Sophomore Summer

It's the summer of 1987, and Sam Rinaldo has emerged from his adolescent cocoon to find a world of possibility. Big rock shows are playing the Ballpark in Old Orchard Beach. Musicland is thriving in the Maine Mall. The music scene in Portland, Maine is alive and rocking. Though it all, Sam has a dream—to play guitar and write songs. Summer love, baseball, and music paint the picture of "Sophomore Summer," a coming-of-age story that encompasses one summer and all the hopes and dreams that exist within it.

It's the summer of 1987, and Sam Rinaldo has emerged from his adolescent cocoon to find a world of possibility. Big rock shows are playing the Ballpark in Old Orchard Beach. Musicland is thriving in the Maine Mall. The music scene in Maine is alive and rocking. For Sam, this summer will be different. His crushes are finally starting to notice him. And his part time job as a busboy not only gives him some spending money, but also introduces him to Stephanie and her boyfriend Steve, who plays drums in a local college rock band. Sam has a dream—to play guitar and write songs. However, he can't figure out how to put one chord in front of another. Summer love, baseball, and music paint the picture of "Sophomore Summer," a coming-of-age tale that encompasses one summer and all the hopes and dreams that exist within it. This time capsule of a story finds adolescents trying to understand the adult world and their place in it. Growing up is hard, but it can be fun and beautiful too.

Jason Lambert is a schoolteacher and aspiring musician who grew up in the Riverton neighborhood of Portland, Maine. It took some time for him to realize just how awesome the music of the eighties was. Today he still lives in Portland, spending a lot of time playing synthesizers to try and recreate the sounds of that decade with a project called Suns So Far... "Sophomore Summer" is his first novel.