ADELINE STEET

A sequel to Kelly and Me (1993), this episodic book follows the Orton family month by month through their first year of grieving for ten-year-old Kelly, who died at the end of the previous book. Older sister Leah, 12, narrates; she considers Kelly to have been her best friend, and from her perspective come flashes of insight into the healing process of her family. Buying Christmas presents, meeting a new preacher, finding a friend, noticing her old friend Tom for the first time as a cute boy—all are fraught with ambivalence for Leah. She feels guilty for having fun and disloyal for changing in ordinary adolescent ways. There is a believable Southern ring in Leah's voice and many original incidents, but some of her discoveries seem belabored. Completely convincing is the family's numb isolation and gradual reawakening. (Fiction. 8-12)