THE LAST CHANCE TEXACO

This is teenage Lucy Pitt’s last chance: Sent to yet another group home, she struggles to fit in because if she screws up here, it’s off to a notorious last refuge for hopeless incorrigibles. Lucy’s not one to be cowed easily—getting shunted from one foster family to another for most of her life has seen to that—and she shows herself to be smart, plucky, and resourceful. A love affair ensues with a rich guy from the local high school as the foster home is permanently closed and she and her boyfriend solve the mystery surrounding a spate of neighborhood arsons. Teens will, for the most part, root for Lucy and her exploits and boo and hiss on cue for some of the really rotten characters. Not everyone will buy all of this, though. The romance doesn’t ring true, and the story’s ending will strike some as corny, if somehow satisfying. The mysterious arsonist will come as a surprise, however. A fair-to-middling read for not-very-discriminating readers. Some graphic profanity. (Fiction. 13+)