PLANNING THE IMPOSSIBLE

A little—very little—information about male sexual organs and plenty of classroom intrigue keep sixth grader River embarrassed, confused, and angry in this airy sequel to Expecting the Unexpected (1996). As River silently admires classmate DB and compiles a guide for parents (“No parent shall dance, either separately or together, to any music at any time, including when alone at home”), her friend Margaret schemes to get her single father and their sex-ed teacher Mrs. Furley together; meanwhile, Kirstin works on an elaborate plan to drive River and BD, as well as several other nascent couples, apart using forged mash notes and a certain undergarment from a well-known lingerie catalog. Quick changes of time and scene, plus a cast of preadolescents beginning to focus on the courtship ritual, keep the tone light and the instruction unlabored; fluffy but readable, it’s familiar territory for Danziger and Blume fans, and in the end Jukes dishes out just deserts all round. (Fiction. 10-13)