![]() ![]() In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.Īutumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart their mothers are still best friends. ![]() There's a generic quality to her character that may represent the experience in broad strokes but that gives readers little to latch on to. Though some teen readers may be moved to take action, as the author hopes, more may well just be happy they are not Michelle.ĭespite clear good intentions, the book's focus on victimization is ultimately distancing, creating a likable-but-alienating protagonist. Michelle rockets from one variety of victimization to another with little time to develop a relationship with readers, a device that may be true to life (Kern interviewed former child prostitutes as part of her research) but that keeps Michelle and her misery safely at a distance. At least Michelle's abuse isn't as horrifying as that of 12-year-old Baby, who's intentionally infantilized and repeatedly sold to pedophiles. She befriends her fellow underage prostitutes, who convince her to use drugs to soften the blow of the repeated rapes. Devon takes Michelle to his home, and soon she finds herself mired in enforced prostitution among the Bloods. She hops a bus to New York City, where a young man is kind to her in the bus station. When Michelle's mom, unable to stop her sexual predator boyfriend from attempting to assault her daughter, evicts Michelle from their home, Michelle has nowhere to go. ![]() Michelle lives in North Philadelphia with her drug-addicted mother. A 14-year-old flees a terrible home situation only to land in child prostitution. ![]()
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