Deliverance

Gr 7 Up—Life is good for Naomi Martinez, a 16-year-old student at Chavez High. Her family has reunited after a bitter feud, she works at the popular frozen-yogurt shop, and she has the best boyfriend in the world, caring Ernesto Sandoval, who picks her up each evening to take her home. One night, he gets a strange text message not to pick her up. Could it be from her ex-boyfriend, Clay Aguirre? He has been stalking her and is the only blemish on her newfound happiness. When Naomi gets a mysterious raise, Ernie believes that the owner's son, Jimmy Ancho, has a thing for her. Then Elias Ancho, the owner, attacks a Chill Out patron who is flirting with Naomi. The teens learn that he has transferred his feelings for his dead wife to Naomi, who looks remarkably like her. In a climactic ending, Elias holds Ernie and Naomi at gunpoint to try to abduct Naomi, believing that she is his dead wife. Both get away safely, and Mr. Ancho goes to a mental hospital. Though this is essentially Naomi's story, the point of view tends to drift between Ernie and Naomi and even to secondary characters. The main plotline is interrupted by several subplots involving a school play and getting a road paved, and they don't add depth to any character or the overall hi/lo story. Artificial dialogue, the unrealistic portrayal of teens in a barrio, and the too-tidy ending will make readers want to be saved by the class bell.—H. H. Henderson, Heritage Middle School, Deltona, FL