Medina Mason is a teenager living in the well-to-do neighborhood of Palos Verdes. Her father is a heart surgeon to the stars in Beverly Hills and her mother is a former model. She has a twin brother named Jim who is her best friend. They all live in a mansion that sits close to the shore in the Lunada Bay area but despite living a privileged life, things aren’t going so well for Medina. She has a hard time being accepted by her peers, her relationship with her mother is strained and her parents are having marital problems. Luckily for her, surfing offers an escape from all her problems. Sometimes surfing can be a religious experience and other times its pure domination like when she catches the perfect wave…the tube wave that is high, fast, and shaped like a cave. If she couldn’t surf she would die. The Tribes of Palos Verdes is a coming-of- age story about a girl who is struggling to find her identity and experiments with sex and drugs while figuring out who she is trying to become.I live in a beach community not too far from Palos Verdes so it was a thrill for me to read a book in which the setting was close to home. I enjoyed this story and found Medina Mason to be a likeable character. She always presented herself as a strong person but I think deep down inside, she was like all other teenagers, and just wanted to be accepted. Because she never really fit in with the other “cliques”…like the popular” towel” girls who sunbathed on expensive Bill Blass towels or the “Bayboys” who surfed in the Lunada Bay, she formed her own. She considered her and her brother to be their own “tribe” and in a way this strengthens their relationship so they always have each other to lean on when life gets difficult. I give this book four stars.
If you look at cover of the hardcover version of The Tribes of Palos Verdes you would probably think that it's about a girl who surfs with guys. Yes, there are guys in this book and yes, the main character, Medina, does surf, it goes much more deeper than that. Medina uses surfing as an outlet to escape the pain she feels and the horror of her home life.Throughout the book, you see Medina painfully coming of age while dealing with drugs, sex, and being the only female surfer in her town. The dysfunction in the family is excellently portrayed. Medina's father is having countless affairs and due to this her mother's eating herself to death and has a weird obsession with Medina's twin brother Jim. Medina feels unloved and unappreciated by everyone except Jim. As much as this book is about Medina coming of age, it's also a poignant story about the love that siblings have for one another.The Tribes of Palos Verdes is for anyone who always felt like they didn't fit in to one group. You have a heroine who you feel sympathy for and want her to come out on top. Medina remains strong despite being bullied by her peers and her mother. The Tribes of Palos Verdes was a beautiful and poignant coming of age story. It was gritty, real, and, yes, depressing. It was an extremely quick read and it is highly recommended.
Do You like book The Tribes Of Palos Verdes (1998)?
I thought that this was going to be a fun book about a surfer chick.But...No. Medina does surf, and so does her twin brother. However, that's the end of the fun stuff: Their mother is manipulative. She eats all the time without regard to her health or her husband's wishes. She hates Medina.Their father cheats on the wife (a lot, in fact).Medina's twin brother Jim is mixed in with drugs.Medina is sleeping with random guys and doing weed.Jim is setting things on fire for fun.Jim eventually kills h
—Julie S.
I picked this up from a free shelf in a doctor's office. From the cover, and the jacket description, it seemed like it would be an easy beach read. How pleasantly surprised i was to discover a beautiful coming of age novel to rival the likes of 'the outsiders' or 'the heart is a lonely hunter.' That is to say, quality, lasting and moving. The protagonist uses surfing as a coping mechanism for her tumultuous surroundings, and i had just taken my first surfing lesson when i read this book. You could call it kismet or chance that we found each other, but either way, i am glad we did.
—Jenneffer
