A North Shore Story by Dean Economos

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For the teenagers of Chicago’s North Shore, everyone has something to hide.

In a daring attempt to impress the elusive Sophia, Michael makes the biggest decision of his life, stealing over a hundred thousand dollars from St. Theodore Community Church.

That same night, Nichole’s insecurities are finally forgotten with a drug she soon won’t be able to control.

When Michael makes his getaway, he sees his friend Joseph cheat on his girlfriend with the priest’s daughter and knock over a candle that sets the church ablaze.

As the consequences of that night unfold, Joseph is blamed for the fire and the missing money. Can the teenagers of the North Shore confess their vices to help their friend? Or will their greed, infidelity and jealousy change all their lives forever?  (-synopsis)

The book starts out by giving a brief overview of each of the teenagers involved in the book.   It was hard to keep track of them at first since we saw two or three of them together at a time and only for a few pages.

After the characters are introduced we find out that they all go to church and youth group together.  There is the priest’s daughter, the fashion designer, the player, and many others.   All of these kids are in high school yet they seem much older in their actions and their decisions.

The book goes through a few months of high school with things happening in each chapter.  In one a teenager steals money while two other teenagers hookup sets the church on fire.  It’s coincidental that both things happen in the church at the same time and overlap one another.

Then there is a party.  At the party several of the teens get wild and crazy and get into the pool in their underwear.  Things get a little heated during a game of truth or dare and emotions begin running high.

At the same party one of the girls is feeling sad because her boyfriend won’t answer her texts.  In her sorrow she turns to drugs to forget.

I had a hard time with this book.   I kept waiting for something to happen and while things did happen the consequences and actions just didn’t make sense to me.

When the girl’s boyfriend and best friend don’t text her back she assumes the worst.  This happens over and over again. When we finally find out why they weren’t texting back it makes no sense that they wouldn’t text her back.

In another instance a teen confesses to something she didn’t do.  It’s a pretty major crime but nothing happens.  She says she’ll have a trial but she was never arrested and she says she’ll only get community service.  It’s like it was no big deal.

So while this book was an easy read, I just felt like it was very unrealistic and glorified the stereotypical teens gone wild imagine.   I really wanted something big to happen or the story lines to come together but they never did.  I could see teenagers thinking this was an easy read and a decent read but it’s just not very exciting.

I give this book 2 out of 5 stars.