This up and coming author writes powerful novels that reflect her job as a social worker in New York city. This book, like her others, changes perspective from chapter to chapter among inner city teens facing a variety of challenges. Some storylines are resolved to a degree, like the one about the teen parent. Others, such as the Muslim girl struggling with the dissonance between her world and her culture, are left hanging in limbo. While this may feel frustrating, the glory of E.R. Frank’s style is her intense realism. The voices jump off the page, the characters becoming painfully and delightfully complex human beings. I simply loved this book and can’t wait to read “America”, a more recent addition to the author’s efforts. I challenge anyone to hold onto racial stereotypes as they delve into this multicultural mix of often surprising first person narratives. E.R. Frank is a fresh voice in teen literature, and one I suspect we will be hearing more from.
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