Edith Shay

The intricate descriptions and leisurely pace that served LaFaye well in her remarkable debut, The Year of the Sawdust Man, prove a stumbling block in this coming-of-age story set in 1865 Chicago. High-spirited and impulsive by nature, 16-year-old Katherine feels stifled growing up in the woods of Wisconsin. Reading provides her only stimulation, and her parents' urgings to marry ""some country boy"" and stick close to home make her feel like a misfit. Her wish ""to marry a city gentleman who would treat me like a lady and take me to the far reaches of the country"" leads Katherine on a difficult road of hard labor and self-doubt, first as a night cook in Chicago and then in a printer's shop in Philadelphia. In the process she takes on a new name (Edith Shay), discovers how little her previous life has prepared her for fending for herself and develops a strong faith in the kindness of strangers and her own resilience. As in her first novel, LaFaye offers a multidimensional portrait of a young woman in transition, one capable of seeing her flaws and rising above them, revealed in poetic and poignant language. While the theme of adventure is somewhat derailed by the time it takes for the plot to unravel, readers inclined toward self-reflection will be hooked by Katherine's commitment to figuring out who she is, how she feels about her family and what she envisions for her future. Ages 11-up. (Oct.)