"Nicholson captures the California-coast culture. . . . Medina shows what it's like to feel 'six million years old' way before your time.--Entertainment Weekly

"Impressive . . . Captures what it is to be young, intelligent, and very alone."--Us Weekly

"Nicholson's evocation of character, her ability to bring Medina fully to life, makes this work. She writes with snapshot immediacy. . . . A writer to keep in mind."--David Ulin, Salon

Medina Mason is a defiant, awkward fourteen-year-old living in the affluent beach community of Palos Verdes, California. The pressure is intense in their high-stakes world, and Medina's family begins to break under the stress. Her parents' marriage disintegrates and her beloved brother turns to drugs in order to cope. Medina turns to the ocean to escape it all. She surfs to survive, finding a bitter solace in the rough comfort of the waves.

"An inspiring portrait of a young woman unswayed by other people's pettiness" (Mademoiselle), this is the moving story of growing up "different," of the love between siblings, and of one girl's power to save herself.