MIXED-UP DOUBLES

Hank, the ninth-grade narrator of this lightweight novel, Eulo's children's book debut, has unhappily moved to a new town in the wake of their parents' divorce. He, his older brother and young sister are to live with their father; their mother, a tennis coach, travels all the time. Hank's delivery can be coy (Mom "calls every day and always sounds like she's got a cold when she hangs up") and the narrative strains for comic effect. Geeky Tremont, the "total social disaster" who lives next door, tutors Hank, who sets about improving his tutor's image. Tremont's makeover (which is overwhelmingly successful) includes talking back to the villainous algebra teacher ("I'm not going to... to put your... your old algebra on the... the dumb old blackboard") and punching out a classmate; the dialogue, which favors expressions like "danged" and "to heck with them," belies the Jimmy Dean swagger. In other plot lines that run to wish fulfillment, perceived wimps experience the thrill of victory over jocks, and the algebra teacher, driven from her job, suffers the agony of defeat. The author caps these overdone scenarios with a shopworn twist: Hank secretly enters his parents into a mixed-doubles tournament at a prestigious amateur event, in the hope of reuniting them. While the narrator's disdain for learning changes, his initial sneering may alienate book-loving readers at the outset, while tennis enthusiasts will wish for more court action. Ages 11-up. (Apr.)