Never Always Sometimes

Gr 9 Up—Dave and Julia have been best friends since eighth grade, and Dave has secretly been in love with Julia all that time. Now they're seniors, and when they come across a list they made as freshmen that spells out all of the clichés not to do in high school (e.g., never dye your hair a color of the rainbow), they decide to do them all before graduation. Amanda Leigh Cobb narrates. Girls' voices are expressive, impish, perky, and somewhat ditzy at times. Cobb is slightly less successful with Dave's voice, which often sounds feminine both in tone and mannerisms. But the fun result is a light, upbeat novel of high school life. Cobb handles the fast-moving, bantering dialogue with ease. Listeners will be amused as items on the list get checked off and Dave and Julia find out there's a lot more to high school than they realized.