OFF AND RUNNING

Miata (The Skirt, 1992) is running for class president against Rudy and Alex (Boys at Work, 1995), but her campaign to beautify the school has less natural appeal than the boys' endearingly goofy promises of more recess and ice cream. It's hard for Miata to campaign against someone who's so good-natured, and she and Rudy are always being thrown together: as volunteers for a visiting magician, racing turtles at the zoo, or dancing at a quincea§era. This is a pleasant, fluid novel about nice kids in a nice school with nice parents and nice friends. The tension over the election is mild and ultimately thrown away: Miata wins by two votes, cast by Alex and Rudy because they want to go out for soccer instead. Lightweight. (Fiction. 8-12)