Kaleidoscopic

In the middle of Des Plaines Illinois three boys find themselves in a tangled knot of angsty lust and amateur love.

Evan Webster has an average American life. When he isn't at swim practice or the movie theater, he's trying to make time to study biology. He likes Spiderman comics, chocolate chip cookies, and kissing Danny Herrera.

Danny Herrera rarely smiles in public. His parents rely on him to help run the family business and take care of his many siblings so his life mainly consists of fixing cars and keeping his head down. His talents include: picking locks, punching people, and cursing in front of elders. In private he lets Evan soften his hard exterior with faint kisses and wandering hands.

Jackson Dougherty is Evan Webster's rival. Every year the two boys compete to earn a place in the Swimming State Championships. Evan is always prepared to compete against Jackson in the pool, but he never expected to compete with Jackson for Danny's heart.

Unfolding in the early 1980s, the story of these three boys is turbulent complex and unpredictable until the very end.

[word count: 80,000-90,000 words]
WATTY WINNER 2021

Content Warnings: This book contains mentions of drug use and substance dependency