Tashjian, who made a splash with The Gospel According to Larry (2002), goes high concept once more, this time recounting the story of 17-year-old Becky, an aspiring comic. Becky finds Kip at the clubs, where he is also looking for laughs. At first he seems to be the ideal boyfriend. Soon, however, he's pulling her hair and throwing her down. Tashjian is such a strong writer that this comedy-tragedy almost works, but certain things never ring true. Kip's background in an abusive family makes it possible that he has similar tendencies, but he never really seems the type. Perhaps this is because he keeps a diary (though he writes on paper towels) and comes across as too insightful and earnest. That Becky takes the abuse for a time, breaks up with Kip, and then is sucked back in seems more plausible. It's Becky's career choice that seems most unlikely. She's hardworking, but certainly not amusing enough to land a big MTV tour. Whatever its flaws, this will still garner plenty of readers, who will be taken with the story of a good boyfriend who goes bad.

Tashjian's novel shatters any stereotypes young readers may have about people in abusive relationships. Smart and secure, seventeen-year-old Becky is an aspiring comic, as is her new boyfriend Kip, who is sweet and funny. How Kip gradually becomes controlling and abusive--and why Becky continues to stay with him--comes across as frighteningly believable in this gripping story.

Senior Becky Martin, who has a loving family, a terrific best friend, and good grades, is slowly making a place for herself in San Francisco's stand-up comedy scene. But she hasn't felt successful in dating until she meets Kip, another aspiring comic. In an absorbing first-person narrative, Becky describes her relationship with Kip in which he gradually changes from adoring her to becoming controlling and jealous, and then hurting her physically as well as emotionally. Pages from Kip's journal reveal that his father, now gone, had been abusive and that Kip feels like a loser and hates himself for hurting Becky. Details such as Becky's increasing distance from friends and family ring true, although it may still be hard for readers to understand why someone so seemingly well-loved at home feels so inadequate. While not quite as insightful as Sarah Dessen's Dreamland (2000), this should find a place in all libraries that serve teens, many of whom will recognize aspects of their own relationships in Becky and Kip's. (Fiction. YA)

Tashjian (<EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">The Gospel According to Larry) undertakes the issue of relationship abuse with mixed results in this novel narrated by a 17-year-0ld stand-up comic in San Francisco. When Becky meets Kip (who write his bits on paper towels) at a comedy club at which they are both performing, she is instantly attracted to him. They quickly become inseparable and Becky becomes "someone whose conversation was sprinkled with 'My boyfriend and I did this' and 'My boyfriend and I did that.' " But Kip's constant attention borders on obsessive, and he is controlling of her hair, her clothes, her time—even her comedy routines. He also bullies her physically, and the abuse continues even after Becky begins to see the situation for what it is. Becky's growing awareness that her relationship isn't "intense" but, instead, unhealthy is developed well; readers will appreciate that Kip isn't completely demonized. The comedy angle provides a compelling backdrop; not only does it nicely counterbalance the book's weighty themes, but readers learn a lot about Becky through her perseverance and her routines. Unfortunately, the narrative at times swerves into exposition ("It seemed like my relationship with Kip was fueling something negative and bitter inside me"), and Kip's occasional entries (under the head "from the Bounty Dialogues of Kip Costello") feel intrusive. These drawbacks plus a few overly quirky details (e.g., Becky begins carrying stuffed creatures around in her bag), undercut the novel's impact. Ages 14-17. <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">(Sept.)

Gr 8 Up-Becky seems to have it all-she's moderately successful in her forays on the stages of local open mike night improv clubs, she has a loving family, and the best friend a 17-year-old could want. But her life becomes exponentially better when she meets the perfect yang for her yin, Kip Costello, a handsome, confident senior who seems to pull off his comedy routine without a sweat. The two are soon inseparable, leaving Becky little time for polishing her routines, for her part-time jobs and schoolwork, and, most importantly, for her family and friends. The balancing act gets even more difficult when she finds she must weigh every word so as not to spark Kip's anger. The second time he hurts her, Becky ends up in the hospital and Kip ends up in handcuffs. Readers will suspect his problem long before Becky does, but Tashjian allows readers to feel Becky's overpowering happiness and blindness to Kip's faults as they empathize with his overwhelming fear of losing control. Other well-written titles on dating abuse include Sarah Dessen's Dreamland (Viking, 2000) and Alex Flinn's Breathing Underwater (HarperCollins, 2001).-Susan Riley, Mount Kisco Public Library, NY Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.