Almost a Senior

Gr 9 Up—Loresha Evans is a 16-year-old junior living in Harlem. The only hints that this novel takes place in the 1980s are the lack of cell phones and the use of subway tokens rather than MetroCards. Loresha runs for class president and wins, defeating the cute basketball player. She becomes friends with the popular crowd, ignores her less popular best friend, and dates an adorable boy who tries to have unprotected sex with her. Later on, her mother gets breast cancer, she has a new crush, and she rekindles the friendship that fell by the wayside. On the last page of this hi/lo book, a paragraph informs readers that Loresha is now at college and will be running for president of the student body. Ridiculous vernacular (Loresha calls her period Little Red Riding Hood), graphic sexual details, and a huge number of grammatical/typographical errors prevent this book from reaching its full potential.—Lindsay Klemas, JM Rapport School for Career Development, Bronx, NY