REVIEW: A Walk in the Sun by Michelle Zink

 
A Walk in the Sun by Michelle Zink: After her mom’s death and dad’s subsequent depression, Rose is left dealing with the farm and keeping it running. She always planned to leave and travel after graduating high school, but now she can’t since someone has to keep it all together. When her aunt hires a ranch hand, Bodhi, to help for the summer, however, Rose might find her plans derailed.
Bodhi has been traveling around the country, finding work on ranches, since he left a bad home at fourteen. At the end of the summer, after helping on another farm, he planned to go to Europe and backpack. But finding Rose may change all that for him.
One plans to leave, the other to stay by the end of summer. But the sparks burn hot and they can’t resist each other as they open up and fall deeper and deeper.

He stopped in his tracks. There was something familiar about the bend of her neck, the long copper braid snaking over one shoulder. He knew this even though he was positive he’d never seen her before. She was biting her lip, reading a box in her hands like it held the key to the universe, and for one crazy minute, he thought she might hold the key to his.

A Walk in the Sun is a slightly angsty, fun Young Adult read. I love Bodhi. I think he’s a sweetheart, and an avid reader will always catch my heart. From first glance he knew Rose was for him and, after a very interesting few years of backpacking and hitchhiking, I want that love for him.
Rose, too, I like. She works hard to keep her family going despite her loss and despite her own pain. I definitely felt for her, and with Rose, too, I wanted her to find her happiness with Bodhi as she discovers change can be quite good.
Based on a small New York town farm, it’s definitely got a good taste of that lifestyle if you like that kind of romance. The cast of characters are definitely cute, but the main stars of Zink’s story are definitely Rose and Bodhi as they open up to one another in a slow build.

Book Info:

 May 3, 2016 | Harperteen |

In this Bridges of Madison County for teens, Michelle Zink weaves a magnetic tale about summer love that stays with you long after the seasons change.

Rose Darrow never wanted to spend her life working on her family’s farm. But when her family is rocked by an unexpected tragedy she has no choice but to put her plans for the future—and dreams of escaping her small town—on hold.

Bodhi Lowell left home as a kid and hasn’t looked back. Years of working farm jobs has given him the one thing he wants most: freedom to travel without answering to anyone. He’s already looking past his job at Darrow Farm and plans on leaving in September—until he meets Rose.

Neither Rose nor Bodhi can deny the sparks flying between them, but with the end of summer looming, they must decide if it is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all….