PRINCE WILLIAM, MAXIMILIAN MINSKY, AND ME

Brainy Nelly Sue Edelmeister, 13, living in Berlin with her American Jewish mother and German Christian father and preparing for her bat mitzvah, adores Britain’s heartthrob king-to-be. She has to cope with a demanding mother; the unraveling of her parents’ marriage due to Papa’s affairs; learning to play basketball so she can go to England to meet guess who; and burgeoning romantic feelings for Max Minsky, “Wills” look-alike, who just happens to be the son of Dad’s latest conquest. To these stresses, add the death of a beloved grandmother figure and coming to spiritual terms with being a Jew in Berlin while never forgetting its dark past. While it’s a little pat, the story ties all these elements and more into a seamlessly plotted, keenly observed, very realistic and deeply satisfying package, narrated in first-person teenspeak filled with humor and truth (some profanities, realistic in context). It will resound with girls who’ll relate to and root for Nelly as she blossoms into young womanhood and love. (glossary of Yiddish, Hebrew and German words and phrases) (Fiction. 12-14)