Vicky Metcalf Short Story Award winner for Sun Dogs

It is 1965, and Eric is 16. It's a year to fix in the mind, especially when you're a boy stretching to become an adult. You pull away from parents. You discover Louise, her stunning black hair and eager brown eyes. Your first kiss is like falling into the House of Pleasure. The seven interlinked stories in Necking with Louise immerse teen readers in the coming of age of a robust but sensitive teenager. The stories chronicle his encounter with a sudden prairie blizzard, his discovery of the heart-breaking unpredictability of first love, his role in a championship hockey game, his first summer job, and his memories of his grandfather. But they also scratch into the rich prairie earth a record of Eric's candid search for manhood.