When "Neuromancer" feels a little heavy and "Catch-22" a little light, I reach for summer reading I can count on: the 1987 Mann Middle School "Lasting Impressions" yearbook.

If you think you know Mann Middle School, think again.

Gem after gem can be found inside this powder-blue, perfect-bound book, filled with a virtual hit parade of motivational headlines and active verbs.

No story takes the easy way out. "Friendship is on the menu" provides a refreshing look at the more playful side of the school's cafeteria workers. "Eighth-graders are on the move" dispels the myth that the upperclassmen are complacent. "Seventh-graders are on the move" provides a provocative counterpoint.

Even the more basic features ("Classes offer variety," "Clubs promote excellence," "Staff at work") supply the literary ride of a lifetime. I'm not going to give it away completely, but let me say this: the variety is various, the work is laborious.

With so much content to choose from, I would make the argument that the most lasting impression "Lasting Impressions" makes is the "favorites" page. I never get tired of filling it out.

Favorite Thing To Buy For Lunch:
1) Ice cream
2) Hawaiian Punch
3) Cheeseburger
4) Sandwich

Favorite New TV Series:
1) Alf
2) Perfect Strangers
3) American Shopping Channel
4) Easy Street

Favorite New Kid Shows:
1) Dennis the Menace
2) The Real Ghost Busters
3) Galaxy High
4) Rambo — Force of Freedom

Most Admired Female:
1) Vanna White
2) Nancy Reagan
3) Mother Teresa
4) Corazon Aquino

Answers: 3, 3, 4, 1