The TV Guidance Counselor

After a thwarted suicide attempt, 16-year-old Michael Madden lands in a mental hospital, where he rehashes the events that led to his desperate act. Juxtaposed with passages chronicling therapy sessions and hospital routines are lengthy flashbacks relating the bitter divorce of Michael's previously unemployed mother and his marine photographer father, and Michael's growing preoccupation with cameras and photography. LeMieux also describes his relationships with girlfriend Melissa; photography teacher Mr. Dorio; fellow employees at a grocery store; and a bizarre, perhaps autistic woman whom Michael captures on film. Some readers may be particularly attuned to LeMieux's understanding of the void created by a father's absence, while others will relate to Michael's frustration at being misunderstood and his attempt to distance himself by becoming absorbed in art. Evincing deep feeling for adolescent anguish, this first novel admirably explores a young man's injured soul. Ages 12-up. (Sept.)