Straight, Susan. Highwire moon, a novel.

Doubleday, Anchor. 306p. c2001. 385-72261-3. $14.00. SA

Elvia remembered seeing the "highwire moon" from Sandy Narlette's laundry room window, the moon that sat on the telephone wire, balanced, seemingly able from that point to alter its course and move in an entirely different direction. This image remained in Elvia's mind long after she left Sandy's foster home to return to her father, who loved her but could not provide her with a stable home life. Elvia's mother, Serafina Estrella Soloria-Mendez, is a Mixteca Indian. Working briefly in the Angeles Linen plant, she was rescued by Larry Foley, a deliveryman, when "la migra," the immigration police, came to round up illegal aliens. He cared for her and eventually their daughter, Elvia, was born. When Elvia was three, Serafina was seized in a church parking lot by "la migra" and returned to Mexico without her daughter, who was sleeping in the nearby car. Larry and Elvia never knew what happened to her.

When Elvia becomes pregnant, she is obsessed by the need to know whether her mother had abandoned her. The recurring image of the "highwire moon" represents the hope that she, like the moon, may have the ability to alter the course of her life. Suspense builds in the novel as mother and daughter independently search for each other on both sides of the border.

This novel provides a sobering glimpse of the poverty, abuse and fear that define the daily life of illegal aliens and of the mutual strength and support evident in Indian and Mexican families that sustain them. Some language and dialogue is coarse, but appropriate to the realistic portrayal of the subculture of disaffected youth, those low on the economic scale, who are enslaved by drugs. A National Book Award Finalist, this is an excellent book for adults and teens. Susan G. Allison, Libn., Lewiston H.S., Lewiston, ME