This potpourri begins with the science fiction page-turner The Dark Side of Nowhere. Teenager Jason and his friends discover an alarming secret that shatters their world and challenges what they thought they knew about themselves and their seemingly boring town and bland citizens. Jason's feisty personality is well defined by Harris, whose excessively ordinary tones make this exciting, compelling story even creepier. Incisive as a sharp knife, Siegfried's clear voice delineates Izzy, Willy- Nilly. When a car accident causes 15-year-old Izzy to face life as an amputee, she knows that things will never be the same. A bad mannered friend helps Izzy accept her life-altering disability and draw on strengths she never dreamed she had. Over the Wall is a realistic story of teenager Tyler's struggle with anger, panic, and pardon. Narrator Heller captures the subjective responses of a 13-year-old who is just beginning to understand the impact of his choices, both on the baseball field and in other areas of his life. Heller's voice captures the emotional intonations of both modern teens and adults. Both 11-year-old Summer and her 13-year-old brother, Roscoe, feel a silent thunder roaring through their souls. Summer yearns to learn to read, and Roscoe wants to fight in the Civil War. Silent Thunder tells the story of both Summer and Roscoe in alternating chapters that are poignantly read by Johnson and Fernandez, who make listeners painfully aware of the difficult decisions facing the siblings.

Spending the summer with relatives in New York, thirteen-year-old Tyler joins a Central Park Little League team but can't manage his temper. Past tragedies, including the death of a grandfather in Vietnam many years ago, haunt Tyler's family, but a secret trip to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial helps provide closure. The overlong and over-plotted novel suffers from a lack of focus.

"The author tackles tough subjects relating to violence in sports, religious hypocrisy and the Vietnam War while creating layers of metaphors that neatly unfold as the story progresses," said <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">PW.Ages 10-up. <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">(Feb.)

Gr 6-9-The wall in the title partly refers to the wall that the book's narrator, 13-year-old Tyler Waltern, wants to smack a baseball over. It also refers to other walls, such as the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial in Washington, DC, and other more illusive barriers between people. As the novel opens, Tyler finds himself spending the summer with his aunt, uncle, and cousins. The attraction of New York City is the chance to play serious baseball over the summer while also escaping from his moody, troubled father, who has been a virtual recluse since the accidental death of Tyler's sister nine years earlier. The boy's own worst enemy, on the playing field and in life, is his own explosive temper and combative disposition. Helping Tyler through his problems are his firm but understanding coach and his wise-beyond-her-years younger cousin. This is a complex novel, with the events of the past haunting the lives of several of the major characters. By the end, Tyler has gained a level of self-awareness by unraveling some of the tangled stories in his family's past and understanding the intricacies lying beneath the surface of life. Sports are just a part of this ambitious work that presents a compelling, multilayered story.-Todd Morning, Schaumburg Township Public Library, IL Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.