Baskin, Nora Raleigh. In the company of crazies.

BASKIN, Nora Raleigh. In the company of crazies. HarperCollins. 176p. c2006.0-060-59607-4. $15.99. J

Mia has gotten herself into so much trouble in middle school that her parents make the difficult decision to send her to an alternative school. She is the first girl to be admitted to Mountain Laurel and so she is alone amidst a number of troubled boys. Mountain Laurel is a rural farm and Mia is not about to stay. But the school is run--ruled--by a strict authoritarian, Gretchen, whose family owned the farm. Gretchen always seems to anticipate Mia's plans to escape and so gradually Mia can do nothing but give in. All of the students are required to keep a journal and we are reading Mia's. Mia makes friends with Drew, a nervous, frail young boy who Mia sees staring out of his window late in the night until one night he falls out of the window. In the mayhem that follows the incident, Mia breaks into Gretchen's office and there finds information on all the boys, which helps her make sense of the antics she has witnessed. Through the story we also learn of Mia's emotional turmoil and the trauma that led her into the downward spiral that sent her to Mountain Laurel.

Mia is a typical tough kid and the novel gives insight into the events and circumstances that cause teens to act out. Ultimately it is self-knowledge and self-awareness that redeem Mia and allow her to return home. Janis Flint-Ferguson, Assoc. Prof., English, Gordon College, Wenham, MA

J--Recommended for junior high school students. The contents are of particular interest to young adolescents and their teachers.