THE NATURE OF JADE

For Jade, prone to panic attacks that consume her, watching the elephant cam from the nearby zoo offers peace. But when she becomes smitten with a boy she sees also watching the elephants, Jade finds herself shaken out of her complacent and often narrow life. As she cleans elephant feet and learns valuable lessons from the head keeper about love and family, Jade continues watching for the boy. When she meets him, a lovely romance ensues—until Sebastian’s past (and the mother of his young son) comes forward to complicate things. Suddenly, Jade must take control of herself and make some difficult decisions. Smart, engaging (and occasionally awkward) first-person narration, genuinely complex relationships and strong secondary characters (Sebastian’s activist grandmother; Jade’s falling-apart parents) combine to make this a sure hit for fans of Sarah Dessen. The naturalist element evident in the zoo scenes is an added and original bonus. All in all, a pleasure. (Fiction. YA)