From Publishers Weekly Sent away by her parents so that she can recover from boyfriend problems and they can sort out their shaken marriage， 15-year-old Karen is spending a hot summer vacation in New Franklin， Ill.a small "Midwestern town bisected by the B & O tracks"where her chic schoolteacher aunt Augusta， 35， lives alone in the tall brick ancestral manse. Karen and Augusta talk with laconic awkwardness about love and growing up; Augusta busily hammers away on a garden gazebo that eventually collapses. Furnace repairman Jerry， one of Augusta's many lovers， comes to help and brings along a new beau for Karen， a youth named George. But Karen's edgy self-consciousness is hard to believe: she is embarrassed， for instance， to be seen buying Seventeen magazine. Pei's notion of kid talk is bland and cliche-ridden. Unfortunately， the action trudges on with drowsy slowness. Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information， Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. From School Library Journal YA Karen Moss， at odds with her parents and brooding over the loss of a boyfriend， spends her fifteenth summer in a small Illinois town with her 35-year-old Aunt Augusta， an eccentric English teacher， compulsive baseball fan， nonstop talker， and the loving caretaker of the family's deteriorating Victorian home. The two women spend the sultry summer engaged in various home improvement projects， driving lessons， baseball games， and endless conversations in which Karen is appalled and awed by tales of her Aunt's love affairs. Karen meets George， who is bright， talented， and lonely. He becomes Karen's summer romance and the focus of much of her preoccupation with love and sex. Although the setting for the novel is the 1950s， Karen's struggle to understand her loving (if less than perfect) parents， her unconventional aunt， her sensitive and troubled boyfriend， and her own unpredictable emotions is a process toward self knowledge that today's readers will understand. Family Resemblances is not as subtle nor as profound as The Finishing School (Viking， 1985)， which deals with a similar theme， but most young adults will find it more accessible than Godwin's book. Jackie Gropman， Fairfax County Public Library， Va.Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information， Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. See all Editorial Reviews