HANNAH IN BETWEEN

A well-regarded author (Lucy Peale, 1992), portrays one family's response to a member's alcoholism. During the year after Hannah, 12, realizes that her mother's drinking has become excessive, she and both parents go through classic phases. Hanna is already reluctant to invite friends home because of Mom's erratic behavior, but finding a cache of empties dramatizes her problem's magnitude; and if Mom's behavior at a wedding where she's the photographer is embarrassing, driving home with her afterwards is terrifying. Hannah believes no one else is aware of Mom's problem. She first denies, then accepts but conceals it, then tries but fails to confide in several appropriate people; finally, she levels with Dad, who's been trying to protect her. Mom's denial persists even after an accident lands her in the hospital; fortunately, photos the distraught Hannah takes when Mom is literally out of her mind with d.t.'s propel her into AA. It's close to a best-case scenario, but not an unlikely one; incidents are deftly chosen, characters realized with insight and skill. For contrast, send readers to Moonlight Man (1986), Fox's incisive portrait of an alcoholic father who spurns any hope of change. (Fiction. 10-14)