Heartstones
YA The adolescent narrator of this novellette admires and emulates Poe's thrillers in this bizarre modern story which harks back to the 19th Century in style and setting. Elvira, 16, is anorexic, although that fact only slowly becomes obvious. She is also obsessed with her father and spends most of her time in their 15th-Century manse in intellectual pursuits for his approval. He, a lay theologian, has lost one wife to illness and loses his fiancee to an accident for which Elvira had wished and tried to plan, but in which she really had no hand. Her younger sister eats constantly and thinks the house is haunted. This is not a Stephen King spine chiller, but rather a close look at a psychological disaster within a family. Kids who enjoy Poe may enjoy this modern derivation, as well as the apparently first-hand insights into anorexia and obesity which show how oblivious the victim is to the illness. Thought-provoking, short reading. Dorcas Hand, Episcopal High School, BellaireCopyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.