Close Enough to Touch is a novel by Richard Peck written in 1981.
Ordinary High School student Matt Moran remembers last year when he took his girlfriend Dory Gunderson to the family cabin where he told her he would always love her. But that was last year, it's this year and Dory Gunderson is dead.
Matt Moran must learn to cope with the death of his teenage love and also meets someone who he never noticed before who is going to become close enough to touch.
Tropes in this work:
- Cool Old Lady: Matt's Gram Lola is a grandma who still works the checkout the line and comes over to clean house with her son and stepdaughter in card games.
- Competing with a Corpse: Margaret understands this and makes clear to Matt that she doesn't want to do this with him.
- Dad the Veteran: Matt's father is an army veteran
- Good Stepmother: Beth is a good stepmother to Matt, even though he has difficulty in some of the smaller things but she always tries her best.
- Her Heart Will Go On: Matt is a male example. This is his story to grow on from the loss of Dory.
- Posthumous Character: Dory Gunderson is deceased throughout the story and only on page for Matt's first chapter flashback.
- Replacement Goldfish: Margaret Chasen makes it clear early on to Matt she doesn't only want to talk to him about Dory or serve as her replacement.
- Rich Bitch: Downplayed in that Dory Gunderson, Carol MacIntosh and Linda Whitman are depicted as being the wealthier girls in town and mostly keep among themselves. Other characters note they seem snobbish but never really show any sign of the nasty side of this trope.
- Romantic Runner-Up: Towards the end of the story, Dory's Friend Linda Whitman makes a move on Matt revealing that she liked him too but Matt doesn't return her interest as he's already interested in Margaret and also realized he didn't fit in with her and Dory's other friends even before.
