In 2001, I read Kent Haruf's novel, Plainsong, and subsequently recommended it to virtually everyone I knew. It was that rare novel that was a safe recommendation for friends, parents, men, women, whatever.
Haruf's sequel, Eventide, is equally wonderful. It's sad, happy, funny, but mostly it's just a pleasure to read. Once I hit page 100 or so I just disappeared into Haruf's depiction of Holt, Colorado.
...is that sometimes, adolescents really are as infuriating as books say they are. Other times, they come up with amazing things that no book can ever capture.