Tomorrow Wendy: A Love Story

Hiding behind enormous hats and eccentric, Audrey Hepburn-style clothes (""It gets me noticed, but it also keeps people from looking too closely"") is a terrified high-school senior named Cary. As her obsession with ""dangerous and aloof"" Wendy reels out of control, Cary uses drugs and sex (with Wendy's drug-dealer twin brother) to numb her feelings. She invents (or hallucinates) a guitar-plucking mentor who offers snippets of pop lyrics by way of advice (""Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose""). Distancing herself from her family, her best friend Jen and the cliquish members of the ""Lesbian Collective"" at school, Cary sinks into depression. Then Raven, a new girl and self-proclaimed lesbian, encourages Cary to confront her fears and her desires. Stoehr's (Weird on the Outside) depiction of privileged, nihilistic teens living life in the fast lane (and doing a little surfing on the side) appears more L.A.-ish than its Long Island setting might allow, and, as in her previous books, her narrator's rough language and hard-edged attitude toward sex can seem calculated (""One of the things that I liked best about Danny in bed was that he always wore a condom....With a lubricated condom he couldn't tell if I liked it or not, and that was a relief""). This time, however, the grittier elements of the story are in clearer service of a theme and message, and when the strands of the plot come together, the impact has force and vigor. Ages 14-up. (Mar.)