Reading Sybil at Sixteen is like watching a soap opera. This 182-page drama is about how the Sebastian family is affected by something that happened more than 20 years ago. Caught between the present and the past, the Sebastian family must make a serious decision.

Although the plot is quite interesting, it is also confusing. Too many things are thrown at the reader at once. It reaches a point where the reader has no idea what is going on, as in the following scene where yet another family crisis occurs:

"This afternoon in San Diego, the FBI arrested Linda Steinmetz," the anchor declared. "It's been over twenty years since Steinmetz, her husband, and two other political radicals blew up a bank and killed a bank guard . . . but earlier reports indicate that Steinmetz is seriously ill, and that the FBI received a tip to check various hospitals . . ."

"Sam's grandfather died an hour ago," said Evvie.

"Your husband, Nicholas, is brain dead," the doctor said. "The trauma to his head was massive . . ."

All of this leads to an unbelievable novel which has too many events happening at once.

The book's title is also misleading, because except for the first chapter, the novel is not about Sybil at all but about everyone else. For $2.95 the reader would at least expect a title that relates to the story.

Sybil at Sixteen is the fifth book in the Sebastian Sisters Quintet, published by Bantam Books and written by Susan Beth Pfeffer who is also the author of The Year Without Michael.. SHARLENE TONY, 14