FINDING GRACE
Alyssa Brugman
Delacorte Press
Fiction
ISBN: 0385731167
240 pages

Rachel meets Mr. Preston soon after she graduates from high school, and he offers her a job caring for Grace, a brain-damaged woman. Grace doesn't speak, and Rachel has to do almost everything for her, only leaving for a few hours each day when a nurse comes so she can attend classes at the university.

When Rachel looks through Grace's things, she finds the "spooky box," filled with things from Grace's former life before her mysterious accident, which Mr. Preston refuses to speak about. Each day Rachel reads a few more letters and diary entries, trying to piece together the Grace that was.

At the same time, Rachel is coping with living away from home, starting college and meeting boys. Taking care of Grace is more than a full-time job, and it drains Rachel both physically and emotionally. Rachel becomes so involved in Grace's past life that she begins to stress and cry about it just as Grace must have done.

What keeps FINDING GRACE from being completely predictable is the characters. Grace shines through her letters to others and becomes a person you'd like to meet. Her sisters, Brioney and Charity, add comic relief. Without these characters, the story wouldn't be nearly as endearing, since the basic plot is not particularly unique.

FINDING GRACE has just enough suspense, personality and romance to appeal to younger teens; it's the kind of book that you'd love to curl up with on the couch on a Saturday afternoon while sipping cocoa.

   --- Reviewed by Hannah Gomez (gingermulatta@kiwibox.com)

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