UMBRELLA STEPS

Prudence Goodrich, Prude for short but not for real, is one of those Candy-striped Lolitas growing up precocious in a New York progressive private school. This deals with her other learning experiences mainly with Nate, the father of her best friend Lolly Spitz, while Lolly, no slouch either, is having a thing with Prudence's father Marvin, a best-selling writer. Then there's their third big daddy, the analyst, ""so criminally understanding"" even if it comes across in a ""medicinal"" tone -- and the sadder part of all this -- Prudence's mother who leaves her mind behind before she's sent away to a hospital (Nate's wife had committed suicide). Prude tells it in an early-blooming-sexy-candid-enfant terrible fashion which is sometimes funny, sometimes too much too soon, and sometimes just too much.