Heat [Hardcover]

The soft lapping sound of a swimming pool and the lifeless smell of chlorinated water pervade this novel about a competitive high diver who struggles through her terrible fear of returning to the platform after hitting her head in a diving accident. Bonnie Chamberlain, almost 17, faces an even bigger challenge when her lawyer father is brought to trial and convicted of defrauding his clients. After he pleads guilty and she finds that her mother, too, is implicated, Bonnie uses the determination that took her back up the diving ladder to take charge of her own life--and to accept her parents as they are. Michael Cadnum's oblique, hard-edged style is perfectly suited to this story set in the upper-middle-class milieu of Northern California, where pleasant, witty remarks are stand-ins for communicating real feelings. Cadnum is master of the revealing detail: Bonnie's boyfriend, Rowan, "wants to concentrate on acoustical physics," her stepmother, in "a sherbet outfit thing," looks like "someone auditioning for hostess at a pancake restaurant," and the courthouse has floors the color of goose-liver pâté. Here, tangible ambience is as important as plot. Thoughtful readers will find Heat less dark than, but equally engrossing as, Cadnum's Calling Home, Edge, and Breaking the Fall. (Ages 14 and older) --Patty Campbell

Cadnum's latest may not have as much heart-pounding action as some of his previous thrillers (Zero at the Bone; Taking It), but there is plenty of tension. As the story opens, narrator Bonnie Chamberlain, a diver, has just regained consciousness following an accident in the pool at her fancy private school. Bonnie, who has started to entertain dreams about the Olympics, is left with a concussion and serious doubts about future competition. As she fights anxieties about rejoining the team and possibly reinjuring herself, she is hit with a second whammy: her father, a prominent attorney recently remarried to his secretary, is arrested for defrauding clients. While the meshing of two heavyweight traumas is slightly awkward, other aspects of the plot?particularly the change in Bonnie's belief in her father's innocence to her knowledge of his guilt?are compelling. Adopting the laconic style that gives so much of his writing its tough edge and adult flavor, Cadnum challenges readers with hard questions about the nature of fear and of betrayal. Ages 12-up.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Grade 5-8-Bonnie regains consciousness slowly after a high-dive accident. She survives the physical trauma, but that is the least of her problems. Foremost in her thoughts is her father, who is honeymooning in Hawaii with his former secretary. He is a high-powered lawyer, imbued with a larger-than-life ego, and is, figuratively speaking, "swimming with sharks." Just as she is cleared, perhaps prematurely, to get back into the water, he is arrested for defrauding his clients. She is horrified at her mother and sister's acceptance of the situation. Her father's obtuse arrogance, lack of remorse, and total selfishness will stun readers. Will Bonnie's drive to impress this man who only calls her "Champion" endanger her recovery? The author creates psychological tension with his attention to atmosphere. Readers can smell the chlorine and will tremble alongside Bonnie as she tentatively climbs to the top of the diving platform. Cadnum is a master at drawing powerful characters who struggle with inner demons and are unable to communicate with those closest to them. Other books that explore a father's fall from grace include Marcia Byalick's It's a Matter of Trust (Harcourt, 1995), which deals with the aftermath of Erika's father's conviction of white-collar crime, and Walter Dean Myer's searing Somewhere in the Darkness (Scholastic, 1992), about an escaped convict who happens to be the father Jimmy has not seen since infancy. Also recommend Heat to Chris Crutcher fans who enjoy his psychological studies of athletic endurance and competitions.
Marilyn Payne Phillips, University City Public Library, MO
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Gr. 7^-12. Cadnum's opening is clever and attention-grabbing. Competitive diver Bonnie Chamberlain is lying on the deck, blood pouring from a head wound she received when she struck the bottom of the pool. Concerned faces come into her field of vision; paramedics whisk her to the hospital; the doctors tell her she will mend. Her question to herself is whether she wants to dive again. In the midst of her struggle to find an answer, her beloved father, with whom she's maintained close ties despite her parents' divorce, is indicted for defrauding his clients of millions. Could he have done it? He says no, and she believes him. Should she? How much pressure, how much "heat" can Bonnie stand? The dramatic opening gives way to a story that is surprisingly restrained as Cadnum weaves together the two disparate strands of Bonnie's life, letting readers quietly watch as Bonnie's character slowly evolves. Stephanie Zvirin

The diving platform is 33 feet up--higher than a third story balcony. Expert at the most breathtaking dives, Bonnie Chamberlain captures the best scores in every heat, and she is bound for Olympic trials. She has never felt fear--until now. After one inexplicable mistake, it's all over for the champion diver--or is it?.