Flyers

In relating the escapades of a youthful upstate New York filmmaker and his goofy friends, Hayes (The Trouble with Lemons) spins a tale that goes straight from the funnybone to the heart. The 15-year-old narrator, Gabe Riley, faces problems aplenty: his mother took off years earlier, never to be heard from again, and he frequently has to scrape his lawyer father off a barstool. However, these potentially dire circumstances are not the core of the story but rather the occasion to enrich it with incisive empathy and wry humor. Instead the plot centers on mysterious goings-on at a cantankerous neighbor's homestead. Events unfold so subtly that despite foreshadowing and some seemingly obvious clues, even readers who think they know what's going to happen next are in for a surprise. (A gaffe about a shotgun that figures in the denouement mars its impact only slightly.) Throughout, this spry work blends wisecracks with insightful reflections on life, death and relationships. Falling in love, for example, is ""a little like getting a bad cold-sometimes the symptoms persist longer than others, but it's only a matter of time before you feel like yourself again."" Fresh and convincing. Ages 12-up. (Oct.)