Shanny on Her Own - Hardcover

Grade 6-9 When 15-year-old Angeleno Shanny Adler comes to spend the summer on aged Aunt Adabelle's ranch in the boondocks of Idaho, she brings along a purple punk hair-do, a drum set, a collection of esoteric trivia and a standard YA protagonist's pressing need to "find herself." By the end of the book she has found not only herself (and turned out to be a Pretty, Talented, Caring and Generally Worthwhile Person) but also the love of talented, caring "superhunk" Thor. She also drives the local theatrical enterprise from failure to smashing success, inspires old Adabelle not to give up her ranch, resuscitates a newborn kitten and generally turns everything she touches to gold. The plot moves mercifully swiftly, and Shanny's clever first-person narrative is often just that, but her character is cardboard, and the tired theme of the insecure adolescent hiding behind a mask of bravado is pounded over readers' heads. Still, as a typical teen romance rather than a novel dealing with serious issues, it's better than most, and it will be popular with young teens. Ruth Horowitz, Notre Dame Academy Girls High School Library, Los Angeles
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A humorous look at a girl's summer on an Idaho rancha time of discovery and first love. Ages 12-up.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.