Shelter

Screenwriter Merrick's debut novel is an occasionally overwritten but nonetheless touching, funny look at what it's like to be 13, in love and confused. Set in Oregon in 1962-63, Shelter purports to be the secret diary of Nelson Jaqua, an awkward teen and budding novelist whose world is falling apart. His remote, physically abusive, philandering father, a department store executive, and his badgering mother, a self-absorbed painter, are getting a divorce and expect him to choose between them. Nelson also discovers that his two best friends--the gloomy Tim and the bitchy tomboy Cat--are romantically involved. The plot hinges on Nelson's neighbors, a quiet couple whom Nelson, Tim and Cat mistakenly believe have murdered their retarded son and buried him in the cellar. Long stretches of this tale read like a young adult novel, punctuated by flashes of keen insight, some bright dialogue and a few perfectly drawn characters; the dramatic, tearjerker ending demonstrates Nelson's quantum leap to maturity. (July)