An eye-opening novel about a high-functioning alcoholic teenager, 17-year-old Niki Etchens. Readable, informative, not an after-school special. There's a lot of information about what alcoholism means, and the author doesn't whitewash Niki's life. The book was published in 1980, and I don't know if the culture was just different then, but I was shocked how often Niki drove drunk — even driving her friends home, with rarely anyone blinking an eye. Couldn't believe she never had an accident. Niki is a star pitcher on the girls' softball team, and there's some reflection on the devaluation of girls' sports and female athletes compared to their male equivalents. I appreciated the role Niki's friendship with her best friend, Martha, played in the novel; more than any other part of Niki's life, it's this friendship that shows a clear picture of the harms of Niki's drinking. The book is set in Berkeley, with mentions of the UC and Carmel. ( )

A fascinating story about the fall and recovery of a high school alcoholic. Niki is a female protagonist who doesn't fall prey to any of the usual conventions of an American high school girl: she knows what she wants, she's independent, she competes, she speaks her mind. This is a book I read over and over in high school and after a recent re-read, I found that it still held my interest. An overlooked young adult gem. ( )