OLDER MEN

by Norma Klein ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 1987

When her high-strung, unhappy mother is hospitalized for a ""breakdown"" by her eminent physician father, Yale-bound Elise, 16, begins to question her comfortable lifelong role as ""Daddy's best girl,"" and the negative effect the father-daughter idolatry has had on her mother's deterioration. Her mom's accusations about the ""incestuous"" love of father for daughter are reinforced when Elise meets her father's sensitive stepson Tim and outspoken stepdaughter Kara, who bitterly depicts her own previous neurotic role as Daddy's girl. Never grow up, she warns, or you'll invite his chauvinistic scorn. Elise realizes her mother's alienation has resulted from her father's cruel neglect and jealously guarded ""private"" relationship with his little girl. When her mom escapes her nightmarish hospital stay, she finds the loving support of a wiser daughter who is beginning to come to terms with her father's true nature. Klein attempts to endorse trendy values through Elise's experiences: casual ""first sex"" in an amusement park with a boy she's just met; awe of her ""cool"" stepsister, who gives her marijuana; and a casual sexual relationship with her stepbrother. But incest is a serious issue. By using overdrawn, stereotypical characters and melodramatic situations, Klein exploits its sensual appeal instead of giving it the serious exploration it merits--something that, as a compelling storyteller, she might have achieved.

Pub Date: May 1, 1987

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: 240

Publisher: Dial/Dutton

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1987

Categories: CHILDREN'S