Virgin Territory

Fifteen-year-old Dylan is sleepwalking through his life in Jupiter, Fla., where he moved nine years ago with his father after his mother died. But everything changes at the start of summer vacation when an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary (aka the BVM) appears in the bark of a tree at the golf course where Dylan works. Devotees arrive in droves, hoping for cures to various illnesses, and when Dylan meets Angela, the daughter of a BVM pilgrim, he falls hard. Angela invites him to join the "Virgin Club," with fellow teens Crispy and Desirée, whose mothers also follow BVM sightings around the country. For the first time in years Dylan finds himself taking risks and caring deeply about his new friends. There are some jarring inconsistencies in the setting (Dylan was apparently five years old in 1997, six in 2001, and, although the story is set in 2010, people are still talking about Pluto's 2006 demotion from planet status). But Lecesne (Absolute Brightness) delivers a quiet journey that is occasionally humorous and often moving. Ages 12–up. (Sept.)