Near the end of his junior year in high school, John begins to produce his own 'zine Bananafish, in which he sarcastically pours out his feelings about his miserable suburban life: he has no true friends, and his divorced parents have distanced themselves not only from each other but from their only child. John becomes particularly intrigued with the writing of Marisol Guzman, who publishes a 'zine called Escape Velocity, in which she freely expresses her feelings about being a “Puerto Rican Cuban Yankee Lesbian.” After John arranges to meet Marisol, who turns out to be a high school senior in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the two hit it off -- sort of. Their friendship is always a bit dicey, due to John’s propensity for lying and Marisol’s insistence on always telling the truth, even when it hurts. Opinionated, gutsy and articulate Marisol is unlike anyone John has ever known and before long he begins to fall in love with her, even though he knows a romantic relationship is out of the question. We come to know these intelligent and complex characters through John’s wry narrative and through the poems, essays and letters they write each other through their 'zines. The latter allows readers to gain a deeper insight into each of the teen characters, which is further enriched by the critiques they give each other’s writings. Wittlinger has brilliantly created a funny/sad young adult novel that has a rare combination of realism and hope. (Age 15 and older)

With keen insight into teenage life, Ellen Wittlinger delivers a story of adolescence that is fierce and funny -- and ultimately transforming -- even as it explores the pain of growing up.

Since his parents' divorce, John's mother hasn't touched him, her new fiancé wants them to move away, and his father would rather be anywhere than at Friday night dinner with his son. It's no wonder John writes articles like "Interview with the Stepfather" and "Memoirs from Hell." The only release he finds is in homemade zines like the amazing Escape Velocity by Marisol, a self-proclaimed "Puerto Rican Cuban Yankee Lesbian." Haning around the Boston Tower Records for the new issue of Escape Velocity, John meets Marisol and a hard love is born.
While at first their friendship is based on zines, dysfuntional families, and dreams of escape, soon both John and Marisol begin to shed their protective shells. Unfortunately, John mistakes this growing intimacy for love, and a disastrous date to his junior prom leaves that friendship in ruins. Desperately hoping to fix things, John convinces Marisol to come with him to a zine conference on Cape Cod. On the sandy beaches by the Bluefish Wharf Inn, John realizes just how hard love can be.