One More River Author: Lynne Reid Banks. Publisher: Morrow Junior Books, reprinted, 1992. Pages: 243. Price: $14 (hardback).

One More River is a dried-up novel about a spoiled girl named Lesley Shelby growing up in Saskatchewan, Canada, in 1966. Despite Lesley's protests, her father decides to yank their Canadian roots and move to Israel, so Lesley can grow up being a fully integrated Jew, not a Canadian who is unaware of what being Jewish really means.

I was drawn to this book because I thought it would paint a colorful cultural picture of what life was like in the Middle East.

Even though the book provides rich cultural lessons, they are lost among a boring plot and dull writing.

An abrupt lifestyle change

Lesley has it all. She's popular, athletic, has rich parents, gets good grades, and the entire eighth grade envies her. She is devastated when her dad informs her they are moving to the Middle East.

As if learning Hebrew, a language previously foreign to her, isn't enough, her dad decides the family will live on a kibbutz - a communal farm where nobody owns anything or makes any money. She must share a tiny, outdated room with four other teen-agers who are separated from their parents, who livedown the path.

Lesley's formerly care-free lifestyle is now marred by working two hours daily on the kibbutz farm. The other kibbutzniks look upon her luxurious clothing and makeup that she arrived in and refuse to talk to her.

Lesley looked at her mother. She was staring around with a blank look, and Lesley guessed at her feelings. She'd accepted the shortcomings of the center - that was temporary. But this . . . this was to be her home! No proper kitchen, no proper bathroom, only a shower, no space, no nice things. . . .

"A bit bare" more or less described Lesley's feelings about the kibbutz altogether. Bare of decoration, bare of elegance, bare of comfort. After the luxuries of home, it was hard not to look down on such plainness.

This is just the beginning. Leslie continues to whine about everything from leaving her princess lifestyle to her laborious jobs. It became so annoying that I lost interest.

Joining the enemy

Tense relations with Egypt and Jordan erupt, leaving Israel engaged in The Six-Day War. Fed up with her kibbutz classmates, Lesley chooses to be interested in her enemies, the Arabs, and vigorously learns Arabic.

She becomes intrigued by examining the Jordan deserts across the river and into enemy territory. She rebels and crosses the border, running into a young Arab boy, Mustapha. They want to become freinds but realize they must be enemies just to satisfy an ignorant society. Trying to make her kibbutzmates more tolerant of the Arabs, Lesley learns to face her Isralei nationalism.