The Play

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Soap-opera elements are firmly in place here: naive Marika is cast opposite handsome Cameron in the school play while his vindictive girlfriend Tiffany snarls in the wings. Cameron starts dating Marika, but Tiffany has plans for getting Cameron backshe fakes being pregnant. He thinks he must marry Tiffany and quits seeing Marika. Luckily for all concerned, Tiffany cackles wildly over her plan while Cameron is within earshot, and he leaves her for Marika. He and Marika put the lid on their lust for one anothereven a false pregnancy scare inspires discretion. Although the outcome of this book will not keep young readers guessing, the heavy breathing and long, yearning looks will keep them turning pages. Ages 15-up. (April)

School Library Journal

Gr 8-10 A teen soap opera, full of cliches, stereotypes, and purple prose. When Marika and Cameron fall in love, Cam's former girlfriend plots to break them up by telling Cam that she's pregnant and forcing him to marry her. Cam agrees to face the ``consequences of lust,'' but before Tiffany can force him down the aisle, Cam learns about her scheme. Cam wastes no time on revenge, but promptly gets Marika into his bed. On the very brink of losing her virginity, Marika asks him to stop, which he obligingly does. This book is exploitative, melodramatic, trite, and poorly written. At one point early in the book the plot is presented out of sequence with no explanation. Later in the book Johnson interjects a short paragraph directly to readers, which is disconcerting and confusing. Most objectionable, however, is Johnson's irresponsible portrayal of casual teen sex and drinking. For instance, Cam is told by Marika's father, ``Don't drink too much, though, since you're driving.'' After a petting session, Cam drives Marika home at 95 miles an hour. The sex is also handled casually, with references to ``easy lays'' and an emphasis on passion and pleasure. There is little stress on taking responsibility for one's sexuality and on dealing with the consequences in a mature way. This book is somewhere between a ``Sweet Valley High'' romance and a mature YA novel, and not successful as either. Candy Bertelson, Multnomah County Library, Portland, Oreg.