(3) YA This novel's length and the mainly adult characters may discourage some teens at first, but the intriguing plot will draw them in. A company that has invented a time-travel machine hopes to cash in on the natural resources of sixteenth-century Britain, but they discover that dealing with the barbaric Sterkarm clan is more dangerous than expected. The novel shifts between the two centuries, and the point of view ranges among many characters.

Reviewer: Anne St. John

(1) YA His Dark Materials series. The conclusion to Pullman's trilogy delivers much of what was promised in the preceding cliffhangers. Most of the characters, beloved or bedeviled or both, return to continue their fateful roles in this saga. The book rollicks with a narrative gale force, and Pullman achieves effects that rival the best accomplishments of the earlier books. It will take us all a while to discern the counterpoints and overtones in this massive symphonic accomplishment.

Reviewer: Grace McKinney | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2000

(2) YA In this unabashed imitation of the adult bestseller Bridget Jones's Diary, fourteen-year-old Georgia's journal is just like Bridget's: improbable but undeniably funny, with our comic British heroine forever finding herself in embarrassing predicaments. It's personality rather than plot that carries the book, and while Georgia isn't quite as hilarious as Bridget, she's a close second. Glos.

Reviewer: Jennifer M. Brabander | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2000

(3) YA After her mother's death on her family's trip West in 1878, Lizzy's father leaves her at an all-girls' Catholic school in Santa Fe. Protestant Lizzy is at first resistant but later attempts to understand the conventions of this unfamiliar setting and faith. This novel features an eclectic collection of characters and a possible miracle based on an actual Santa Fe legend about St. Joseph, both of which will please historical fiction fans. Bib.

Reviewer: Jane Lopez-Santillana

(2) YA In the continuation of the Underground Railroad tale begun in Steal Away Home, alternating parallel stories feature Dana, a contemporary teenager trying to solve a mystery involving Delaware Indians, and James, a Quaker boy of the 1850s leading a small band of slaves to freedom. The mixture of real and invented occurrences is a bit confusing, but Ruby conveys a faithful sense of the human experiences surrounding them.

Reviewer: Margaret A. Bush | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2000

(2) YA Julius Lester's To Be a Slave includes an account of the auction-block rescue of Eliza, sold by a master who had fathered her: a northern abolitionist bought and freed her. Schwartz extends the brief eyewitness account into a compelling first novel, writing passionately of the privations and cruelties of the old South, and of the love and loyalty of the slaves for one another.

Reviewer: Joanna Rudge Long | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2000

(4) YA When Stargirl, a contemporary Pollyanna, is shunned for disloyal cheerleading (she roots for both teams), high school junior Leo persuades her to go along with the crowd. Predictably, this doesn't work for Stargirl; on the author's part, it occasions much heavy-handed moralizing about conformity. But as a story of high school outsiders and light romance, this will find an audience.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2000

(2) YA Parvati's uncanny, eerie prescience marks her as different, and people begin to hold her responsible for the catastrophic cyclone that opens the novel. Parvati seeks pleasure in mimicking the dance movements of a statue carved by her deceased father, which comes alive for her alone. Staples breathes life into her evocation of India. Despite an uneven pace, this is a memorable novel about a fascinating place and mythology. Glos.

Reviewer: Susan P. Bloom | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2000

(4) YA Whole Story series. Illustrated by Francois Place. Dr. Jekyll, a respectable doctor by day, morphs into Mr. Hyde, a depraved criminal, by night, in this Victorian classic. In addition to its watercolor drawings, this edition of the thriller provides information on Stevenson and the times in which he lived. While the background, including period photographs and engravings, provides context for the story, its placement on pages throughout the story is distracting.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(3) YA Leslie, a tough teen with a quick mouth, melts like butter when heartthrob Jason shows interest in her. He sweet-talks her past his controlling behavior and her bruises, and when sweet-talk stops working, he starts stalking her. Stratton captures the rhythms of teen speech, and the subject matter is treated subtly enough that readers will stay with Leslie as she realizes what's going on and decides to take a stand.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam

