Virginia Euwer Wolff came to young adult literature relatively late in life- -approaching age fifty--but in a very short time and with four novels has created her own niche in the genre. "I major in disappointment," Wolff told Booklist's Stephanie Zvirin in an interview, and indeed she is known for her incisive takes on outsiders, for kids who face and deal with disappointment, who confront confusing and disorienting experiences. From special education student Nick in Probably Still Nick Swansen, to Jolly, the single teenage mom in Make Lemonade, Wolff's protagonists face an uphill battle in life. And even when the way seems relatively smooth, as for the young violinist Allegra in The Mozart Season, the outsider status still pertains--in this case a gifted individual set apart from the quotidian.

Language is paramount in a Wolff novel. "We live by language," Wolff observed in a 1997 speech delivered at...