HOW FAR WOULD YOU HAVE GOTTEN IF I HADN'T CALLED YOU BACK?

In the late 1950s Bron Lewis sees her life as over when her family, nearly broke, moves from New Jersey to the sleepy California town of Ojala after her father's failed suicide attempt. She hates the town, her parents, and her new peers, who all seem older and more sophisticated. Life is further complicated when her family rents a ramshackle house and converts it to a restaurant (with the living quarters in the tiny attic). Gentle Lanie eases Bron into the fast crowd; she lets her schoolwork go and puts aside her love for the piano and classical music. With the purchase of a car, Bron falls into the world of drag racing and has a crush on an older racer, J.C. Then along comes Will, 18, who is wise and kind beyond his years. He and Bron fall in love, but when he leaves for school, she takes their commitment lightly and goes back to J.C., an act that brings real tragedy into her life. Hobbs's first novel is a powerful portrait of peer pressure, dysfunctional families, and the anomie that pervades so many aspects of American life. The characterizations are solid, and while the narrative seems to amble, all the elements converge in an ending that will leave readers thoughtful and shaken. (Fiction. 12+)