EVERYBODY'S DAUGHTER

The interesting theme and well-drawn protagonist of this first novel are both poorly served by its construction. Merry Moonbeam (``Beamer'') Flynn was the first child born into a since-dissolved commune in Northern Minnesota; she deeply resents the lack of privacy resulting from her parents' continuing warm relationships with the commune's other former members. During the winter Beamer turns 17, her bitterness spills over into her relationships with boys: reluctant to allow anyone to become close, she is attracted to a boy who's only using her, yet pushes away another whose affection is real. Unfortunately, the sharp psychological insights here are undercut by an awkward narrative that lacks immediacy, bungles transitions, and introduces potentially interesting subplots and characters only to dissipate them in the pervasive flatness. A disappointing first effort.~(Fiction. 14+)