Alice Hoffman - Aquamarine

Pros: Short story, quick read - keeps even reluctant readers reading.

Cons: No literary masterpiece - plot is contrived, but worth reading -for girls, probably not boys.

Review: This is good reading, when "good reading" is defined as: they'll read it all, and they'll relate. The two main characters deal with real problems (they're best friends about to be torn apart, as one is moving away at the end of the summer) and with a ...

Pros: Lovely, shimmering prose with a strong whiff of nostalgia

Cons: Its brief length doesn't allow for much development of characters or plot

The Bottom Line: Hoffman's first book for teens has sentences lovely as its turquoise-colored mermaid, but it's so short it barely makes a ripple in the water.

Review: Best friends Hailey and Claire are twelve years old and lamenting the fact that their favorite summer hang-out, the near-deserted Capri Beach Club, is about to be closed forever. More than that, they’re both dreading the end of summer when Claire will...