Madison, Bennett. Lulu Dark can see through walls.

MADISON, Bennett. Lulu Dark can see through walls. Penguin, Razorbill. c2005. 1-59514-010-7. $16.99. JS *

This novel is Good in Bed or Confessions of a Shopaholic for teenage girls. Since the plot also contains an element of mystery, perhaps Sue Grafton's A is for Alibi, with the redoubtable Kinsey Milhone as protagonist, is a better comparison, only Lulu Dark would not live in a studio apartment or drive a Volkswagen Bug. Lulu is one of a kind. She wears vintage clothing and carries a loud pink and yellow Kate Spade knockoff as she attends her private school, expresses her opinions without restraint, and breezes her way into and out of sticky situations in the nightspots, restaurants, and shops she frequents. Her mother has gone off to be a C-list actress in Hollywood while her artist father has found a more compatible boyfriend.

When someone steals her purse, Lulu reluctantly slips into Nancy Drew mode (a fictional type at which she normally sniffs in disdain) to pursue the thief. Before long, she finds herself up to her strong-willed and sarcastic neck in a murder only she believes has occurred, a doppelganger who commits social suicide in public places, and mysterious threats to her health and well being. Eventually Lulu unmasks the culprit, finds a boyfriend, and, most importantly, recovers her purse. This is good escape literature for girls who like Seventeen and yet need a role model who insists on not following the crowd. Myrna Marler, Assoc. Prof. of English, BYU, Provo, UT

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

S--Recommended for senior high school students.

*--The asterisk highlights exceptional books.