Tiffany Sly Lives Here Now

Gr 8 Up—African American 16-year-old Tiffany Sly's mother has just passed away from cancer, and Tiffany's world is in upheaval. Her mother had arranged for her to move from Chicago to California to live with a father she has never met. While she is somewhat prepared for her wealthy father (though not how light his skin color is), she is not equipped for the white stepmother and the four new half sisters with whom she would now be living. Nor is she ready to be a part of a family that is devoutly religious (Jehovah's Witness) while she is an atheist. The scenario is complicated by the fact that a second possible father also appears on the scene wanting a blood test; one who, at least on the surface, seems more like Tiffany. As Tiffany struggles to fit into her new elite private school and to get along with her eldest half sister, London, she also develops a relationship with the family that lives next door—fellow "outsider" Marcus McKinney and his two moms. This title has a lot of moving parts, but all is resolved by story's end. Tiffany must deal with her grief, her anxiety diagnosis, her relationships, and her own identity in this new environment. What starts out as a standard fish-out-of-water story turns into a tearjerker by the novel's end.