Through
a series of diary entries, author Catherine Clark has quite adeptly created a
parallel universe located in America’s heartland where people generally get
along well together, speak the same language, share the same cultural values,
and have similar goals in life. In this world, people don’t use drugs (other
than alcohol). They don’t use curse words (other than "crap"). They
are mostly the same age (18-19). They know what it means to love and be loved.
They occasionally have sexual encounters, but don’t talk about them later. They
also make mistakes and work hard at correcting them.

Anyone
who reads the newspapers or even watches television news shows will find it
hard to believe that Clark’s universe is alive and well in our midst. And maybe
it isn’t. Maybe this novel just an elaborate dream for a theme park where the
rest of us can go visit. And what would we find there? How about families who
love one another; fast food outlets where all employees speak understandable English
and are treated well by the management; colleges where male Deans hover around
freshmen girls, yet have no predatory urges toward them; vegetarians who fall
off the wagon and redeem themselves promptly; and friends who drop everything
they’re doing to comfort one of their number who believes that her boyfriend in
Colorado has forsaken her when she learns he has kissed her so-called best
friend. What an astonishing place this would be to visit. Come to think of it,
hasn’t it all been done before? Maybe an old Twilight Zone?

Wurst Case
covers each day of Courtney V.D. Smith’s first semester in a small private
college in Wisconsin. The book is a sequel, and if you haven’t read the first
one, don’t worry. Wurst can stand on
its own merits.

The
book has an upbeat sensibility to it. All of the characters get into jams, and
all of them think enough of themselves to try and get out of them. There is
some lollygagging here and there, but nothing long-term. I particularly
appreciate the fact that there is no cursing to muck up the forward progress of
the story, but I do wish the characters could speak to each other without the
incessant use of the words "like," "all," and
"totally." Catherine Clark isn’t the only author that salts the
dialogue with these insider code words, so she can’t be faulted on that score.
When I realized there was no swearing in the book, I was hoping for no
chop-chop stuff either, but I guess you can’t have everything.

I
found Wurst Case too long, but
certainly readable. None of the characters was particularly interesting, and I
think they would do a lot better if they stayed in their own universe.
Somewhere over the rainbow. Not here. There’s too much work to do to keep the
big boat afloat.

© 2002 Liz Bass

Liz
Bass is a retired teacher and principal who lives in Northern California.

Categories: Children