Diving Under (Bryce)
- This novel starts off with some serious social truth bombs: Bryce just doesn't like this gal Juli Baker. And get this: the Bryce/Juli feud has been going on for years. These two are in eighth grade now, but Bryce has been trying to get away from Juli since second grade.
- So Bryce gives us the details on how his seven-year-old self first met this troublesome Juli girl. It was back when his family moved onto Juli's street and these two became neighbors. And it all starts when Juli decides to get involved with moving day.
- Juli hops right into their van and tries to lend a hand. And how does Bryce feel about this? Not good, that's how.
- Bryce's dad tries to help him out by saying he should go inside… but Juli isn't going to disappear that easily, and she follows Bryce right up to his house.
- Somehow, while Bryce is trying to shake Juli off, they end up holding hands. Bryce is seriously upset about this, but Juli seems super excited. And things only get more embarrassing for Bryce when his mom catches him hand-in-hand with a girl.
- Oh—and Bryce's mom gets us the details on Juli's full name (moms are good at that): it's Juliana Baker. And this Juli is not shy at all.
- But Bryce is a different story. So when he and Juli head inside the house, he runs straight to the bathroom and he locks himself inside. Good move, Bryce.
- Apparently this locking-himself-in-the-bathroom trick works, because when Bryce comes out Juli is gone.
- This bit of relief doesn't last long for Bryce, though—Juli is constantly coming over to play. And Bryce just can't get rid of her; his dad even tries to help by saying Bryce is busy.
- But there's one member of Bryce's family who is actually helping Juli to find Bryce, and that's his older sister Lynetta.
- So according to Bryce, Juli is a bit of a stalker, which he responds to by staying home a bunch during the summer just so he can avoid her.
- He can't hide from her during the school year, though, and according to Bryce he's had a few rough years in school thanks to Juli Baker:
- Rough Year Number One: Second Grade. When Bryce heads into class, Juli gives him a hug that is so big it sends him to the ground, football-style, and then she spends recess trying to kiss the poor guy. With all this girl stuff going on, Bryce is basically the laughing stock of the second grade all year long.
- Rough Year Number Two: Third Grade. Juli is still stuck to Bryce. And he's still not liking it.
- Rough Year Number Three: Fourth Grade. Same old, same old—Juli likes Bryce, but Bryce just can't stand Juli.
- Rough Year Number Four: Fifth Grade. It's now been three years of Juli's pestering, so Bryce decides he needs to make a change and hatches himself a plan.
- Here's Bryce's plan: he's going to ask out a gal named Shelly Stalls. Juli thinks Shelly Stalls is the worst person in the whole wide world, so Bryce figures that if Juli thinks that he and Shelly are hanging out together, then Juli will realize she's not the gal for Bryce.
- Things go a little haywire though, when Shelly tells everyone that she and Bryce are seriously in love.
- And how does Juli take this news? Not well at all, and she and Shelly end up in a big fight. But once Shelly is dating another kid one week later, Juli is back to hanging around Bryce again.
- Rough Year Number Five: Sixth Grade. By the time sixth grade comes around, Juli has stopped chasing Bryce—nowadays she prefers smelling him. Or as Bryce would say, she's "sniffing" him (1.55).
- Apparently Juli ends up sitting behind Bryce in their sixth grade class, which makes Bryce unhappy because Juli likes to lean forward and smell his hair.
- Plus Juli is super smart. So when Bryce sits next to Juli, he's a little cheater-cheater-pumpkin-eater and sometimes copies answers from her assignments—but once she's sitting behind him, that free ride on tests is out the window.
- Then one day Juli starts whispering answers for a spelling test into Bryce's ear. Now Bryce is torn between feeling annoyed that she's always pestering him, and seriously needing her help to get through his exams.
- All Bryce can hope for is that next year, when they're in a bigger school, it's "finally, finally going to be over" (1.68).