The White Mercedes

Gr 11 Up—"Chris Marshall met the girl he was going to kill on a warm night in early June." From the first line, there is no doubt how Philip Pullman's story (Knopf, 1993) will end. Chris is a 17-year-old English boy living in Oxford, England. He works for Barry Miller, who appears to be a decent employer and loving husband and father, but hides a past that will ensnare Chris in a web of deceit, betrayal, and murder. Chris falls hard for Jenny, a homeless teen running from her past. They are forced apart by circumstances and spend much of this short novel searching for each other. When Chris finally finds Jenny again, he mistakenly believes that she and Barry are together. Chris decides to help a mysterious man in a white Mercedes locate Barry and, too late, realizes Jenny is in danger. Narrator Colin Moody does a fine job of propelling the story forward and distinguishes each character with a unique voice. A frank, sexual scene bumps this tale into the mature teen bracket. Since the novel was published nearly two decades ago, today's teens may feel its date. For example, during a critical plot point, much hangs on locating a telephone. While the story is interesting, it never quite reaches the must-read level of many of Pullman's other titles. An additional purchase for libraries serving mature teens.—Tricia Melgaard, Centennial Middle School, Broken Arrow, OK