, along with several other characters. Truths are discovered, grudges are finally let go. There are losses, and there are promises. Adam has discovered himself.

I give this book Five out of Five stars for memorable and logical characterization