Michael J. White set off to tell us a story about love, loss, lust, love, and loss. In short, with his debut novel - Weeping Underwater Looks a Lot Like Laughter - he gives us a story about high school romance and infatuations. It's like no other than I have read in the past. It presses us to feel, see the through the eyes of the narrator, George Flynn, and his days with the Schell girls, Emily, his love interest, and Katie, the little sister. When tragedy strikes, George's life - social, familial, and romantic - is thrown into a tailspin. He cannot help put to grasp at the pieces, hoping that they one day fit into each other.

Somewhere between YA and adult contemporary is where you'll find Weeping Underwater Looks a Lot Like Laughter. George Flynn is well into adulthood as he begins his narrative. The need to do so raises when he sees former high school sweetheart, Emily Schell, on television. And while the novel is interesting and emotional, there are several times that it just drags out. George acknowledges that he doesn't feel like giving us all the details in the days when his relationship with Emily grows sour, yet feels the need the give us details that add nothing to the story. There were several times in the story that I just felt the need to put it down and read something else, returning as if nothing happened in between. Truth be told, I started the book sometime during the summer and just finished it now. And that's because I had less than a hundred pages left. I can't help but feel that if ever there were a film adaptation, I'd enjoy it more than the novel itself. ( )

This was a book mostly about a man's first love and her little sister. Emily (his first love) and Katie (her sister) changed his life in a lot of ways and this is him as an adult (and english teacher I think) explaining it all. George is a lovable character, smart, interesting and you feel for the guy. Katie was adorable and probably my favorite character and Emily, I had mixed feelings about. All in all, this is a well written book, gets your attention, funny, heartbreaking, sad, leaves you feeling a bit bittersweet. ( )

George is a nice guy. He's new in town and meets the Schell sisters -- charming, beautiful Emily and her free-spirited sister, Katie, who happens to have MS. George falls for Emily, Katie falls for George, and they become an inseparable threesome, until tragedy intervenes.

This is a wonderful story, told in George's touching voice. I cared what happened to each of them, and cried and laughed along with the family. Katie is a fabulous character. Everyone's reactions were believable and true to the spirit of each character.

BUT, I think I would have liked the book better if it were about 100 pages shorter. George's ramblings, although true to his character and sometimes interesting, often move off on a tangent only slightly related to the storyline. I would have enjoyed it more if the author had not strayed so frequently -- sometimes moving back and forth in time which was a bit confusing.

All in all, a worthwhile read, but not the awesomely wonderful story I expected. Perhaps I just set my sights too high. ( )

This turned out to be a completely different book than I thought it would be. It’s touted as a “coming of age” book with a tragedy set inside…but I never got the sense that the main character, George, came of age.

The overlying narration is provided by George’s adult self, and his voice is so strong, his sarcastic amusement with which he views so many of the events of his past, that I never got a sense of who he used to be. He makes fun of himself as a young man and as an adult to the extent that it didn’t give me much reason to care about him as a character.

The book starts off as George and his family move to Des Moines, spending the night before they move into their new home in a hotel – their room right above where a murder takes place. The storyline, as dramatic as it sounds, doesn’t seem to really go anywhere, and the event just pops up every once in a while.

George meets the girl that will be his great love, Emily, and then her sister, Katie, who will provide the main bit of soul I found in the book. Katie suffers from multiple sclerosis, and her strength and sense of humor were the bright lights of the book.

Another tragedy strikes, and everything in the new world George has created changes…but not to any extent I would have thought. Given the circumstances, everyone (including George’s barely visible parents) seems to move on awfully quickly.

Katie, though, has a voice that stays strong throughout the book. “This is the only sure thing in my largely uncertain life that is currently posed with such questions of such common adequacy as the capacity to walk under the power of my own muscles, or even more frighteningly, my future ability to see.”

But Katie’s spirit and voice can’t make this whole book go. The story of George and Emily becomes less and less compelling as the book goes on…and in the interest of full disclosure, wearied me to the point that I skimmed the last 30 pages or so.

There were many words, but not enough feelings behind them. Many clever phrases, but not the depth of meaning to make them stand out.

I loved the title of this book…that’s probably more than ½ of the reason I picked it. But the laughter seems a bit canned…and the weeping just didn’t seem heartfelt. ( )