Playing by the Rules.Playing by the Rules by Elaine Meryl Brown One World/Ballantine Books, June 2006 $13.95, ISBN ISBN abbr. International Standard Book Number ISBN International Standard Book Number ISBN n abbr (= International Standard Book Number) → ISBN m 0-8129-7034-9 The world of Lemon City seems to exist in a utopian universe, one in which a close-knit community of strivers live by a code designed to uplift their neighbors. On the one hand, the formal rules the residents follow ("Help those in need and never judge them by the holes in their socks") help to maintain order. On the other hand, those rules threaten to destroy family ties and disrupt the community's idyllic i·dyl·lic adj. 1. Of or having the nature of an idyll. 2. Simple and carefree: an idyllic vacation in a seashore cottage. existence. In Playing by the Rules, Brown's follow-up to her debut novel, Lemon City (Strivers Row/One World, 2004), the stories of the residents of an isolated, historically black town in the foothills of Virginia continue. On Christmas Day, Nana Dunlap is forced to go against her better judgment when two strangers in need show up at her family's doorstep: 25-year-old Jeremiah Richardson, a Vietnam veteran This article is about veterans of the Vietnam War. For the French psychedelic musical group, see Vietnam Veterans. Vietnam veteran is a phrase used to describe someone who served in the armed forces of participating countries during the Vietnam War. , and his 12-year-old sister, Ruby Rose, whom he has kidnapped Kidnapped caught in the intrigues of Scottish factions, David Balfour and Alan Breck are shipwrecked, escape from the king’s soldiers, and undergo great dangers. [Br. Lit.: R. L. Stevenson Kidnapped] See : Adventurousness from an abusive foster home. Playing by the Rules is filled with enough characters, drama and intrigue for another two novels, but Brown deftly deft adj. deft·er, deft·est Quick and skillful; adroit. See Synonyms at dexterous. [Middle English, gentle, humble, variant of dafte, foolish; see daft. weaves the plotlines together into an entertaining and suspenseful read. Fans of her first book will be happy to see that not only have some of her memorable characters returned, but that the door is also wide open for another installment in the Lemon City series. --Reviewed by Melissa Ewey Johnson Melissa Ewey Johnson is a writer and editor in New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. . |
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