Get It While Its Hot or Not

A vow to stay ""friends till the end"" takes on new meaning for a group of four high school juniors when one of them, Kit, the daughter of an alcoholic, is hit with a double whammy: unplanned pregnancy and possible exposure to AIDS. Ever-loyal Elaine, Mia and Megan take turns soothing Kit's physical ailments and sagging spirits, but it is Megan, the narrator, who takes her responsibilities most seriously and is most profoundly affected by Kit's ordeal. As tenderly wrought as Hobbs's first novel, How Far Would You Have Gotten If I Hadn't Called You Back?, this intense drama conveys hard-hitting messages about casual sex and commitment. Although the author's orchestration of events is rather obvious in its design as a forum for different opinions on the subject, she successfully shows several points of view through a wide range of characters, including Megan's no-nonsense nurse mother (dubbed The General) and the yuppie couple wanting to adopt Kit's baby. In the end, it is left to readers to decide whether the teenage mother's decision to keep her child makes for a happy ending or a tragic beginning to another saga. Ages 12-up. (Oct.)