Reviewed by Dena Landon for TeensReadToo.com

When Martha's mom gets out of rehab and drags Martha to live with her latest boyfriend it's nothing new. Ever since her father's death, Martha's life has been a string of moving from place to place, constantly watching out for her mom. But this time the new boyfriend lives in a part of town where 'white girls don't belong,' as her classmates at school have no problem telling her. Martha is plunged into a world of gang violence and drugs, metal detectors at school, threats from other students, and violence at home. But she still manages to make a few friends at school and with the family that lives upstairs. And when she signs up for orchestra and discovers the joy of playing the cello, she thinks things might have finally turned around.

Until an act of violence sends everything spiraling out of control.

BEFORE, AFTER, AND SOMEBODY IN BETWEEN is a gritty and realistic tale of a girl trying to escape her parent's poor choices and make a life for herself. Told unflinchingly in the first person, Garsee doesn't hesitate from portraying teen violence, sex, and drug and alcohol use as the traps that they can be, but she does so with gentle humor and a compassionate eye. Martha is a flawed heroine, coming to terms with her own faults and the addictive tendencies she may have inherited from her mother, but readers will root for her to succeed. This book is not a light-hearted tale, and at times the string of bad events can feel unrelenting, but Garsee shows the bright spots to be found in even the deepest tragedies.

Recommended for older readers only. Contains drug and alcohol use, sex, and profanity. ( )

Richie's Picks: BEFORE, AFTER AND SOMEBODY IN BETWEEN by Jeannine Garsee, Bloomsbury, July 2007, ISBN: 1-59990-022-X, Publisher recommendation: 14 and up

"And don't you think it's a crime
when time after time, people in the bottle."
--Gil Scott Heron

"When I can't stand it another second, I go crawling to Momma.
"Big mistake. She hasn't been sober one minute since the day she quit her job. 'How many times I gotta tell you? Nobody's working! We ain't got the money!'
" 'But Momma, if I keep playing, I can get a scholarship to Great Lakes. I wave my rumpled brochure. 'Mr. Hopewell says I got a real good chance. And look -- ninety percent of their graduates end up at Juillard. Don't you get it? I could --'
"Momma laughs, but not like she's amused. 'Martha, I hate to burst that bubble of yours, but people like us don't get into no Joo-lee-yard.'
" 'What? What people?' Perfectly frozen, I wait for her to say it.
" 'Jesus Christ, do I gotta spell it out? Poor people, Martha. Hillbillies. White trash.'
" 'I am not white trash!' I kick the closest chair. 'And if we're so damn poor, how come you can buy all that beer?' "

Fourteen year-old Martha has moved from funky rural rental to funky rural rental with Momma, but now she finds herself living in, "the bottom half of a roach-infested dump in one of the worst neighborhoods on the east side of Cleveland." They have moved in with Wayne, a "bigoted redneck" alcoholic whom Momma met and fell in love with during her (and Wayne's) most recent stint in detox and rehab. Wayne, who inherited the building they're occupying, rents out the upstairs to the Lindseys, a black family which includes the volatile Aunt Gloria, Aunt Gloria's elderly mother, the teen gangster son Anthony, Anthony's baby brother, Bubby, and Aunt Gloria's nephew, Jerome. Jerome is Martha's age and, as was also the case with Martha, skipped a grade when he was younger. Fourteen years earlier, Jerome's mother gave birth to him while in prison and then dumped him on Aunt Gloria before disappearing back into a life of addiction.

From the start, Martha is a sympathetic character. She is a bright, hardworking teenager who ignores Momma's and Wayne's (and Aunt Gloria's) racist-based demands to keep away from the smart and kindhearted Jerome. She forms an instant attachment with Bubby, a seriously neglected infant who is pretty much only being cared for by Jerome, and opens her mouth when she witnesses Aunt Gloria abusing the child. As a matter of fact, Martha is not often shy about opening her mouth, arguably a positive yet dangerous course of action when practiced by a young girl in an inner city public high school.

Martha is deeply into classical music. Her dead father taught her to play his violin when she was very young, and she exhibited natural talent until one day, years ago, when Momma torched the instrument during a drunk and angry outburst. Now the music teacher at Martha's new school offers her a chance to learn cello and dream big dreams if only she can come up with the twenty-five bucks per month to rent a cello...and if she can stay alive despite what is constantly happening to her at school, in Wayne's World, and in the treacherous neighborhood.

BEFORE, AFTER, AND SOMEBODY IN BETWEEN is an amazing action- and danger-filled plot-driven contemporary YA urban tale in which we find that alcoholic parents -- whether rich or poor -- can thoroughly poison their kids' lives, that it is not always easy to just say no, and that in the face of really bad stuff going down, some teens will make it to a better day while others are swallowed by the cracks.

"I've changed my face, I've changed my name
But no one wants you when you lose"
--Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush, "Don't Give Up"

For me, this was one of those one-day 350-page marathon reading sessions: there was no way I could stop until I knew what was to become of Martha and a couple of dozen memorable characters surrounding her during the three -- before, after, and in between -- parts of her story.

Jeannine Garsee, who is an RN in an inner city hospital, is a member of the Classof2K7, an online collective of first-time YA and children's authors whose books are being released in the new year. BEFORE, AFTER, AND SOMEBODY IN BETWEEN sets quite a high standard for her classmates to follow.

Richie Partington
http://richiespicks.com
http://www.myspace.com/richiespicks
BudNotBuddy@aol.com ( )

Martha Kowalski is beat down. Beat down by her mother's substance abuse and lousy choice of boyfriends, and beat down by the bullying of a girl at her new school, where Martha is one of the few white students. She lives in a run down apartment in a run down part of town, and her chances of escaping a life of poverty seem to have run out. But a series of events, including a drive-by shooting, actually creates a chance for Martha to remake herself in a new home and school. She changes her name, makes new friends, and connects with a boyfriend. But her past — and the lies she's told to cover it up and the lies told about her — catch up with Martha and beat her down again. This is a shattering look at girl living in poverty, surrounded by a swarm of violence and selfishness, who is resilient enough to rise up again and again after the beat downs.
(orginally appeared in Novelist) ( )