The Private Life of Georgia Brown

It is the first day of a new term and into the class of 14-year-old Georgia and her friend Jenny comes Stephanie, a new student dripping in apparent self-confidence and sophistication. Jenny switches her loyalty to the newcomer, provoking Georgia - who has also a jazz pianist alcoholic father to contend with - to succumb to an act of theft in an attempt not to lose too much face. Of the ensuing consequences the most interesting involves Georgia's relationship with Luke, a fellow student with whose 'loner' instincts she has come to have something in common. There are occasional moments of high drama but the final impression is of too many solutions coming too quickly and of a narrative framework frequently not sufficiently strong to carry the young protagonists' problems.