WHERE I WANT TO BE

Sassy and restless, Kristie drives her half- brothers/guardians Kyle and Derrin nearly crazy with attention- grabbing stunts. Kristie's mother abandoned her long ago; her father's death last year reinforced her feeling that the tiny desert town of Show Low holds little for her. But as the school year unfolds, Kristie makes discoveries: that the authorities can summon her guardians to school for good news as well as bad; that she can keep a cool head in an emergency and save an elderly man's life; that when two opportunities to leave town actually crop up, Show Low is where she wants to be. DeVito carries off a real coup in characterizing her heroine, who's hard to like at first; Kristie is as likely to spit as to accept sympathy. Slowly, as readers get used to her hardened attitude, they'll see how unique Kristie is. She doesn't really change, but simply takes stock, while her feistiness becomes a weapon of affirmation instead of self-destruction. The plot meanders a mite, but it's an enjoyable wander, through territory too often given over to clichÇs. (Fiction. 12+)