An Old Friend

For some reason, I haven't been reading much romance for the past few weeks, but last night I pulled out an old favorite. Not romance, but a book most romance readers would enjoy.

Life Without Friends by Ellen Emerson White
(1987, Young Adult)

Last year, Beverly got into trouble - big trouble. Still haunted by her mother's suicide and unhappy living with her father and his new wife, she got involved with the wrong guy. Everyone saw him as the school golden boy, but only Beverly saw the ugly side of him - until he murdered two of her classmates. Now she has to go back to school for her senior year, with everyone watching her and blaming her for her cowardice. But not as much as she blames herself. She wants to believe that the funny, laid back guy she meets in the park is a way out for her, but can she trust her judgement any more? Does she deserve to be happy?

I read a couple of Ellen Emerson White's YA books when I was a teenager (notably the President's Daughter series, which is very good) but I must have been "too old" for YA by the time this one came out. I only discovered it a few years ago. Although there are some things in it that drive me crazy (particularly Derek's inarticulateness, which may be accurate but is frustrating to read), it never fails to leave me with those "warm fuzzy feelings". It's a wonderful redemption story.

It's not necessary to read the previous book, Friends for Life, which isn't as interesting as this one (it's a fairly superficial who-done-it). Beverly's situation is described in the first chapter of the book, and reading the previous book doesn't add a whole lot. But it's easier to find than Life Without Friends, which is unfortunately out of print and hard to find. Check your library - it came out in hardback and you may find it there.

Although this book is listed as "young adult" and doesn't include any explicit sex, it's more brutally honest than many romances. Unfortunately, Ellen Emerson White never got the acclaim she deserved - maybe the insipid title of this one kept readers away. She's written a few other children's books and a mystery but she seems to have stopped writing books like these - too bad.