Elizabeth Lenhard

#2

A fun, frothy novel about friendship and knitting. Scottie feels like her whole world is turning upside down. Then she discovers knitting, and it's as if she's been thrown a cashmerino lifeline. Soon Scottie and her best friend Amanda, along with new friends Bella and Tay, find themselves hanging at their local yarn store, a magical place called KnitWit, bound together by a yen for yarn and a hunger for friendship. Their stitches and their relationships become so intertwined that it's hard to remember which came first: the girls or the purls. Chicks With Sticks is not just for crafty types (through it does include several knitting patterns and projects). It s for anyone who s ever found friends in the most unlikely place or wanted to. Sometimes you just need some string and sticks with some full-fat hot chocolate on the side to get you there."

#3

From Publishers Weekly In this hokey, meandering novel, Julia is a girl gifted with a healing touch and the power to glimpse the future. When she sees a vision of her best friend's boyfriend, Jim, shot and bleeding to death, she does her best to keep him out of danger. But then another friend is shot while witnessing a gas station holdup, and Julia and Jim set out to wreak revenge on the gunman. Meanwhile, Julia's best friend discovers that the gunman just happens to be the deranged former boyfriend of Kary, the recently deceased half-sister Julia never knew. Julia's mother--also a healer--had died in an attempt to save Kary's life. In another part of town, a carload of good witches is hot on Julia's trail, determined to keep her from abusing her powers. Typically, Pike's writing is peppy enough to animate his most tangled plots; here, however, his style becomes choppy and unconvincing--unable to sustain the coincidence-riddled story. In addition, the text is littered with sexist one-liners which, along with a humorless running "joke," are as irritating as they are offensive. Ages 13-up. Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.