SOMEONE LIKE YOU

Adolescence is hard--at times exciting, at times terrifying, and often both at the same time. For Halley, her sixteenth summer brings sadness, death, new life, and changing relationships with family and friends. Katherine Powell brings all the characters to life. Halley's somewhat unsure, introverted manner at first contrasts with Scarlett's confident, extroverted personality; gradually each voice changes as Halley's romance with Macon forces her to withdraw from her mother and to make her own decisions as she matures. The scenes between mother and daughter grate, appropriately so, as Powell accentuates the growing separation, revealing both underlying humor and adolescent sarcasm. The scenes between Halley and Scarlett are absolutely right, and Powell makes this candid treatment of teenage pregnancy a powerful book. W.L.S. © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB/ MAR 04]