Stick

The title refers to Paula, nicknamed 'Stick' because, according to her classmates, she resembles a stick insect and so is unlikely ever to secure a boyfriend. 11-year-old Chip, a Liverpudlian with a history of delinquency and defeated foster parents, adopts Paula and persuades her to help in renovating an old houseboat on the canal. Steve Foster, school hero and heart-throb, becomes involved in the project and with Paula. Chip, sensing this, talks Paula into accompanying him to Liverpool in a fruitless quest for his missing mother. This is a book which raises issues of interest to teenagers - divorce in the family, the problems of boy/girl relationships, the fickleness of friends. It is competently written and should appeal to third-year girls - include it in the class or school library.