cover image You Must Kiss a Whale

You Must Kiss a Whale

David Skinner. Simon & Schuster, $14 (0pp) ISBN 978-0-671-74781-7

Readers may think they're entering the Twilight Zone upon encountering Skinner's dreamscape of a desert and an abandoned house. The family of ``squatters'' within consists of 13-year-old Evelyn, her baby brother Zack and their mother, who is obsessed with tracking a violent storm that passes through the area once a month. While Evelyn's mother is busy making calculations and working on her invention, the ``Ultimate Raincoat,'' Evelyn explores a trunk of family memorabilia. Her most interesting find is an unfinished story composed by her recently disappeared father. As she attempts to reconstruct the manuscript, Evelyn begins to confront her own feelings of abandonment, isolation and neglect. Though the novel's surreal quality may disquiet some readers, others will find satisfaction in unfolding its many layers of meaning, sorting out incongruities and experiencing the gradual unveiling of characters' conflicts and emotions. While the book's situation and setting come across as absurd, its feelings of pain and longing remain hauntingly real. As compelling and disturbing as a story by Borges, this innovative work warrants more than one reading. Ages 11-up. (June)