Whitney D. Grandison

I enjoyed reading this one, and I stayed up many nights to see where the story would go. I liked Reagan + Guillermo, and their different struggles.

When it comes to good girl loves bad boy stories, how the bad boy is handled is very important. Otherwise, you just feel intense frustration that a girl with a decent life is wasting her time with a degenerate. Not the case here! Also, loved that the book was hard on cheating and how society tends to want girls to overlook cheating.

At some show more points, Guillermo comes off as preachy, but I think juvie could cause anyone to grow up. Reagan's parents are pushy and ignorant to golden child, Troy's ways, and kiss the ground he walks on. I didn't like the open-endedness with Reagan's brother either.

Still, an overall fun read for me show less

The plot-troubled, but hot guy meets good girl with strict parents and high expectations-is hardly unique. However, this is a very intelligent take on it. Both Guillermo and Regan are fully fledged and highly likable characters, their situations believable and the way their story plays out is a delight to read. While everyone in the story is a POC, the plot and how it unfolds is so seamless I forgot about this aspect almost immediately. A great book for libraries to buy where diverse show more characters in real life situations are valued. show less

Although I question the ease with which a black kid from a sketchy neighborhood seemed to fit into a wealthy suburban neighborhood, I found the book a vey enjoyable coming of age story. Tyson Trice is almost killed when his father murders his mom and then turns the gun on himself. When Trice’s grandfather dies, Trice goes to live with a black family in a wealthy California neighborhood. The family know Trice because he would come when his grandfather mowed their lawn. Trice and Nandy, the show more young girl in the family were close friends when they were preschoolers. There’s lots of teenage angst and romance. I am impressed that the author was able to create individual personalities for all of the characters when it would be so easy to make cookie cutter personalities for the high school kids. There’s plenty of “well, we didn’t do that when I was a kid” moments for me, I found the kids could all use their brains well. And the girls weren’t necessarily pushovers for the boyfriends in their lives. show less

What a heart warming story. I love the clash of culture in this story. It was an easy read, grabbed you from the very beginning and held on. I would love to see more from this world. The characters were super fun