Bad

Ferris (Invincible Summer) follows six months in the life of a 16-year-old confined to a criminal rehabilitation center for teenage girls in this novel based on interviews with young women in real-life rehab. Dallas craves the excitement of ""skating""--hot-wiring cars, shoplifting, snatching purses--to fill the emptiness left by the death of her irresponsible mother and the coldness of her rule-bound father. But when she's caught in the midst of a convenience store holdup, gun in hand, and her father tells the judge that he can no longer control her, Dallas ends up in Girls' Rehabilitation Center, a stop between ""Juvie"" and a more punitive work camp. Through Dallas's eyes, readers meet the other wards at GRC, as well as the people who work to help (and sometimes hinder) them--wan, wispy Toozdae, turning tricks to support her siblings; Dahlia, wedded to the white supremacist credo; tough-talking Shatasia, determined to change for the sake of her baby; plus Mary Alice (""Malice""), a probation officer who revels in insulting and ridiculing the girls, and counselor Nolan, who runs their Anger Management sessions. Ferris often opts for insight over authenticity in Dallas's first-person narration (""At home, at school--when I managed to get there--everything seemed to be in slow motion and muted colors. I felt hollow and barely visible""). As a result, the narrator comes off as more of an observer than a fully realized character. But the author's willingness to explore the issues these girls face, as well as her refusal to settle for easy answers and sugarcoated endings, makes for a thoughtful novel. Ages 12-up. (Oct.)