All Alone in the Universe

ALL ALONE IN THE UNIVERSE is a quiet, kind story, a chronology of heartache and healing told around the milestones of summer vacation, first boyfriends, and Thanksgiving at the kids' table. Even as Donna is trying to understand how she and her best friend can be drifting apart, she's having hometown adventures like befriending the groundskeeper of a grand estate. Hope Davis's gentle voice conveys humor and innocence, and she always sounds slightly surprised, as if amazed again and again by the revelations of childhood. Lynne Rae Perkins's writing is spare and lovely, holding hope that even when the universe, or the heart, feels vast and empty, we are not alone. J.M.D. Winner of AUDIOFILE Earphones Award. (c) AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine

October 4, 1999
Perkins's (Home Lovely) first novel is a lively coming-of-age story filled with touching moments. The penciled illustrations, scribbled in between the narrative, resemble classic doodles of the junior high English notebook variety, and give 13-year-old narrator Debbie immediate credibility. The book chronicles eight months from the time when Debbie's best friend since third grade, Maureen, starts spending all her time with another classmate, Glenna. Debbie is devastated by the loss ("I felt off-balance, as if someone kept borrowing my right foot for a few minutes"). But as she gets to know a neglected neighbor girl, she realizes how many people love her: her parents, teachers and eventually, a few new friends. And she learns that as a person who is cared for, she must watch out for others who are not so fortunate. While there's not a lot of plot here, it's Debbie's fresh voice, perceptive observations and occasionally mean-spirited asides that will win readers over. Recalling Glenna's hold on Maureen, for instance, Debbie says, "I guess I hoped that she would evaporate.... But she seems to have congealed, like cold gravy and then cement." Readers will be caught up in Debbie's thoughts from the first page and cheer her hard-won breakthroughs. Ages 10-up.