Bat Summer

September 1, 1999
Gr 6-9-While hanging around the park, Terence, 12, meets Lucy, a mysterious girl who insists that she is a bat. Terence becomes drawn into her world and into the bizarre workings of her mind. This is mainly Lucy's story, and it soon becomes clear that she is very disturbed; readers later find out that she was traumatized by the death of a friend. In the end, Terence proves to Lucy that he is a true friend, and readers sense that she is beginning to trust and care once again. This is an interesting novel, and the main characters represent a realistic view of the preteen world. However, the adults are cardboard cutouts, and the parents are too preoccupied to notice what their children are up to or that they are hurting. An unusual story with strong psychological overtones.-Lucinda Lockwood, Thomas Haney Secondary School, Maple Ridge, BC

Copyright 1999 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 1999
Gr. 4^-7. Twelve-year-old Terence faces a long, lonely summer after his best--and only--friend leaves for camp. He could use a buddy, but Terence isn't sure that his quirky neighbor Lucy will do. She's convinced that she's a bat, always wears a sheet-cape, and hangs upside down on the monkey bars in full sight of everyone. But she's also outspoken and brave, and makes wonderful kites. Reluctantly, Terence is drawn into Lucy's life, which reveals not only her hurting heart and devastating poverty and neglect but also her surprising gifts of insight and understanding. When Lucy faces a crisis, Terence is torn between keeping her trust and preventing certain disaster. Ultimately he comes to realize that bats support each other, no matter the consequences. This original, compelling first novel illustrates the true meaning of friendship, inner strength, and integrity. Descriptive prose and well-defined, complex characters effectively convey how outward appearances can conceal hidden gifts that transform the odd into the beautiful and the ordinary into the extraordinary. Readers will gain insight from the inner thoughts and hearts of two very different loners, for whom friendship brings the confidence and strength to face fears, doubts, and hurt that can be debilitating, but can be overcome. ((Reviewed July 1999))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1999, American Library Association.)