BEING BINDY

Bindy’s life is infinitely more complicated when her best friend, Jane, drags her into a group of trendy girls ready for teen experimentation—which Bindy definitely is not. Using a lighter touch than in Walking Naked (2004), Brugman explores the old theme of the dissolution of a friendship with some new twists, skillfully blending in subplots about the two girls’ families and friends. But the best thing about this is the characters described in Bindy’s straightforward voice. The real pain in her life—the betrayal and meanness of classmates and the difficult time she has getting on with her mother—is balanced by caring new friends, her firm, loving father and spacey but supportive brother Kyle. In the end, Bindy rescues herself with courage and resilience and a vibrant sense of humor. The story resolves a little too easily, which will not disturb its tween and teen audience one bit. Readers who enjoyed titles as different as Adele Griffin’s Amandine (2001) and Lynn Ray Perkins’s All Alone in the Universe (1999) will find a lot to like in Brugman’s latest. (Fiction. 12-14)