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Marly Youmans's poetic voice softly sings every line of this evocative first novel about a Southern girl's 13th summer. Meg, the daughter of a pragmatic single mother, is on a search for God, "even though Momma says that spiritual life is a myth." She looks for meaning, spiritual and otherwise, in her first kiss, in her relationship with her mother, and in the death of a neighbor's child. ... More

Marly Youmans's poetic voice softly sings every line of this evocative first novel about a Southern girl's 13th summer. Meg, the daughter of a pragmatic single mother, is on a search for God, "even though Momma says that spiritual life is a myth." She looks for meaning, spiritual and otherwise, in her first kiss, in her relationship with her mother, and in the death of a neighbor's child. Each of these life-changing experiences is detailed in episodic chapters sharing one common theme: Little Jordan, the stream that runs through Meg's backyard. It is on the banks of Little Jordan that Meg finds the neighbor's drowned child, an event that, despite its sadness, helps Meg forge a strong bond with the child's mother, Isidore. And Little Jordan's reservoir provides a secluded swimming hole where Meg dives headfirst into her first serious relationship with local boy Fred Massey. It is through the rhythms of Little Jordan that Meg begins to understand the rhythms of life, death, and love: "I learned about distance and about seeing at close range... that summer I was busy running up against things, learning what they meant." Youmans constructs this touching novella with spare and carefully chosen prose, and in the process gently encourages teens to slow down, listen, and enjoy the priceless time between youth and adulthood. (Ages 13 to 17) --Jennifer Hubert

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