BEST FRIENDS TELL THE BEST LIES

From the beginning, Leah, 14, finds her rebellious new friend, Tamara, fascinating and attractive; she also seems a potential ally against Leah's mother's new boyfriend--Jose, the fat, Mexican vice-principal at the school where Mom is a social worker. Leah seems to believe Tamara's claim that her mother marries rich old men and deliberately kills them with cholesterol. The girls become closer as they share makeup, boy-talk, and a failed plan to dislodge Jose. Then Leah finds out that Tamara has been lying about many things; her pain and confusion compound when Tamara runs away, contacting Leah daily with a scary, silent phone call. Meanwhile, Leah discovers that Jose isn't so bad after all and falls for his nephew, Miguel. When Tamara returns, jealousy abounds. Although some of her characters are not fully consistent, first-novelist Dines delineates realistic relationships, exploring loyalty, jealousy, and prejudice; her sad but wise conclusion suggests why some friendships don't last while others do. (Inexplicably, the characters on the jacket don't resemble the ones in the text, and the scene shown never occurs.)