The Great Eye

With her sister back from college with a new boyfriend and her mom and dad separated, a disheartened Lucy thinks has only two supports she can count on-her friend Calvin and her computer, which she calls The Great Eye and which she uses to compose her poetry. Then she gets a chance to raise a puppy for Guiding Eyes for the Blind. Shalant (Beware of Kissing Lizard Lips) contributes keenly observed scenes about Lucy's developing relationship with the labrador retriever, Hobart; later, Lucy's attempts to get the timid dog to crawl through a dark tunnel so he can pass the guide dog test parallel her own struggle to get through the dark place in her life. Not quite 13, Lucy can intellectualize her problems in her poems: ""I'm afraid there's no cure for what this house has got/ Termites? I asked. Dry rot?/ Memories, he told me straight out/ Spread to every floorboard sill and rail."" Her behavior, however, is much less controlled: she is so furious at her father that when he sends her letters, she tears them up in little pieces and swallows them. On the other hand, readers who don't already share Lucy's interest in poetry may find the frequent examples of her writing and her references to Emily Dickinson off-putting, despite Shalant's insightful characterizations and sturdy plot. Ages 11-up. (Nov.)