AMY'S CHOICE

High school freshman Amy, who befriended both an orphaned seal pup and a tough local kid in her first outing, is back for another placidly entertaining outing that takes up where Call Me Amy (2013) ended.

It’s 1973, and the raciest thing that seems to be happening in Amy’s small coastal Maine town is some illicit teen cigarette smoking. Craig, for whom she has been entertaining romantic feelings, is away, and Cat and her somewhat nerdy older brother Ricky have recently moved to Port Wells. Amy and Cat befriend Finn, a retired lighthouse keeper and budding artist. When a shed catches fire, he’s blamed, but Amy suspects the two girls who have always relentlessly bullied her. After Craig returns to town, she must decide whether to accompany him or Ricky to the high school dance, even as she stands up to the bullies to keep Finn out of jail. For the most part, conflict is so quickly resolved that it fails to sustain suspense, leaving this effort largely character-driven. Amy’s first-person voice is pleasant, straightforward and always so mild readers will wish for some feistiness to provide much-needed flavor.

Calm, pleasant, decidedly “clean”—this blandly cheerful tale would have benefited from a bit of spice.