Amazon.com Amazon.com Review (ISBN 0142405558, Paperback)

Two girls: one white, one black; one abused, one protected, both missing their mothers. An unlikely friendship ignites between the two, and, in sharing their differences, both of their lives are transformed. Jacqueline Woodson won a Coretta Scott King Honor for this moving, tightly written tale of friendship, racism, and loss. In a starred review, The Horn Book calls it a "haunting and beautifully poetic novel."

Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0440219604, Mass Market Paperback)

Twelve-year-old Marie is a leader among the popular black girls in Chauncey, Ohio, a prosperous black suburb. She isn't looking for a friend when Lena Bright, a white girl, appears in school. Yet they are drawn to each other because both have lost their mothers. And they know how to keep a secret. For Lena has a secret that is terrifying, and she's desperate to protect herself and her younger sister from their father. Marie must decide whether she can help Lena by keeping her secret...or by telling it.

Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0385320310, Hardcover)

Learning that her new friend, a white girl named Lena, is being sexually abused, Marie, the leader of a group of popular black girls, must decide if she is helping Lena by keeping the secret or telling it.

Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0399244999, Hardcover)

Marie, a popular black girl, isn’t looking for a friend when Lena, a white girl, moves to town. In their community, people are expected to know their place: the black, prosperous side of town or the poor white side.Yet Marie and Lena feel drawn to each other, because they’ve both lost their mothers. They also both have secrets, and Lena’s is terrifying. When she finally tells Marie the truth about her father, Marie must decide what would help Lena more—to keep her secret, or to tell it.

Jacqueline Woodson explores questions of race, love, power, and loss, and shows us the healing strength of friendship in this intriguing novel.