GUITAR HIGHWAY ROSE

In Lowry's artfully constructed novel, originally published in Australia, 15-year-old Rosie is immediately attracted to Asher, the new kid at school, and a relationship develops when they pair up for a poetry presentation on Jim Morrison. Both have troubles: Rosie's parents are fighting and she's not getting along with her mom; Asher's parents have "called it quits" and he hates the "vibes" at school. After Asher is falsely accused of stealing a teacher's wallet, they decide to run away together for a while, cutting and dyeing their hair and sneaking off one night. Setting her novel in western Australia, the author rotates through multiple perspectives, including Rosie's and Asher's, but also those of their parents, teachers and even the drivers who pick them up as they hitchhike. The narrative unfolds in brief chunks of text; some of it is straightforward, while Asher's thoughts are relayed as stream-of-consciousness without punctuation (elsewhere the author includes samples from their class assignments and such flourishes as lists of what animals the characters would choose to be if they could). Various crises that Rosie and Asher face seem a bit like overkill, and other problems right themselves rather neatly. Overall, though, readers will likely be captivated by Lowry's playful narrative style, and they will easily empathize with most of the characters, from the free-spirited protagonists to the parents who worry over them. Ages 12-up. (Nov.)