(2) YA In Restoration London, Meg Moore, sole heir to her father's print shop, expects to choose her own husband and exercise a rare independence. That is, until a comet appears portending disaster, and her father remarries. While Sturtevant's portrayal of a blended family could be true today, her depiction of women's roles is carefully researched, and this historical tale balances a realistic view of women's options with a hopeful ending.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2000

(3) YA Senior captain Corey Brennan knows that this is the year his basketball team has a shot to become all-city champs. However, when the competitive and mysterious newcomer, Noah, joins the team, Corey struggles on and off the court to keep his team together. Adolescent teammate relationships are well depicted in this suspenseful, action-filled novel.

Reviewer: Charlotte S. Huck

(4) YA Wanting to "spread her wings," Terry stows away on a yacht, not expecting the owner's son, Mick, to hijack it. The fast-paced, cartoonishly exaggerated action has them weathering a storm, captured by stereotypical pirates, and, at the point of escaping, liberated by U.S. Navy paratroopers. Despite the one-note characters and overused story elements, the engaging narrative will draw readers in.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam

(2) YA Born with cerebral palsy and unable to communicate, Shawn is presumed to have the mental age of a three-month-old. Bright, funny, occasionally sarcastic, and astonishingly optimistic, Shawn longs to make contact with others. This fascinatingly horrifying premise evokes one of our darkest fears and deepest hopes--that a fully conscious being may be hidden within such a broken body, as yet unable to declare his existence.

Reviewer: Lauren Adams | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2000

(1) YA Those readers already attached to Gen from The Thief may suffer with him through his painful recovery (the ruthless Queen of Attolia has his hand chopped off) but will never doubt it; newcomers will soon be engaged by this complex young man as they follow him through the fictional Mediterranean landscape, stage for a complicated web of political intrigue, military strategy, and star-crossed love.

Reviewer: Lauren Adams | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2000

(3) YA Sold at a pauper's auction in 1793, Deliverance Pelton must learn to adjust to a new life on the frontier. She finds that people are not what she had been taught to believe: white people are not all "good" and Indians are not all "evil." Fourteen-year-old Livy's struggle with her own obstinacy makes her truly human in this well-written novel. A historical note is included. Glos.

Reviewer: Jeannine M. Chapman

(4) YA Frances Sigurdsson, curious youngest scion of an Icelandic family long settled in a small Canadian waterfront town, finds her great-great-grandmother's diary and teams up with an elderly Icelandic resident to decipher it. The choppy, slow narration and self-conscious teen voice nevertheless deliver an entertaining multileveled story leaning on family secrets and Icelandic folklore.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam

(3) YA Books of Wonder series. Translated by Anthony Bonner. Illustrated by Leo Dillon & Diane Dillon. Using a dark palette that conveys a sense of mystery and the unknown, a dozen full-color paintings depict the exotic landscapes of Verne's classic submarine adventure in sumptuous detail. An afterword offers a bit of literary interpretation and some background information about Verne and the writing of the book.

Reviewer: Anne St. John

(1) YA The opening scenes of this wordless picture book (a dog is hurled from a car; on the facing page, he tries desperately to catch up as it accelerates) are rendered even more wrenching by the artist's spare drafting. With a few gaunt lines, Vincent captures the essentials of the dog's journey; there are no details to distract from the drama that occurs in these freely rendered sketches. This extraordinary book holds meaning far beyond its eloquent message about the cruelty of abandoning pets.

Reviewer: Joanna Rudge Long | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2000

(2) YA When his father moves to California, seventeen-year-old Jay stays behind and rents a room above a bar, just for a shot at making the basketball team. He laments that he's "never had sex, never used drugs, never forgiven [his] mother, never been to church, and never been a basketball star," and this absorbing present-tense confessional traces his attempts to adjust his game in all of these areas.

Reviewer: Susan P. Bloom | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2000