PINOCCHIO'S SISTER

Martha's mother is dead, and her stepmother has left her and her father, a ventriloquist. Her devastated father cares for nothing except his dummy, Iris; Martha, traveling with him from town to town on the vaudeville circuit as part of his act, is emotionally neglected. Her bitterness and anger center on Iris, and she plots to eliminate the doll and make her father notice her. This perceptive novel has a misleading jacket; those looking for horror will be disappointed. Slepian (Back to Before, 1993, etc.) crafts a story that is beautifully eerie rather than frightening, about the bitterest sibling rivalry played out as melodrama. As such it is engrossing and has the feel of emotional truth, with the barest hints of the supernatural adding to the creepiness. (Fiction. 8-12)