Carrie's Game

Carrie has always been the apple of her widowed father's eye. When he starts dating Lise, Carrie doesn't like it. She goes out with Tony, a leather-jacketed, maho type, just to upset her father and interfere with his romance. But all Carrie manages to upset are her own relationships with her boyfriend Matt and his sisterCarrie's best friend. Some readers may find it hard to sympathize with Carrie's self-induced problems, and the main plot is anti-climactic and clumsily handled. The meeting between Tony and Carrie's father takes place offstage and is related as an afterthought; Carrie and Lise are reconciled with little explanation. The romance between Carrie and Matt is charming, however, and interest in how things end up will keep readers involved. (12-up)