Harley's Ninth

KLIATT - Janis Flint-Ferguson

On October 9th, Harley's art exhibit goes up in a gallery in New York. It should be the most exciting time of her life, but Harley thinks she might be pregnant, and that would change everything. In this sequel to Harley, Like a Person, Bauer takes us through just one day in the life of Harley Columba. Raised by an abusive stepfather in New Jersey, Harley is now living with her biological father in New York City. Named one of Beatrice Snow's Most Promising Young Artists, she is also in a serious relationship with a young musician. One afternoon they are not careful about sex and now Harley spends the day with an pregnancy test in her purse, trying to decide what the future will bring. The events of the day take us through Harley's life, through the family trauma of finding out that her best friend was really a half sister, and through the excitement of having her artwork exhibited in the city. Her father, a Tony Award-winning set designer, also faces down some of his own demons as he returns to New Jersey with Harley to visit his ailing mother. The novel ends with two journalistic accounts of the day—her father's opening on Broadway and Harley's opening in the art gallery. The sexual description and other adult situations make this a novel for high school readers, and those YAs will find some down-to-earth values amidst the NYC glamour and culture.

VOYA - Kimberly Paone

Harley Columba first appeared in Harley, Like a Person (Winslow, 2000/VOYA October 2000) where readers were introduced to her very difficult family life-her alcoholic stepfather, her apathetic mother, and her sweet but damaged siblings. Harley is sixteen years old in this sequel, and her life has changed dramatically. She is living with her biological father in New York, she has escaped the torment of her home life and the small town where everyone knows everything about everybody, and she is successfully pursuing her art. Harley still has her share of issues with which to deal. She is not sure where she stands with her father, and she might be pregnant. The bright spot is that Harley's artwork has been chosen for a grand gallery display that highlights a young artist each month, and this opportunity may win her the chance to visit Italy to display her art there. That is, of course, if she can make it to the gallery opening at all after blurting the news of her possible pregnancy to her boyfriend and leaving herself stranded. All this drama should lead to a third book, but one hopes that Bauer will not make readers wait another six years. Harley is a character to whom different kinds of teens can relate on many different levels. Harley's foibles are realistic, and although the story ends somewhat idyllically, it is thoroughly satisfying. This book is a great recommendation for teens who enjoy Joan Bauer's novels-but want a little more edge.

School Library Journal

Gr 10 Up
Two years after the events in Harley, Like a Person (Winslow, 2000), a worldlier but not necessarily more prudent Harley, now 16, is living a fairy-tale existence in New York City with her biological father, Sean, when another crisis erupts. Her period is five days late. Told in the space of one eventful day, the story follows Harley as she is forced to reexamine the very relationships upon which she has come to depend. Sean wavers between careless neglect and sage advice, her boyfriend is a rising rock star not ready to deal with the consequences of his actions, and her mother has basically disowned her. Also crammed into this one turbulent day are a pregnancy test, a newfound grandmother, several altercations, a breakup, and a gallery exhibition. Details are introduced and dismissed at breakneck pace. Only occasional glimpses of the old Harley reconnect readers to the emotional rawness of the first book. This segment in the teen's life includes many scenes that she refers to as a "time, long ago," creating disjointed flashbacks, and making it feel as though there is an installment missing. The primary connector is Harley's passion for her art and her ability to transform her circumstances in the face of adversity. In the end, she is neither pregnant, nor any wiser. True resolution is again elusive as seemingly significant details are glossed over in favor of a neat ending. This continuation of Harley's story should only find an audience with loyal fans.
—Erin SchirotaCopyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

October 9 is a red-letter day for Harley. Now living with her biological father in New York City, it's the day of the gallery opening for her winning artwork, and also tech rehearsal for the opening of the play for which her father is the set designer. Opening with a description of sex with Evan, whom she met in Harley Like a Person (Winslow Press, 2000), Harley really starts her day purchasing a pregnancy test kit. Her father shows up before she's out of the store and they head to a John Lennon exhibit and then on to Lenape, N.J., Harley's old home town. They manage a chance encounter with every important character from the previous story and Harley's earlier life. Part wish-fulfillment and part whine, Harley's story is hard to digest. She is both incredibly self-centered, and, by her own report, incredibly talented. Relationships between characters loop back onto each other in improbable ways. Fortunately, before going over the top, Bauer has Harley stop demanding that others make her the center of the universe, and naturally, that's when they fall into step and support her. The worry about being pregnant, at a time when she's ill-equipped to handle parenthood, threads through each conversation, providing an ironic twist as Sean and Harley's own relationship develops. (Fiction. YA)