Johnny Voodoo

Deftly conjuring the steamy atmosphere of bayou country, debut novelist Lane assuredly captures the quixotic passions of first love and the intricacies of high school social dynamics. Lonely and out of place in the little Louisiana town where her artist father has impetuously moved from Manhattan after her mother's death, narrator Deirdre, 16, is inexorably drawn to enigmatic drifter Johnny Vouchamps. Though they meet sporadically, the two quickly form an insular, almost intoxicated relationship, intensified by Deirdre's alienation from her cliquish schoolmates and violently moody father. But the magic of new love evaporates abruptly in the presence of outsiders; and after he blows up at a party at her house, Deirdre rejects Johnny as wholeheartedly as she had initially welcomed him. Lane maps out the complexities of Deirdre's school and home with the same precision and imagination as she conveys Deirdre's state of mind; at the same time, she honors the ambiguities in her characters' experiences. The plotting here may not be airtight, but the mood is perfect. Ages 12-up. (Nov.)