Seventeen: A Tale of Youth and Summer Time and the Baxter Family, Especially William

William Sylvanus Baxter is seventeen, ridiculous, and absolutely certain he's a man of the world. His mission this summer: convince the mysterious girl he calls 'the Dream' that he is worthy of her attention. The problem is that William's understanding of sophistication comes primarily from pretending, and his schemes to appear grown-up unfold with the tragic logic of a boy who has no idea how obvious he is. Set in a hazy Midwestern summer, Booth Tarkington's comic masterpiece captures the specific torture of adolescence: the way a passing glance from a stranger becomes evidence of destiny, the elaborate performances of maturity that fool no one, the terror of being exposed as a child. William's encounters with his family, his put-upon sister, and the world at large move from disaster to disaster with relentless, tender hilarity. This is a novel that understands how funny growing up actually is, not gentle nostalgia, but the precise, embarrassing truth of wanting desperately to be someone you're not yet capable of being.