The Darling Budds is a serialized Young Adult novel that follows seven teenagers during the long summer between junior and senior year. The glamorous Alexander and Lillian Budd have been sent away for the summer, and possibly longer. Will their friends risk everything to bring them back?
You can follow the entire story online: new chapters are posted on Sundays, and you can read everything that’s been posted so far from the beginning. You can also download the book directly to your phone or ebook reader if you want. I’m working on an audiobook version as well, but it’s not quite ready yet.
If you still have questions about what’s going on here, visit the About page. Otherwise, just start reading the story…I hope you enjoy it.
"Johnny Dale is writing a book on—get this—the Internet! I know what you’re saying, 'I’ve read free online literature before,' but this is different. Johnny’s The Darling Budds is a real book with characters and plot and wit and suspense and whatnot. I love it so far. Read it, and tell your literate friends." John Teti
"Johnny Dale's characters are richer, prettier, maybe smarter, and let's hope more troubled than us. They lead charmed lives and most of the time, they can't stand it. I'm jealous of them, enthralled by them, and I thoroughly dig reading about them." Chris Dahlen
Pitchfork, The AV Club
"It's what you wish your high school summer fling had actually been like. It's falling in love with the supporting characters." Jenny Zhang
The Darling Budds is a serialized Young Adult novel that follows seven teenagers during the long summer between junior and senior year. The glamorous Alexander and Lillian Budd have been sent away for the summer, and possibly longer. Will their friends risk everything to bring them back?