Circles

Beebe and Mark may--or may not--be meant for each other. Although they live near one another, are juniors in the same high school and have friends in common, they don't meet until the novel's very last page. They come maddeningly close to meeting: Beebe's widowed mother even goes on a few dates with Mark's divorced father. And because Beebe's best friend is obsessed with arranging a blind date for the star-crossed duo, they hear quite a lot about each other. A subplot concerning a modernized version of Romeo and Juliet provides a bland counterpoint to this good- natured account of romantic blindman's buff. Mark and Beebe, though appealing, seem several years younger than their supposed ages. Ages 10-14. (Mar.)