NAOMI'S GEESE

A reflective novel about the nature of love and the love of nature. Naomi Green, going on 12, is a mature, attractive only child who studies ballet in Manhattan—as do her best friend and a boy she may be interested in—and so she's not pleased to be dragged away when her professor parents buy a summer house upstate in beautiful Claverack. There, her life intersects with that of a family of Canada geese stranded on a nearby pond, and while the geese (male Ka and female Kee, who's been injured) raise a family, Ka and Naomi gradually earn each other's trust. In alternating chapters, the story follows seasonal movements from the points of view of humans and geese until it should be time for them to meet again. What action there is takes place toward the end, and most of the tragedy befalls the geese; but Naomi is left with the knowledge that love can be painful and involve sacrifice. A well-structured book, with interesting parallels, a thoughtful and unsentimental look at nature, and a strong sense of place. (Fiction. 8-12)