Breaking Rank

For 12 years, the black-clad members of ""the Clan"" have slunk through school, driving teachers crazy by calmly refusing to work or to speak to anyone. But one day Thomas, aka ""Baby"" to his Clan fellows, clandestinely takes a placement test and is identified as gifted. Over her parents' objections, Casey, a good student friendly with the jock/cheerleader set, responds to the guidance counselor's request for her help and becomes Baby's after-school tutor. At first deeply mistrustful of each other, Baby and Casey gradually find a common bond and, unsurprisingly, a powerful mutual attraction. Their relationship sets in motion a chain of events that causes each of them to reexamine who they are, where they stand in their social milieus and how they will respond to their peers' expectations. The characterizations and group dynamics are compelling, the romance believable and the plot gripping as events come to a violent crescendo. Randle (The Only Alien on the Planet) is adept at conveying ingrained prejudices as well as the frustration and alienation that lead some youths to forsake the ""straight"" world for a more friendly and accepting one of their own making. A vivid, resonant contemporary tale. Ages 12-up. (May)