Summer 1987: Mark Prewitt's only priority is to avoid his dad's new wife and waste time with his friends, but idle nights are the devil's handiwork. When his friends decide to pull a cruel prank on the reclusive and strange Farrow sisters, Mark regrets caving in to peer pressure.
Wanting to make amends, Mark is drawn into the mysterious world of the Farrow girls, finding a kindred spirit in the middle sister, George. She is unlike anyone he's ever known; a practicing witch who uses folk magic to protect her family. They bond over books, loneliness, and homemade spells. She even invites Mark to join a séance to contact her dead sister, who died under mysterious circumstances.
Keeping their relationship secret, Mark learns that living a double life in a town this small is impossible. When the secret is exposed, and his friends plot to punish the witch sisters for stealing one of their own, Mark is forced to choose between these two worlds.
Teen angst, witchcraft, and mob mentality feature heavily in the coming-of-age novel Wasps in The Ice Cream by Tim McGregor.
Set in the late 80s we find Mark and his friends growing bored with summer and occasionally with each other. Mark is maturing while his pals seem to be stagnating. In the back of his mind he knows this, but peer pressure can be a dangerous thing, as can the desire to fit in.
I'm not going to say anything else about the plot. I'm just going to say it was about loneliness and waiting to fit in, growing up and growing out of friendships. It was ugly and beautiful. I was alternately angry with Mark and sympathetic to his fear of being ostracized like the Farrow sisters.
As for the sisters, I loved George. She is both innocent yet worldly, shy but adventurous, sheltered yet terrorized in the town and in her own home. I can't say I understand the parents, or their actions but that didn't take away from my enjoyment of the story.
4 out of 5 stars
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