Beheaded, Survived

Jane doesn't want anyone to know about her diabetes during the three weeks that she tours England with a group of students, and begs her sister Courtney to help her keep the secret. Courtney agrees but gets involved with a boy named Scott, while Jane is stuck with Lowell as her partner for sightseeing. Lowell has his own problems: his mother has died of leukemia, and his father married his pregnant secretary, with whom he began an affair while his wife was ill. Jane, without realizing it, gives Lowell the perspective he needs on his family. And he makes her, always the plain member of her family, feel special and pretty, introducing her to another plain, imaginative personJane Austen. The English countryside takes a backseat to the portraits of the two troubled teenagers. Williams's romance has a hesitancy based on misunderstandings, giving it a richness and immediacy that is compelling. Ages 12-up. (October)