Stray (review)

Even though Natalie has made it through sophomore year as a well-behaved student who tends diligently to her grandmother, works at her veterinarian mother's animal hospital, and stays out of trouble, her mother keeps her on a short leash. When Carver, the son of Natalie's mother's old friend, comes to stay for the summer, Natalie's immediately smitten with the hot young guy, and she's increasingly tempted to breach her mother's strictures in order to hang out—and maybe more—with him. While the animal-behavior similes (a dog-training principle begins each chapter) are overforced at times, Natalie's dilemma is depicted with perception and sympathy. The book is wise and yet understanding about her habit of deceiving her mother; though the freedoms she sneaks aren't unreasonable, she's clearly ducking acknowledgment of her own evasions rather than dealing directly with her mother's unfairness. Nor is Carver a cutout emissary from the dark side—he's a genuinely appealing and hardworking guy who just runs a little toward teenaged foolish misjudgment. Many readers will empathize with Natalie's overcontrolled existence, and even if they don't follow her eventual example of honestly facing her too-restraining parent, they'll be reassured by the sympathetic treatment of a similar experience.