Review Detail

Fourteen-year-old Kate, a foster kid living in Brooklyn, is fairly bored and lonely this summer because her best friend is far away, on a trip in South Africa. Kate makes a new friend named Najeelah, a girl who dresses to impress and has boyfriends galore. When Kate gets a makeover and new-old (hand-me-down) wardrobe from Najeelah, she gets a total confidence boost - enough to start flirting with her crush and long-time friend Charles. But when Najeelah's risky behavior puts Kate in some tricky situations, Kate must decide whether her new friend is worth the risk.

Kate is world-weary due to her early-in-life parental abandonment and subsequent bouncing from foster home to foster home. The damage she has done to herself and others (such as her time in a gang) is revealed in flashbacks here and there when she considers where she's been - and where she's going. Her recent efforts to become a better student have also made her a better person. Her best friend Felicia and her social worker Tisha are very supportive, and her current foster parents are good people - even if Kate doesn't always see eye-to-eye with her foster mom.

Kate's summer story is a very good one, and I recommend it.