The Joys of Love

The Joys of Love by Madeleine L'Engle, 2008 Farrar, Straus & Giroux

     On a stage balanced over the ocean's edge Elizabeth Jerrold is an apprentice of the summer theater company. Acting is her dream and this summer is her chance to make the dream come true. After four years of chemistry at college, Liz convinced her aunt to fund this summer job in exchange for her cooperation. But when Aunt Harriet calls to summon Liz back to Virginia for immoral behavior, Elizabeth fights for one last week to work under her idol, Valborg Andersen. 
     Events conspire to allow Liz one more week, but that week holds more than she bargained for. When the politics of the theater rip away the prime opportunity for Liz to break into professional acting, her friends step in and make it a week to remember. 
     Practicing scenes, managing the box office, and free time on the beach fill the friends' free time while they each discover their own hopes and dreams. Liz fights the expectations placed upon her to find her path; from Ben, the sweet, loyal young man who stays by her side through trouble; to the sophisticated director/producer who flits from woman to woman with the sense of his own importance Elizabeth must choose between the choices presented, or step off the boardwalk adn trudge her own path across the sand. 
     Liz's story, while steeped in romance, is more than the usual young adult meandering about a life's plan gone awry. She is passionate and, at twenty, has an integral belief in who she is. Teens and young adults can enjoy and relate to her story as she grows to accept those things she cannot change, but also battles to chance those things she can.