The Tinker's Daughter: 9

Holly Gerard, 12, aches to be ``normal,'' like the other kids in backwater Old MacIntosh, Vt.-instead, Holly has an unabashedly single mother, Paisley (``she who renamed herself after a shawl somewhere around 1968''), who runs an antique-cum-junk shop. After her best friend moves away, Holly is stuck in the role of satellite to the vapid and overbearing Kirby twins. But when teen actress Madison Brown, fresh from New York, picks her as a friend, Holly's social life seems to be made. Anxious to keep Maddy's friendship, Holly lies about her situation and later joins Maddy and others in the Kirby entourage in shunning newcomer Camilla Moss, whose father is in jail. Eventually, Holly sees that she is being used by Maddy and realizes that being part of the ``in'' crowd may not be so desirable after all. While spinning an entertaining yarn about smalltown life, Hayes (Zoe's Gift) astutely conveys the adolescent yearning for popularity-and shows how easily integrity can be compromised in its pursuit. Ages 10-14. (Aug.)