Kornblatt (Eli and the Dimplemeyers) offers readers much to think about in his promising first novel. When Buddy White joins Sam Keeperman's fifth grade class, he is so withdrawn that he doesn't even say hello or pick up his pencil. Only Sam knows what is troubling him—over the summer Buddy's mother (who was the Keepermans' housecleaner) was killed in a car accident. For not altogether convincing reasons, Sam keeps the news about Buddy's mother from everyone, including his best friend, Alex. When Sam tries reaching out to Buddy, even defending him from the taunts of their classmates, he opens a rift between himself and Alex, complete with a fistfight that gets both of them kicked off the soccer team. Sam's first-person narration touches on religious differences (Sam is Jewish, Buddy is a Jehovah's Witness) and uses, somewhat clunkily, Sam's Hebrew class discussions as a springboard for his questions about life and God (a lesson on God testing Abraham with the sacrifice of Isaac leads to "Did God let Laura die to test Buddy and his father?... Did God bring Buddy to Mrs. Bobson's class to test me?"). The issues and concerns are commendably large, even if the contrived setup diminishes their impact. Unobtrusive subplots (does Naomi Shrager have a crush on him?) round out the story. On balance, this fast-paced novel demonstrates the author's compassionate understanding of his subject. Ages 8-12. (Apr.)
