Elliott & Win

In her 24th novel, Meyer again invests the chararacters with the humanity that makes them memorable. Win Kelly, 14, tells about events after a group in Santa Fe, providing adult male companions to fatherless boys, signs him up with Elliott Deerfield. A casualty of rough life, surviving life with his mother's broken marriages and affairs, Win finds Elliott's social graces strange. Another boy, Paul, jeers at Elliott, calling him ""a faggot,'' he says, nothing like his own macho father. But Win slowly grows to like and respect the cultivated man whose friendship is a great blessing when Win suffers agonizing guilts. Overpowered by a tough gang, he can't prevent them from raping Heather Key, a girl dear to Win. Later, he pours out his grief to Elliott who says the compassionate, wise words that give the boy solace and hope. Meyer handles the story sensitively and convincingly except for one small instance: It seems too pat that Paul learns his father is homosexual, a kind of retribution for mocking Elliott who may, or may not, be gay. The fact that we never know for sure about Elliott is a nicely ambiguous touch. (14-up)