GIRL TROUBLE

With so many stories about boy trouble and the trials of getting to be popular with the guys on campus, it's nice to have one from the boys' angle- about girls. Too, this one hits on compelling high spots of maturity and character depth. Don Morely, a junior in a California high school, is crushed when Jackie Rand, a girl who rated, turns down the offer to be his steady. He goes through the process of being maddened by the gossip that leaks out, gets a speeding ticket, has to pay for it by working afternoons and giving up football, is snippy to his teachers, etc. He three quarters of the way realizes what's going on but is, of course unable to control his emotions until he comes to a gradual realization that the best way to be is natural. Besides getting thoroughly into Don's mind, the book has some splendid passages about what his parents and his teachers think of life- and Don. Recommended.