A bear attack on the river trail from her Knik, Alaska, home left Clara with hypertrophic scarring on her face, back, and side, and her mother dead. With high-school graduation approaching, Clara contends with Elias, her longtime boyfriend who wants to marry and settle down; Rhodes, a handsome student teacher with wanderlust and promises of a life beyond Alaska; an acceptance to Columbia University to follow in Mom's footsteps; the possibility of skin-grafting plastic surgery; and Dad's love life progressing. These senior-year decision-making quandaries are textured by a strong Mormon faith that is accepting of frequent, heavy kissing but not premarital sex and emphasizes permanence in the form of eternal marriage. Perry's short chapters move Clara through her paces all the while pondering her life-altering choices. For those readers engaging in the safety-versus-freedom stage of adolescent development, Clara serves as a spirited model of respectfully balancing the influence of loved ones as she moves toward listening to her own true self.

Gr 7 Up-Senior year is a confusing time for most teens, but Clara has extra challenges to deal with. She got into her dream university, but it would take her thousands of miles away from everything she knows in her small Alaska town. Her boyfriend is talking more seriously about their future, but there is a new student teacher who is making her doubt everything she thought she knew. And overshadowing it all are the scars that mar her face and remind her of the violent grisly attack that took her mother. This book breathlessly captures that adolescent moment of being torn between an old life and the possibility of the new as well as romance and the dangers and exhilarations of physical contact. There is a persistent thread of Mormon faith throughout the book, but Perry integrates it with a light touch that reads as integral to the characterizations rather than an attempt at evangelizing. The characters are well developed and engaging, occasionally falling into familiar tropes (the forbidden older lover being one), but are well drawn and likable enough to overcome that. While the Alaskan setting is true to life, even that pales compared to the authentic, dynamically portrayed interior setting: a senior year in high school and all the transitions that entails. What at first glance appears to be a romance novel featuring a stock girl character with two love interests is revealed to be much more mutilayered coming-of-age tale about finding one's own way in the world. VERDICT Teens who identify as Latter Day Saints will certainly gravitate to this novel, though the rich writing, strong female protagonist, and faith message will help it find wider readership. Elizabeth Nicolai, Anchorage Public Library, AK