Going Along

Julie Mueller lacks the confidence and self-esteem her older brothers and sisters have. Being overweight certainly doesn’t help.

Dawn Mason, the popular girl in class, is attractive. Boys like her. She looks good in a bikini. The girls form an unlikely friendship.

Thanks to Dawn, Julie’s world expands. She is introduced to cigarettes, alcohol, sex, and drugs. The girls drive around in a ’54 Chevy, thanks to Mom and Dad. There is canoeing to St. Clair on a summer afternoon, going on vacation, making prank phone calls, and meeting her first boyfriend. Throw in trick-or-treating on Halloween, being used by her brother for wrestling practice, getting stranded in a car miles from home, and having to walk home.

A coming-of-age story set in the 1970s.