3 Nbs of Julian Drew

Presented as a series of notebook entries by the mentally and physically abused Julian Drew, much of Deem's (How to Read Your Mother's Mind) erratic first YA novel is written in a simple but irritating code. Numbers replace letters in particularly loaded words or phrases: ``1M155U'' is the equivalent of ``I miss you'' and 543 is ``she'' (meaning the woman Julian's father has married following Julian's mother's death). Gradually the reader comes to understand that Julian's father and stepmother starve him for days, make him sleep in an unheated garage and otherwise mistreat him. As Julian confronts his vast grief about his mother, he uses less and less of his code, finally dropping it altogether-but not before the reader's patience has been taxed. Julian's voice is disturbing yet brilliant-however, aside from its almost surrealistic climax and improbably promising ending, this dark book rarely rises above the level of a moody character study. Ages 12-up. (Oct.)