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Teenager's Life Both Funny, Haunting

© Robert Powers

I'm happy not to be a teenager. That's a part of my life where once was definitely enough. Today, a half-century beyond my teens, I can't imagine what it must be like to be young and confronting the problems facing us all in the new millennium.

Novelist Michael Hornburg, from his book photo still this side of 30, has created some marvelous teenagers in his new and captivating novel, Downers Grove (William Morrow, $23). This bright and intensely involving tale introduces us to 17-year-old narrator Chrissie Swanson. She's both brilliant and charming, but occasionally demonstrates the inexperience of her years. The story begins quietly, but noon author Hornberg turns up the pace, and the reader becomes forced to hold on tight for as much adventures that could be crammed into 231 pages while not totally damaging our suspension of disbelief.

As the tale begins, Chrissie figures there must be more to life than hanging out and getting high. While brighter than the ordinary 17-year-old, Chrissie must face up to making decisions that force her to enter the strange world of adults.

Like the final turns around a sizzling race track, wondering if fuel will hold out to the checked flag, Chrissie is forced to confront adult decisions while still wearing a teenager's garb.

Hornberg, whose first novel Bongwater was made into an independent film, writes with a style that's both hilarious and haunting. The characters of "Downers Grove" are folks that we get to know and to understand.

DONNY! SCREAM!!

Donny Osmond was the principal heartbreaker in one of the most successful musical groups of the century. As a teenager, Donny and his singing brothers caused screams of nearly every teenage girl from 13 to 19. At one time, the Osmonds were part of the royalty of show business. They could attrack massive adoring audiences of young girls who would scream throughout an entire concert.

As Donny Osmond, his sister Marie and the huge mob of siblings showed, talent and proper promotion can lead to riches. In his new autobiography, Donny describes the good days and the bad. Life Is Just What You Make It: My Story So Far (Hyperion, $22.95) is an entertaining tale of an extraordinary family and the rigors and disappointments that occur when you go from No. 1 to the harsh fact that no one cares about you or your act any more.

Co-author Patricia Romanowski, a veteran at writing show business biographies, does another excellent job and she makes Donny's voice come through loud and clear.

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