The Horn Book Guide

INTERMEDIATE FICTION

Perkins, Lynne Rae

All Alone in the Universe

140 pp. | Greenwillow | October, 1999 | Trade ISBN 0-688-16881-7 $$16.00

(1) 4-6 Sketched simply, this exceptional first novel is a story about the year two best friends became quietly less so; painted fully, it's a portrait of a girl's (and an author's) intent observation of the ordinary, and the power of language to make it art. Debbie's adjustment (a far too clinical word for the resolutely down-to-earth story) is painful but unmelodramatic, and her wry little pen drawings reveal a sense of humor and proportion that will serve her well.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 1999