Book Title: THE CALIFORNIA DREAMERS
Character Name: Until 17 it is Ronan Avery Merrick...but she’ll become Ava LeClair when she grows up, runs away from her beach-van home, and leaves her family for good – she thinks.
How would you describe your family or your childhood?
My family of six is my entire world. We don’t go to school or mix with anyone else unless we have to. We follow waves and our father’s whims and odd jobs, and sometimes Mama throws an arrow-shaped seed pod in the air, and when it lands, we go north or south, following wherever it’s pointing.
I wouldn’t trade my life for a soul-dead citizen’s. Never.
My father, who’s nicknamed Cap because he wears a fishing hat when he’s not surfing, has rules that keep us safe, because outsiders can’t understand our life. Mama’s beautiful and dreamy and answers questions with questions. She leaves a lot. She goes on rambles, and we never know when she’ll return. Sometimes I wish...It doesn’t matter what I wish. She loves us. She has to go off alone. She makes orange-and-clove tinctures and sells them for money.
My big brothers, Griffin and Magnus, are twins. But they’re so different. Griff worships Cap and always tries to make peace. Mag is surly and sour...except when he’s on the water. That’s why we all say, “Magnus is only civilized on water.” Mag talks about leaving the van, but we know he never will. None of us would trade our life for anything.
And then there’s Dyl, my little brother. He knows more about nature than anyone, and he’s perfectly happy studying plants and animals for hours. He could take or leave surfing – Cap doesn’t understand that.
Me?
I love the water, but I also love to observe strangers on the beach. To take mental pictures and save them up and study them later. I’m a good surfer, but it’s not my whole life.
Biggest challenge in relationships?
I hardly know anyone outside my family—it’s against the rules.
I shouldn’t even be talking to you, really.
Where do you live?
We live in our converted Grumman-Olson stepvan, which we call The Gull. Citizens – that’s what we call people who have regular houses and jobs – don’t understand. They call our home a “roach coach” and snicker at it, because she used to be a food truck, before my father and mother fixed her up with soft carpet and sleeping bunks and a library. They don’t see how perfect she is. She even has wings – the awnings from when she used to be a lunch truck.
I’d never trade my home for a citizen house on a dull, stuck cul-de-sac.
I share a bunk with my little brother Dyl. It’s in back, with a window onto the road behind us...Sometimes, at night, we peek out and watch the yellow road line unspooling in the dark, guessing where we’ll wake up.
But really, the whole Pacific is our home. We travel from beach to beach, sometimes sleeping in our van, and sometimes in hammocks strung in trees.
Do you have any enemies?
Last week my brothers and I met a man nicknamed Jaws who doesn’t like our father. We can’t figure out why. He must be jealous, because everyone knows our father is the purest surfer around.
What do you do to entertain yourself or have fun?
Swim, surf, read, talk to my brothers. Sometimes, when I’m feeling bold, I take Dyl to explore beach towns and watch strangers.
How do you feel about the place where you are now? Is there something you are particularly attached to, or particularly repelled by, in this place?
We’re in a town near the Mexican border called El Zafiro. We’ve been camping here a lot lately, and my three brothers and I can’t figure out why, because there’s a fancy resort so close to where we’re parked. We never park close to hotels...and we never stay anywhere more than four nights. But we’ve been here for ages, acting like stuck citizens. But Cap has his reasons...he always does.
Greatest source of joy?
My family and the ocean. This will sound funny, but I can’t imagine one without the other.
What keeps you awake at night?
I found something, and I can’t stop thinking about it. But Cap would be furious if he knew I’d taken it. I’ve hidden it in the wall of the Gull. Just for a few days... I’ll get rid of it soon. Our simple life is all I want, and I’ll never leave it. Of course I won’t
A Nostalgic Drama of Secrets, Siblings, and the Freedom of Golden California Summers
It’s 1980s California, and everyone’s dreaming of the endless summer: sun-drenched beaches, infinite waves, and most of all, beautiful, beautiful freedom. For the Merrick siblings, this idyllic vision is their reality, as they travel up and down the coast with their parents in a van year-round, surfing and swimming their days away. But when a photographer secretly snaps a stunning photo of the family with their boards in the sand, and the image ripples across the country, the only life they’ve ever known is put at risk.
Decades after, the now-distant siblings gather on a gorgeous, wild island to honor their late father. But their reunion is complicated when a journalist, eager for the truth behind the famous photo, discovers their identity and tracks them down. As the siblings reckon with the possibility that more of their lives could be shared, a revelation about their past forces them to confront long-held heartaches. Together, they’ll have to decide whether to let the same tensions rip them apart again—or if telling their story on their own terms might just be the way to recapture the family magic.
Coming of Age | Thriller Domestic | Women's Fiction Family Life [Graydon House, On Sale: April 8, 2025, Trade Paperback / e-Book , ISBN: 9781525804687 / eISBN: 9781488062452]
Amy Mason Doan grew up in Danville, California and now lives in Portland, Oregon.
She’s written for The Oregonian, San Francisco Chronicle, Wired, Forbes, The Orange County Register and other publications. Amy has an M.A. in Journalism from Stanford University and a B.A. in English from U.C. Berkeley.
No comments posted.
© 2003-2025 off-the-edge.net
all rights reserved Privacy Policy