In 1971, high school senior Joe Anderson moves to Minnesota with his widowed mother. Joe is a wonderful young man who plays hockey and piano, works in the local grocery, and is nice to his mother. So what's his flaw? He is attracted to Kristi Casey, the wildly fun cheerleader who is every boy's fantasy and who introduces Joe to oral sex, marijuana, and acid trips. As Joe moves through life from high school to adulthood and marriage, Kristi is always there to tempt him, even when she becomes an evangelist. Landvik is a wonderful storyteller, and Joe is an attractive character, perhaps too good to be true. However, some of the book club readers and fans who enjoyed Landvik's other novels (e.g., Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons ) may be uncomfortable with the sex and drugs and Kristi's hypocritical life as an evangelist and the wife of a politician. As long as librarians understand that this new work is more explicit than Landvik's previous novels, this is recommended for most public libraries.—Lesa M. Holstine, Glendale P.L., AZ

Narrator Robertson Dean strikes the perfect note in the first-person role of Joe, a high school hockey star whose life throws him several unexpected curveballs that land him in a very different place from where he'd always imagined. While his life didn't turn out as planned, he gradually realizes that maybe he's exactly where he's supposed to be. As the adult Joe looking back over his life, Dean tells the story in a pitch-perfect ironic, self-deprecating tone that conveys simultaneously Joe's complex mix of vulnerability, cynicism and hope. Dean doesn't create actual character voices, but he conveys the personalities and emotions so well that the listener is completely drawn into the story. He's particularly good at popular, manipulative Kristi, a high school cheerleader turned radio evangelist and Joe's on-again, off-again lover. The abridgment of this engaging and believable story is seamless. Simultaneous release with the Ballantine hardcover (Reviews, May 7). (Nov.)

L andvik's latest light drama opens as Joe Andreson transfers into a Minneapolis high school as a class of '72 senior. Like everyone else, Joe has a major thing for head cheerleader Kristi Casey—a version of Reese Witherspoon's character in Election . Joe gets some action, but is estranged from Kristi by graduation. As the years pass, and they stay in touch sporadically, Joe, who narrates, can't quite let go of his infatuation. He becomes an innovative grocer, still unmarried at mid-book, and Kristi transforms into a Bible-thumping radio/televangelist. Joe builds solid relationships with his mother and her new husband, and reconnects with high school friend Darva Pratt (who returns to town with her daughter, Flora), while Kristi sets her sights on the White House. Landvik (Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons ) deftly mixes humor and pathos in Kristi's ditzy On the Air with God radio show, starkly contrasted by her quietly powerful portrait of Joe, a man with real family values. (Sept.)