YELLOW BLUE BUS MEANS I LOVE YOU

Russian-born Timur Vorobyov (``Tim Boyd'') is sent by his hard-working parents to New Hampshire's prestigious ``Aviary Prep.'' He's an affectionate son and fine student, but even four years in NYC haven't prepared him for his privileged new classmates' sophistication. Not unnaturally, after he sees Phoebe naked through her lighted window (Or does he? He has a high fever at the time) she becomes the object of his fantasies. With Phoebe taking the lead, these become reality the next summer when she's passing through NYC. Their physical passion (evoked with just enough specificity to kindle young imaginations) is so intense that it precludes real friendship; back at school, where sex isn't actually forbidden, it provokes comment but no action. Still, after Phoebe spends a night with druggie Chris Kite, Tim tries to rescue her, and the two are found half-dressed, it's Tim who's ``fired'' while Phoebe's powerful dad saves her. The third- person narrative (eventually revealed as Tim's: ``It makes it easier to tell the truth,'' he tells his father) captures a young teenager's concerns and preoccupations with unusual subtlety and humor (the playful use of birds' names for everyone at Aviary Prep is delightful). Hamilton's last line is a stunner: an alternate outcome that will send thoughtful readers back to the beginning to try to distinguish fantasy from reality in this nice, honest boy's account. As rich and complex as the author's fine first novel, Effie's House (1990). (Fiction. 12+)