Brooks, Kevin. Kissing the rain.

Scholastic, The Chicken House. 336p. c2004. 0-439-57742-X. $16.95. JS

British teenager Michael Nelson, cruelly nicknamed "Moo" because he is overweight, finds sanctuary from the teasing and bullying at school--he calls it "the rain"--in peacefully watching the traffic go by from a bridge over the local expressway. That is, until the day he is the sole witness to a car chase and a murder, and any semblance of peace in his life abruptly comes to an end. Nasty gangster Keith Vine is being framed for the crime, and Michael knows that he is innocent. In fact, if he doesn't testify that Vine is innocent, Vine has promised frightening consequences, and indeed a friend of Michael's who stupidly gets involved ends up badly beaten. But a determined police detective, the father of one of Michael's bullying classmates, wants to put Vine away, and he's also threatening Michael--if he does tell the truth, Michael's father's legal transgressions will be prosecuted and he'll be jailed, the cop warns. Caught between a rock and a hard place, afraid to tell the truth or to lie, Michael comes up with a dangerous plan to solve his problems.

This thought-provoking novel ends just as Michael is about to put his plan into effect, which may satisfy some readers but frustrate others. While at first Michael is a rather unappealing protagonist and narrator, by the end he wins sympathy for his plight and admiration for finally taking action to deal with it. Michael's interior monologue (with a few swear words here and there) is slangy and convincing, and the characters are well drawn. Brooks, the author of Martyn Pig and Lucas, offers yet another well-written, morally challenging tale for readers who like to think. Paula Rohrlick, KLIATT