by Aria Beth Sloss (Get the Book)Lonely and bright, an only child brought up by parents less flush than her peers' parents, Rebecca turns to new-girl Alex like a flower to the sun. In ever-vernal 1960s Pasadena, opposites Rebecca and Alex become fast and fierce friends, stuck together like two ends of a battery. Their charge begins to weaken, however, when Alex's interest in theater summons her away to camp, all but fizzles in college when Rebecca would rather study biology than attempt to understand one of Alex's obscure performances, and is extinguished to near death when one dark moment leads Rebecca to make a fateful decision. Her best friend spurned and her dream of following medicine dashed in one fell swoop, Rebecca escapes restrictive southern California and the mother whose only wish for her is to marry well and starts anew. Before long, though, she and Alex reconnect, and the true nature and madness of their friendship unfurls. An impressive psychological drama, Sloss' first novel aptly brings to the fore the social issues that uniquely challenge her heroine. --Booklist
