Carlisle's Hope — Norma Johnston

In one of the slimmest plots to launch a new series (The Carlisle Chronicles) yet this season, Jessica Carlisle is a part of an old family (and a lot of old family traditions), in whose roots she finds much comfort. Her father, who is with the foreign service, has kept the Carlisles on the move in the last few years, and Jess finds, in the family name, the stability she craves. When her Aunt Faith dies in a car accident, Jess gains access to information which proves that her father is the descendant of an adopted Carlisle, not the real stuff. She's devastated. John Henry, Aunt Faith's 10-year-old son, is temporarily living with the Carlisles while his own father is abroad. Unhappy, he goes back to his family home. His act of running away brings the Carlisles together, and Jess realizes that the boundaries of family love stretch across geography and bloodlines. While readers may find the set-up appealingold family, foreign service, exotic charactersthe plot doesn't generate any real excitement. Jess's battle cry "Up the Carlisles" is uttered far too often, and one never really cares about her problems, of lineage and otherwise.