A Girl Like Abby ¦ An Open Mind

Both these books grasp the nettle of social problems and, in the main, do it well.

A Girl Like Abby deals with incest, Chip, fifteen years old, falls in love with the unpredictable Abby. He finds her tendency to withdraw into herself both fascinating and alarming. Chip's warm, humorous and wholly convincing relationship with his widowed mother gives him a springboard for his anxieties.

Abby's inability to allow Chip physical contact, despite their developing relationship, leads to her revelation about her father's incestuous relationship with her. The situation is handled in a sympathetic way, providing a vehicle for information about what to do if such a situation arises. Although the book is American, sources of help are similar enough to provide useful basic advice.

The book is successful and could be offered to and discussed with third-years upwards. One criticism is the sensationalist nature of the cover blurbs - 'terrible secret' and 'free her from her living nightmare' belie the low-key treatment of the subject.

An Open Mind is similarly successful - this time in dealing with attitudes to handicapped children. Again, it is irritatingly flawed - first published in America, it has been painstakingly transferred to Bristol but American spellings and expressions are still too much in evidence.

The book shows its age in places - it was first published in 1978 - but is a convincing account of David Winterbourne's acceptance of his father's right to remarry and his own understanding of the existence of patterns - and, therefore, meanings - in experiences and expectations; both his own and those of his handicapped friends. A good book-box text to offer to enquiring third-year minds.