THE APPLE TART OF HOPE, by Sarah Moore Fitzgerald

The story: Meg has come home for her friend's funeral, unable to believe that Oscar is dead. Oscar's brother Stevie doesn't believe his brother committed suicide, either. And strangely--they're both right. But Meg is wrong about a lot of things, and knows she was wrong to treat Oscar the way she did. But as days go by and there's still no sign of Oscar, she slowly starts to learn the truth about her friend...and she wonders--if Oscar is still alive--whether he'd ever be able to forgive her anyway.

June Cleaver's ratings: Language PG; Violence PG; Sexual content PG; Nudity G; Substance abuse PG; Magic & the occult G: GLBT content G; adult themes (bullying, ostracism, adolescent angst) PG; overall rating PG.

Liz's comments: Even though the story, above, makes this book sound like a downer, it really wasn't. Oscar and Meg are two teens dealing with adolescent problems the best they can, and they learn that keeping things all bottled up inside is generally not a good thing. I thought this book was both charming and insightful. I liked it a lot.