Susan Marie Schulhof

Riding Waves is the story of Harper Johnson, a typical teenage girl, as she learns to navigate the joys as well as the trials of growing up, falling in love and going to college. It appears that Harper’s life is heading in the direction of her dreams as she graduates from high school and begins to date her best friend’s charismatic older brother, Dan. As she struggles to balance her own needs with the demands of being in a relationship, she loses her best friend and is in danger of losing herself. She has some hard decisions to make when her choices lead her only to confusion and pain. While on vacation in Florida, she writes a poem comparing her own life to how she feels when body surfing. She realizes that just like in body surfing, she must decide which waves will take her to shore and towards her dreams, and which choices might take her under and cause her only pain?