A wonderfully funny and poignant novel about growing up in the seventies, teenage angst, growing pains and first love. Rachel and Susan do not like to be beside the seaside. Hastings is so uncool. Plunging headfirst into the choppy waters of adolescence, they are determined to survive their teens by sticking together. It's a rollercoaster ride of nutty parents, randy language students, stoned hippies, all-night parties on the pier, and an amusement arcade of emotional neediness.