Alan, the surfer boyfriend of Ronnie in ‘One Summer in the Sun,’ is almost certainly autistic. I prefer not to actually label my characters, and the term autistic wasn’t in as common use when the story is set (1968). But there are clues, including a tendency to seem distant and self-absorbed.
Ronnie, on the other hand, is simply introverted (not that there is anything ‘simple’ about any personality). She and Alan bonded after she had spent her high school years dating rather normal and boring guys. They share many interests, both are enthusiastic readers, both prefer not to socialize much.
But she does begin to feel something is lacking in their relationship, that he is not ‘all in’ the way she is (though, in truth, he is probably the more ‘in’ of the two). This will lead to trouble, eventually. Will their romance survive the summer? Or for that matter, those of her best friends, Joey and Kris, the other point-of-view characters in the novel? No spoilers here; you’ll have to read ‘One Summer’ to find out!
I'm not sure what is with these strange background colors on the content I'm bring over from the older site and I'm not sure I care enough to look for a fix!
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