Charlton-Trujillo, e.E. Feels like home.

CHARLTON-TRUJILLO, e.E. Feels like home. Random House, Delacorte. 224p. c2007. 978-0-385-73332-8. $15.99. S

This is an intense story about loss and pain. Michelle, or Mickey as she is called, has had a rough home life. Her mother left the family and over the years Mickey has lived with family friends and most recently her father, a recovering alcoholic. But Mickey also has a brother, Danny, who disappeared after a horrific fire burned down the high school stadium, taking the life of Danny's best friend. As the story opens, Mickey's father has been killed in a car crash and Danny has returned for the funeral. Mickey is not happy to see her brother: she resents his leaving and dislikes the way he remembers their father. As town members meet him, there are unpleasant scenes in public places. Without giving herself time to deal with her father's death, Mickey returns to school and is befriended by one of the "cool" guys, Ricky Martinez. Ricky has his own demons and recognizes that Mickey needs help, but as much as she likes Ricky, she pushes him away, along with her best friend, Christina, and a family friend, Uncle Jack. She refuses to make peace with her brother, until finally forced into a situation where she has to look at who she is and what she has become. Running through the story are references and allusions to S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders, a book she and Danny had read together, which holds not only pleasant memories, but the key to surviving. Readers will not like Mickey, but they will see in her what it takes to fight for truth in the midst of great emotional upheaval.

S--Recommended for senior high school students.

Janis Flint-Ferguson, Assoc. Prof., English, Gordon College, Wenham, MA