Noel, Katharine. Halfway house.

NOEL, Katharine. Halfway house. Grove. 365p. c2006.0-8021-4291-7. $13.00. SA

In this novel of mental illness and familial relationships, readers will find much to relate to and much to think about. Angie Voorster seems to be the perfect daughter, with good grades, a bright future and acclaim as a swimmer. When one day she dives to the bottom of the pool and chooses not to come up, her family realizes that all is not what it seems and they spend much of the rest of the novel trying to figure out how they missed the signs and how to remake their lives around the new reality of Angie as she is, not what they thought she would be. While Angie spends years in and out of mental institutions, her family--her father, a professional cellist; her mother; and her younger brother--have to reform their family, which seemingly centered on the perfect Angie. When her mother has an affair, her father seems to drift away. Her brother focuses too much of his energy on taking care of her to lead his own life, and it becomes apparent that Angie is not the only family member with problems. How they each deal with their own issues and form workable lives makes for a fascinating story. The author writes with a real understanding of mental illness and of the bonds that hold families together. Nola Theiss, Sanibel, FL

S--Recommended for senior high school students.

A--Recommended for advanced students and adults. This code will help librarians and teachers working in high schools where there are honors and advanced placement students. This also will help extend KLIATT's usefulness in public libraries.