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The Boy on the Bridge

by Natalie Standiford

Scholastic Press
August 2013

Fiction

Ages 14 – 16 . Grades 9 – 11

Lexile measure: 660L

ARQuiz

When Laura decides to spend a semester in Russia, it is for many reasons. She wants to learn the language. See the culture. Walk through the wintery streets. Escape all the confusion back home.

She does not intend to fall in love.

But there he is - the boy on the bridge. Alyosha. Fate pushes them together, and once they're there, neither one of them wants to let go. But what chance does their love have in a place where the truth is dangerous and complicated, and the future seems as abstract as the present is real?

Natalie Standiford

Natalie Standiford is the author of How to Say Good-Bye in Robot, Confessions of the Sullivan Sisters, The Secret Tree, The Boy on the Bridge, and Switched at Birthday. She is originally from Maryland, but now lives in New York City and plays in the all-YA-author band Tiger Beat.

SELECT REVIEWS:

Praise for CONFESSIONS OF THE SULLIVAN SISTERS:

"This book has a long shelf life ahead of it, and can be easily offered to any teen as an excellent read." -- SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL, starred review

"Humor abounds in the inner workings of this interesting and unusual family." --KIRKUS REVIEWS

"Standiford makes reading about Baltimore high society and the flawed, pampered, but likable Sullivans feel like a wickedly guilty pleasure. . . . Readers will wish that more family members had confessions to make." -- PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

"[A] sweet and charming new novel." -- VOYA
"Standiford (Confessions of the Sullivan Sisters) paints a somber portrait of communist Russia during the early 1980s in this love story tinged with intrigue. Laura, an American college student studying in Lenigrad, is homesick and tired of "bitter cold, inedible food, filthy dorms, boring classes." That’s before she meets Alyosha, a handsome young Russian artist who appears on a bridge just in time to save her from two aggressive gypsy women. Although Laura has been warned not to "fall" for Russian men, who might have ulterior motives, she is drawn to her mysterious rescuer and arranges to meet with him secretly. Their rendezvous become increasingly frequent and intense, and the city that once seemed so bleak to Laura suddenly comes to life. It also becomes more dangerous, making Laura wonder whether Alyosha’s affection is sincere. The desperation behind the Iron Curtain is dramatically portrayed as Laura witnesses the restrictions Alyosha and his friends endure. Besides offering readers passion and suspense, Standiford raises thought-provoking questions about far people should go for the sake of love and freedom." - Publishers Weekly starred review