Us Against Them

The conflict between loyalty to friends and to one's conscience is the theme of this tense, well-wrought novel by the author of Soldier Boy. French probes the feelings that all teens have of being misunderstood and cast out by adult society. Handsome, self-assured Reed is the undisputed leader of a club of seven youths in Olancha, a small town in the Adirondack Mountains. After Sheriff Covington, the Club's nemesis, tells them that their clubhouse is to be torn down, Reed convinces the group to take off to a cabin in the mountains for ""just a few days.'' But when it's time to return home, he coerces everyone into going further into the wilderness. The extended trip turns into a fiasco, then a tragedy when Reed gets into a deadly altercation with the father of twins Amber and Jade. Reed runs away and leaves his friends to lie as best they can to Covington. At first, sensitive Devon believes his hero can do no wrong, as does Marcy, who is in love with Reed. But their strong moral sense obliges them to do what they feel is right. Readers confronted by peer pressure will find much food for thought in this sober, compelling book. Ages 11-up. (November)