A teenage aspiring writer strikes up an unlikely correspondence with a New York City editor in a novel that takes on books and beauty, the writing process, and personal and parental problems. When she's told she has talent and a ``poetic sensibility, something rarer than the gift of words,'' Liz Beech, 15, sets to work submitting her novel-in-progress to editor and mentor Julia Steward Jones. The disjointed narrative is comprised of the chapters Liz sends (these are based on her own home life, forming a story within the story), her letters to Julia, and Liz's journal entries, which conveniently disclose her inner thoughts, but are also repetitive and dramatic. The premise of the book strains credibility, but the plot proves even more far-fetched: The pen pals meet and Liz leaves home, angered by Julia's friendship with her father, whom she despises; the now-rocky relationship is further endangered when Julia turns up--somewhat melodramatically--in a psychiatric clinic where, inspired by Liz, she writes poetry in an effort to heal herself. Julia's unburdening of adult concerns--death of an elderly parent, lack of direction, and midlife soul-searching--will fail to elicit much concern from readers; the characters never come off the page; and while there is a genuine attempt to reveal something of the writing (and publishing) process, the results are superficial. (Fiction. 12+)

Frustrated with her sparring, separated parents, aspiring author Liz begins corresponding with New York editor Julia. When self-absorbed Liz realizes that Julia struggles with her own serious problems, she begins to see her parents in a new light. Told through letters, journal entries, and Liz's fiction, the slow-paced story relates an adolescent's feelings of isolation and her love of writing. From HORN BOOK 1997, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Gr 6-8‘In a series of personal letters, journal entries, and chapters from her autobiographical novel-in-progress, Liz Beach, an aspiring author, relates her relationships with her separated parents and with Julia Jones, an editor at a New York publishing house. Prompted by her English teacher to submit her creative writings to Julia, Liz receives an encouraging initial reply, and before long she and the editor are exchanging letters expressing mutual friendship. Julia urges Liz to send chapters of her novel, which depicts an acrimonious home life with dull, unsympathetic parents. As the teen communicates disappointments with her family, Julia's letters are unfailingly supportive and nurturing, even after the woman loses her elderly parents, then her job, and eventually suffers a nervous breakdown. Liz does begin to gain a measure of appreciation for her father, but the relationship between Liz and Julia is highly implausible and weakens the book, as does Liz's didactic transformation from self-absorbed aesthete to perceptive, caring young woman who, in the end, is not-too-ironically encouraging Julia to write as rehabilitation therapy.‘Susan W. Hunter, Riverside Middle School, Springfield, VT (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Gr. 7-12. Intense characters and depth of emotion only occasionally wobble the complicated structure of this novel, which begins in epistolary fashion: 15-year-old Liz Beech writes, at the suggestion of her English teacher, to Julia Steward Jones, an editor of books for young readers at a New York publishing house, asking her to read the first chapter of her novel. Ms. Jones agrees to do so, and the book proceeds with letters to and fro, entries in Liz's journal, and chapters from Liz's novel-in-progress. Liz lives in a New Jersey suburban household that is literally divided against itself: her divorced parents live in separated halves of the same home. She is the sort of teen who reads--and loves--Henry James, doesn't quite get her best friend's obsession with cheerleading, and finds her father cold and distant. Liz and the editor develop a close friendship, even as Ms. Jones has to take a leave from her job to care for her aging parents in Virginia. The voices of all the characters are very true; even the friendship between the teenager and the fortyish editor is developed naturally. Although several plot complications late in the book seem forced and the movement from journal to letter to novel is not always seamless, it is a brave and rich effort. Liz's self-awareness, with its inevitable blind spots, will resonate with many readers, and those who have thought about writing themselves will find an honest glimpse at writing's joys and difficulties. (Reviewed July 1997)0060273410GraceAnne A. DeCandido