ROOSTER

Set in the Vietnam War era, this first novel adds some curves to the age-old theme of a teenage girl falling for the wrong boy. Fifteen-year-old Kady Palmer, who narrates the tale, wishes she could live in a house as grand and well-ordered as her prized Victorian doll house. Instead, she lives with her parents, three siblings and grandmother in an orange grove in a tin-roofed, aqua blue "hovel." Her next-door neighbors, the Rosadas, are Cuban refugees. For years, Kady's only male companions have been Tony Rosada and his crazy 13-year-old brother, Rooster. But all that changes when rich, popular Jon wants Kady for his girlfriend. Seduced by Jon's good looks and expensive gifts, Kady is floating on cloud nine until a devastating accident—for which she is partially responsible—brings her crashing down to earth. Weaver offers a detailed picture of late 1960s Florida while contrasting the differences between Kady's two worlds, that of her impoverished parents and her carefree, spoiled boyfriend. Though some awkward transitions and overblown passages (e.g., "I could feel his sadness by the way his face tilted back as if to meet a wind that was no longer there") mar the pacing, the crossing of these worlds causes a friction readers will not soon forget. Ages 12-up. (June)