cover image A Frog's-Eye View

A Frog's-Eye View

Rebecca Busselle. Orchard Books (NY), $14.95 (191pp) ISBN 978-0-531-05907-4

Neela feels as if everything is on the verge of changing. She'll be a senior in the fall, but right now the summer stretches ahead of her like a desert. The apparent danger posed by the neighborhood drunk points up her parents' drinking problem, her best friend is away at camp and her boyfriend Nick seems distant and preoccupied. It's the changes in Nick that upset Neela most, and when he breaks up with her, she embarks on a period of obsessive behavior reminiscent of Fatal Attraction --she follows Nick, telephones him anonymously and secretly takes photos of him. Busselle ( Bathing Ugly ) depicts Neela's emotions and actions in a way that sagely suggests the half nightmare/half farce possible only with adolescent love. Ages 12-up. (Sept.)