MY NAME IS SUS5AN SMITH. THE 5 IS SILENT.
by Louise Plummer
A 17-year-old's obsession with her childhood memories and her longing to fulfill her artistic talent lead her from a sleepy Utah town to Boston. Sus5an (the ``5'' is to make her name special) hopes to show her art while living with Aunt Libby; secretly, she also searches for beloved Uncle Willy, who abandoned another aunt, Marianne, ten years ago. She finds him, only to discover that he is a thief—of hearts as well as valuables—who betrays her as he once betrayed Marianne. Sue returns to Utah ready to face her parents about her college plans: she'll go to art school in Boston. Much more than the sum of its parts, this is a perceptive chronicle of lost innocence and reconciliations, with a first taste of artistic success. Several subplots, tender and funny, contrast with Sue's awakening. Sensitive, intelligent, a book that doesn't simplify life's complications but confronts them—as Sue finally does—head-on. An excellent lead-in to Cole's splendid portrait of another gifted young painter, Celine (1989). (Fiction. 10-14)