6 Points, Paperback, 1996"It can wear you to a nub, trying to be a popular person and a good Catholic all at the same time." So says Sidda, one of the characters inhabiting <I>Little Altars Everywhere</I>. Author Rebecca Wells uses her considerable acting talent to perform this abridgment, adding even more spark to her already lively characters. Everyone--Shep, Vivi, Willetta, and the rest--is given a distinct voice, and Wells plays each of them to the hilt. More like a recording of a one-woman show than a mere reading, <I>Altars</I> is an excellent example of how entertaining audiobooks can be. (Running time: 3 hours, 2 cassettes) <I>--C.B. Delaney</I>
3 Points, Paperback, 1999It is a truth universally acknowledged that when a Cathleen Schine heroine goes off in search of her origins, she's likely to travel farther than most--and bound to come up against more than the average obstacle. Jane Barlow Schwartz, for instance, heads not for her New England childhood home but for the consolations of the Galapagos Islands. "You're searching for your roots," her father quips. "On a dormant volcano?" And this is only one of the thousands of witticisms on offer in Cathleen Schine's novel of lost friendship, the perplexing power of the family feud, and more than one shipboard mystery. When Jane, 25 and a brand-new divorcée, arrives in Ecuador for her ecological tour, she instantly recognizes the guide as her relative and childhood best friend. Martha, the cousin in question, however, takes several beats longer--a clear signal that both still have some evolving to do. As Jane quickly reveals, Martha was the real grand passion in her life, and now she's determined to get to the bottom of her idol's disenchantment, not to mention explore the evolutionary value of friendship. Charles Darwin is definitely much in evidence in <I>The Evolution of Jane</I>, and Schine has some serious fun with Jane's confusion when it comes to species survival. But her fifth novel is also filled with some provocative, perfectly timed aperçus on natural, romantic, and most definitely familial selection. <I>--Kerry Fried</I>
4 Points, Paperback, 1995A London beauty disguises herself as a man to seek revenge on the rake she holds responsible for her brother's death. Fast-paced, sexy and unpredictable, this is classic Coulter.<br><br>Catherine Coulter's plots are like rich deserts-sinfully delicious and hard to pass up. (<i>Atlanta Constitution</i>)
4 Points, Paperback, 1999<B>Oprah Book Clubî Selection, September 1996</B>: The horror of losing a child is somehow made worse when the case goes unsolved for nearly a decade, reports <i>Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel</i> columnist Jacquelyn Mitchard in this searing first novel. In it, 3-year-old Ben Cappadora is kidnapped from a hotel lobby where his mother is checking into her 15th high school reunion. His disappearance tears the family apart and invokes separate experiences of anguish, denial, and self-blame. Marital problems and delinquency in Ben's older brother (in charge of him the day of his kidnapping) ensue. Mitchard depicts the family's friction and torment--along with many gritty realities of family life--with the candor of a journalist and compassion of someone who has seemingly been there. International publishing and movie rights sold fast on this one: It's a blockbuster.
4 Points, Paperback, 1995When a king's daughter is kidnapped, a former slave sets out to rescue her-and finds true love.
5 Points, Paperback, 2000<p>Meet Morgan</p><p>Morgan Cross is out-of-line online! Always caring and helpful, Morgan hits every site that claims to stop hunger and house the poor. Not only does she neglect her home responsibilities and her TodaysGirls.com cyberpals, Morgan becomes increasingly sad over all the world's injustices.</p><p>Her friends try to show her Christ is the only one to carry all the world's burdens, she's just required to do her part. Morgan finds power and strength in Jesus' love and decides He is the God worth committing to and follow.</p>