cover image Whats Happening JR Yr

Whats Happening JR Yr

Judith St George. Putnam Publishing Group, $13.95 (171pp) ISBN 978-0-399-21316-8

Steppie Emerson's plans for a perfect junior year in high school begin to go wrong when her mom inherits a pool table. Just as she'd hoped, Steppie gets a boyfriend, Roger Curtis. But how can Steppie impress him when Mrs. Emerson spends every day shooting pool? To further complicate matters, Steppie has to take time off from working on the yearbook to host to a church-sponsored group of teenage boyspractically juvenile delinquentswho shoot pool at the Emersons's. Steppie feels left out in the cold when Roger avoids her and her best friend Megan finds another confidante. The last straw is when Mrs. Emerson enters a billiards competition in Las Vegas. St. George (The Mount Rushmore Story, etc.) has created an engaging heroine. There's never a dull moment, as lively characters and realistic situations show how friendship comes in manysometimes unexpectedguises. (10-up)