A STRANGER HERE

A frothy but refreshingly unportentous tale about an Idaho girl who forms a romantic attachment to the ghost of her cousin Roseanne's fiancÇ, shot down over the Pacific on the day Jada was born 16 years ago. Jada's helping out on Uncle Mac's farm, taking up the slack for pretty, malingering Aunt May, who spends summers in bed doing her nails and reading women's magazines but is known to perk up for winters in Arizona. Between her competent endeavors in the garden and kitchen, Jada explores the attic, where she dons May's lovely old gown, in which she dances with Starr when he first appears, and takes flowers to his grave, where they also converse; meanwhile, she writes poetry (real gift implied) and fends off cheerful but unimaginative old friend Daniel. In the end, though Roseanne's side of the romance proves less tragic than Jada has imagined and though Jada and Starr's meetings come to a somewhat poignant conclusion, there's not a great deal of drama; but Wyss's intriguing scenario, her lively dialogue and characterizations, and her wry, delicately brisk style are sure to entertain readers. (Fiction. 11-17)