Review Detail

D Foster appeared out of nowhere. One minute Neeka and her friend were jumping rope by themselves and the next D Foster was staring at them from across the street. She comes over and starts talking to them and a best friendship is born. Its 1994 and Tupac Shakur is shot. It is touch and go for a while but he pulls through. D really loves Tupacs lyrics, feeling that they touch her life. She loves her mother, as does Tupac, regardless of the fact D doesnt know where she is. D is living in a foster home.

Neeka and her friend marvel at Ds freedom. All three girls are only eleven but Neeka and her friend are not allowed to leave their block in Queens while D travels by bus and train all over New York. Are they ever going to be treated like responsible people, not young children?

The three girls do everything together, finally coming to be called Three the Hard Way. While D learns all about their lives, hers remains shrouded in mystery. And it stays that way for two years, until Ds mother returns and wants her back; wants her to move upstate.

Narrated by the unnamed third girl, After Tupac and D Foster is a lyrical story of three girls growing up. In this story they are Black, but they could be any three girls, living anywhere. They are growing physically and emotionally. There are happy times, like Neekas older brother getting a basketball scholarship to Georgetown and there are sad times, like when another brother is arrested for a crime he didnt commit. But through it all, these three girls are tight. Tupacs lyrics take a backseat, but Woodson brings them to the fore occasionally, tying everything together. Having heard Woodson read from one of her books, I can picture her reading these words, the music of her voice coming through. This is a fast read and one that would be great on a rainy day indoors or under a tree on a nice, warm sunny day.