SUMMER OF THE SKUNKS

Set in the rural South, Foreman's debut novel unfolds in an unspecified but nostalgically evoked past as the narrator, Jill, describes caper after caper. While their young brother and their hardworking parents are otherwise engaged, Jill and her older siblings, newly adolescent Calvin and citified high school junior Margo hatch a scheme to drive out the skunks that are nesting underneath their house and thus obliging Jill's family to stay unnaturally quiet. The three later conspire to provide refuge for an alcoholic war vet (a family friend beyond their parents' help) and make him dry out; and they gang up again to drive out an unwanted house guest. The theme of family closeness resounds loudly over the current of the siblings' frequent bickering, and the descriptions of catching frogs, fishing or even playing Monopoly have an old-fashioned appeal. But the book's flaws may outweigh its accomplishments. Dialogue in the opening sections frequently devolves into cliché ("I could be ready 'fore you can say Jack Robinson," says Jill. "I got no need to say Jack Robinson," replies Calvin), yet the writing gets better as the story progresses. Still, readers may be unsettled by the ending—the predominantly lighthearted tone that Foreman maintains leaves the audience unprepared for the losses that accrue with seeming suddenness. Ages 10-up. (May)