Palmers Gate

Newcomer Varela's strange and moving novella, set in the early 1970s, takes place in Palmers Gate, a run-down bayside town in New Jersey. In the spring of Robbie's fifth grade year, Colleen moves in next door, and the entire class immediately identifies her as an "outsider." Over the following months, the two form a tenuous, secret friendship. The author hints at Colleen's deeply troubled nature when she circulates a note to her fifth-grade male classmates saying she will "strip" near a wooded pond after school (which she does not end up doing). Robbie knows that Colleen is not the "Retardner" her classmates have nick-named her, but also believes that something is very wrong. The third-person narrative allows readers to observe Robbie's conflicting reactions to Colleen, wanting to avoid but also protect her. The tension builds to a climax one summer night when Robbie does something that changes the course of both of their lives. This is a gracefully written and powerful story, made all the more disturbing by Robbie's sense that something is wrong, and his inability to figure out the danger surrounding Colleen. That she is a victim of sexual abuse is far beyond his ken, yet readers may well understand what Robbie could not. There are no easy answers here, but Varela's quietly gripping tale unfolds with excellent pacing. Ages 12-up. (June)