cover image CHILD X

CHILD X

Lee Weatherly, . . Knopf/Fickling, $15.95 (224pp) ISBN 978-0-385-75009-7

British author Weatherly packs this first novel with an eyebrow-raising story line. Thirteen-year-old Jules can't believe that her loving father would simply walk out after a particularly angry fight with her mother—and not even leave a way for Jules to reach him. In between landing the role of Lyra in a theatrical production of Philip Pullman's Northern Lights (aka The Golden Compass) and having troubles with her best friend at school, Jules slowly learns the truth. Shortly before Jules's parents' wedding, her mother had had a one-night stand, resulting in Jules's conception, and her father has only just found out. Furious, he sues for damages, including the costs, with interest, that he has incurred in bringing up Jules. The case appears in the paper with Jules's identity masked as "Child X"; shortly thereafter, a newspaper reporter interviews Jules about her role as Lyra, and Jules—improbably—reveals that she is Child X. Soon Jules is at the center of a media circus, and her plight only worsens when she flips on a TV talk show just in time to watch a guest inform viewers that Jules's natural father is in fact her uncle. Despite the thematic layering (Lyra, too, has been repudiated by her parents), the author's small scope and contrived plotting keep this tale on the level of soap opera—but while the handling is jejune, the subject matter seems better suited to adults than middle-graders. Ages 9-14. (June)