Bridge to Courage

A (somewhat vaguely explained) near-mishap years ago has left 15-year-old Luke with an intense fear of bridges. His father, who designs these structures, expresses blatant disdain for his son's phobia. The boy hopes that his acceptance into a daredevil gang will enhance his parent's image of him, but the club's final initiation requirement involves walking across a railroad bridge. This act is unthinkable to Luke and, branded a coward by the gang, he becomes a social outcast. His trauma is alternately assuaged and escalated by Shea, a ``beyond just pretty'' schoolmate, and Skeets, the bully who adores her. Gabhart ( Two of a Kind ) belabors his attenuated story line, in which the martyred protagonist accepts his undeserved (and somewhat unbelievable) ostracism too stoically. Yet in a climactic scene, Luke's courage emerges--providing needed tension and suggesting that anxieties can be quelled in the course of helping others. Ages 12-up. (Feb.)