DIVE

In the cruel month of April, Virginia Dunn's life disintegrates—not slowly, but all at once. First her dog, Lucky, gets clobbered in a hit-and-run accident. Then her best friend, Eileen, starts acting strangely towards her. Finally she learns that her father is dying suddenly of a rare blood disease. Between caring for Lucky, fighting with Eileen, and visiting her quickly waning father in the hospital, another strange thing happens to Virginia: She falls in love. But her love, wonderful and reciprocated though it may be, is also a source of further confusion. Virginia is in love with the new girl in her class, Jane, a stunning and exotic lover of Rimbaud and women. In the midst of everything, Virginia finds peace, and even happiness, despite the death of her father. She and her estranged older brother reconcile. Virginia is able to understand and forgive her mother's coldness. Even Virginia's little sister—nicknamed Baby Teeth because at eight she still hasn't lost any—discovers a loose tooth at their father's wake. The future looks hopeful for the Dunns. Donovan's debut novel is simultaneously clipped and overwrought, but adolescents will sympathize with her well- drawn character and her trial. (Fiction. 12+)