The Space Between Us

Gr 8 Up—After breaking up with her long-term boyfriend because he admits loving her younger sister, Charly, Amelia Mercer concentrates on surviving senior year by focusing on her plans to head to Columbia University and escaping her small Florida town. When gorgeous, vivacious Charly comes home disheveled and disoriented after staying out all night, both she and Amelia are in trouble with their strict grandmother. The situation worsens when Charly learns she is pregnant. Grandma springs into action to protect the reputation of their father, an abstinence-preaching Southern Methodist pastor. To avoid gossip, both Charly and Amelia are sent to Canada to stay with Bree, the half-sister of their mother, who died when they were toddlers. Coping with snow, wind, and bone-chilling temperatures adds to Amelia's self-pity and hopelessness, especially after Columbia turns her down. Bree provides Charly with support and sympathy. Meanwhile, Amelia rejects offers of friendship until she reluctantly acknowledges Ezra, who shoulders family problems more daunting than hers. When Charly reveals that she had been raped, Amelia regrets her unsympathetic behavior. Then the plot unexpectedly speeds up with a number of major actions and decisions. While Amelia, Charly, and Ezra emerge as complex characters, others are shadowy at best. Most puzzling is why the father looms so large since he has little direct involvement with his daughters. Amelia's honest voice incorporates humor even as she reveals sometimes painful observations about herself and others. Readers who concentrate on the sister relationship or the Amelia-Ezra romance will appreciate the novel.—Kathy Piehl, Minnesota State University, Mankato