Now That I Know

Nina is a J.C.K. (joint custody kid) who spends part of the week with each of her parents. Her father edits a medical newsletter, while her mother is an administrative assistant at a toy company. Nina, shy and unadventurous at 13, is best friends with sexy, precocious Dara, who (along with her divorced, sexually active mother) encourages Nina to loosen up and open herself up to boys. Nina tries to change both herself and her mother, but is sidetracked when her father admits that he is gay and plans to have his friend Greg, a gourmet chef, move in permanently. Klein's usual territorydivorced families, teen sexuality and growing up in New Yorkis combined with themes regarding parental responsibility and the woes of joint custody. Homosexuality is not the issue as much as Nina's reactions to the discovery that her father is gay; Klein treats this with sensitivity. But the title seems to imply that this discovery is the thrust of the entire book, when in fact it is just one facet of Nina's anxiety over parents and peers. Ages 12-up. (May)