Reviewed by Cheryl
TITLE: Why Can’t Sophomore Summer Be Like Pizza
SERIES: The Pizza Chronicles
AUTHOR: Andy V Roamer
PUBLISHER: NineStar Press
LENGTH: 163 pages
RELEASE DATE: August 23 2021
BLURB:
It’s the summer after sophomore year and RV plans to enjoy new adventures and new challenges after finishing two years of high school.
He gets a job as an usher at a movie multiplex but discovers the realities of dealing with job stresses and unruly customers. It’s also time for him to start learning how to drive, and his father is eager to give him lessons. But he’s not the most patient of teachers and RV is not the most capable of drivers.
RV opens himself up to a new relationship and it looks like the start of a budding romance—until it isn’t.
And then there is RV’s family… Luckily, as always, Mr. Aniso, RV’s freshmen-year teacher, is always there to talk over anything that might be bothering RV. But he’s away for the summer, so there’s only so much time and attention he can give RV. It looks like RV’s summer won’t be fun and games after all.
REVIEW:
The Pizza Chronicles is a true series. I highly recommend that you start with Book 1 in order to make sense of this one.
I just love RV. The style of writing might not be for everyone, but to me, it feels personal, as if we’re reading someone’s diary. Sometimes, seeing through the eyes of a sixteen-year-old can be refreshing. It can also be frustrating. RV is conflicted in so many ways, it sometimes gets a little too much but prom a sixteen-year-old POV it’s spot on.
RV has a lot to deal with in this installment of The Pizza Chronicles. With Bobby in a bad place, and RV growing more and more unsure of his place, a lot of intense emotion causes even more confusion. Once again, the issue of RV’s cultural identity raises its head, and he struggles with a growing conflict over wanting to face the future as an American and feeling pressure and responsibility to be more in touch with his roots as a Lithuanian.
Guilt is a big issue for many of the characters in Book 3. In fact, it is somewhat of a theme, as is the nature of friendship in all its forms. Sometimes it’s difficult and takes hard work to maintain a friendship, just like any relationship.
All our old friends appear, including Mr Aniso, who as usual, doles out good advice just when RV needs it most, and admit that RV also inspires him just when RV needs it most. Joe is still making pizza, and Carrie is still dating Guillaume. Ray is still snarky and apparently more emotionally mature than his older brother.
There are some lovely little touches in this book, with RV learning to drive, and walking the Freedom Way with Carole and Guillaume. It was fascinating to read little snippets of American history set against French perspective. As a Welshwoman, I found it very easy to relate to Guillaume’s POV but it might be a little uncomfortable for Americans, perhaps.
As usual this is a well-balanced, squarely young adult book that doesn’t shy away from exploring the hard things, even the really hard things like Bobby’s emotional journey toward finding peace with the new limits imposed by his injury. That RV doesn’t allow Bobby to push him away shows how invested he is in their relationship as friends, and that as much as he struggles, that RV is more stable than he might think he is.
The Pizza Chronicles spans the gap between light-hearted and deadly serious very well. Dark things happen, light things happen and the whole thing balances itself out into a damn good read.
I’m very much looking forward to the last book to see how the whole story ends. I have my own ideas about the way I would like to see things going, but I may be wrong. I’m sure everyone will be invested in something by now
RATING: 
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