Ellen Wittlinger: Lombardo's Law

Lombardo's Law

What do you do when your best friend is suddenly becoming more than that, and he's two years younger and two inches shorter than you?

"The author certainly knows her audience. In an appealing and authentic adolescent voice, she introduces the heroine, fifteen-year-old Justine Trainor, who is shy and bright and something of a loner. When a family moves into the house across the street, Mrs. Trainor hopes that her daughter will establish a friendship with Heather, also fifteen, but it is Heather's younger brother Mike who draws Justine's attention.... Justine's romance with Mike is alluring and sensitively developed. Her qualms over this social transgression will seem much more compelling and real to young teens than other more serious problems that are currently topical. Wittlinger has hit the bull's-eye with her first try." --Horn Book

"This funny, touching first novel challenges an enduring romantic convention: high school sophomore Justine finds herself attracted to eighth-grader Mike, who is three inches shorter than she is.... What carries this story is the romance. The scenes between Justine and Mike show why the kids can't stay away from each other. The tension builds with jealousy, misunderstandings, and tenderness, and you just can't wait for the climax when they finally kiss." --Booklist

A YALSA Best Book for Reluctant Readers, 1994
A YALSA Best Book for Young Adults, 1994
New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age list, 1995
Oklahoma Sequoyah Award list, 1995-96
Texas Lone Star Reading list, 1995-96

Houghton Mifflin, 1993, reprinted in 2002