NOBODY’S THERE

Abbie Thompson is having a rough year—her professor father has left Abbie’s mother for a younger woman, her mother is depressed, and her little brother is angry all the time. To top it all off, Abbie is being punished for one of the stupidest things she’s ever done in all of her 17 years. After following her father to his girlfriend’s house and seeing them kiss, Abbie angrily threw rocks through the girlfriend’s window, smashing the glass and getting herself arrested. The judge assigns Abbie, a conscientious and usually law-abiding girl, to a volunteer program that matches up teenagers with elderly women to keep them company, help them run errands, and generally keep an eye on the older women. Perhaps to remind Abbie that this is meant to be punishment, Abbie is assigned to a particularly cantankerous, demanding old woman, Edna Merkel, who makes Abbie’s life miserable with her demands and unpredictable moods. When Mrs. Merkel becomes involved in a group that sets out to thwart con men who target senior citizens, she puts herself and her young companion in danger. While the story is fast-paced and involving, many of the characterizations are weak and one-dimensional. Abbie is too much of a pushover, letting herself be manipulated by Mrs. Merkel to an unrealistic extent. The father is so insensitive and so uncaring about his children that it strains credulity; and Mrs. Merkel is so nasty, rude, and selfish that it’s hard to believe anyone would put up with her behavior for more than a few days. A readable story, but certainly not Nixon at her best. (Fiction. YA)