Synopsis
Kendra's mom, Renee, had her when she was only 14 years old. Renee and her mom made a deal — Renee could get an education, and Kendra would live with her grandmother. But now Renee's out of grad school and Kendra's in high school ... and getting into some trouble herself. Kendra's grandmother lays down the law: It's time for Renee to take care of her daughter. Kendra wants this badly — even though Renee keeps disappointing her. Being a mother isn't easy, but being a daughter can be just as hard. Now it's up to Kendra and Renee to make it work.
VOYA
Kendra has spent her whole life waiting for her mother RenTe to come home and actually be her mother. Only fourteen when she gave birth, RenTe was able to finish school because her mother offered to care for Kendra, with the understanding that once she was done, mother and daughter would find a place of their own. Three degrees and fourteen years later, Kendra is still waiting for RenTe, getting in over her head with a boy at school, and needing a mother more than ever. As with Tyrell (PUSH/Scholastic, 2006/VOYA February 2007), Booth's strengths in this work are the reality of the story and the character's voice. Kendra's fear and disappointment about her mother's ambivalence permeates the novel, and she reacts with authentic teenage self-righteousness when accused of doing forbidden things she has done in secret. RenTe does not miraculously become the dream mother for whom Kendra has longed, but by the end of the novel, Kendra has gained the maturity to realize she is okay with the imperfect family she has. Unfortunately the novel includes some unsettling stereotypes about sex. Kendra says she feels dirty and used after her first encounters with Nashawn, a boy at school, and yet later is unable to resist him. She describes their hook-ups as something that "just happened," even though she says she knew it was wrong and a mistake. This rationalization is in character for a teen craving affection and raised by a strict grandmother, but it also denies Kendra any sexual empowerment. Teens will still be eager to get their hands on this powerful follow-up to Tyrell's story. Reviewer: Vikki Terrile