Teen Fiction - Peoples & Cultures

No Boyz Allowed

Name: No Boyz Allowed
Author: Ni-Ni Simone
ISBN: 9780758241931

by Ni-Ni Simone

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Overview

"Simone tells authentic stories of teen life in the 'hood better than any other author currently writing contemporary YA street lit." --Library Journal on Teenage Love Affair (starred review)

True story: I'm Gem, G-E-M, like a precious jewel, and my life has been nothing like my name. I've been on my own since I was nine and now I'm sixteen. But so what. I'm good, and so is my little brother. So why the state won't let us do our own thing is beyond me. Instead, we've been forced to live with a foster family who wants to love us, but I'm not beat--I'm just trying to do me.

To make matters worse, I've been checking for this guy, Ny'eem. But my new clique has an unbreakable rule--no boyz allowed to come between our friendship--which is forcing me to keep my relationship with Ny'eem a secret. Though not for long. . .because in high school secrets are always exposed, scandals always rewrite the rules, and friendships are never what they seem. . . .

"Excitement, drama, and life lessons. . .. Upgrade U is sure to be a classic." --A.J. Byrd, author of Losing Romeo

"A new series with a pair of drama-fueled stories about girls looking for love in all the wrong ways." --Publishers Weekly on The Break-Up Diaries

Synopsis

Simone tells authentic stories of teen life in the 'hood better than any other author currently writing contemporary YA street lit. --Library Journal on Teenage Love Affair (starred review)

True story: I'm Gem, G-E-M, like a precious jewel, and my life has been nothing like my name. I've been on my own since I was nine and now I'm sixteen. But so what. I'm good, and so is my little brother. So why the state won't let us do our own thing is beyond me. Instead, we've been forced to live with a foster family who wants to love us, but I'm not beat--I'm just trying to do me.

To make matters worse, I've been checking for this guy, Ny'eem. But my new clique has an unbreakable rule--no boyz allowed to come between our friendship--which is forcing me to keep my relationship with Ny'eem a secret. Though not for long. . .because in high school secrets are always exposed, scandals always rewrite the rules, and friendships are never what they seem. . . .

"Excitement, drama, and life lessons. . .. Upgrade U is sure to be a classic." --A.J. Byrd, author of Losing Romeo

"A new series with a pair of drama-fueled stories about girls looking for love in all the wrong ways." --Publishers Weekly on The Break-Up Diaries

Reviews

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Editorials

School Library Journal

Gr 9 Up—In a Cinderella story with an unrealistically happy conclusion, Gem Scott, 16, goes from poor, mouthy foster kid to popular, sexy, loved girlfriend. Some of the characters may be familiar to Simone's fans. The author depicts urban street talk quite naturally, and conversations flow with realistic banter. The weakness is the plot, which will either be appreciated as a realistic fantasy, or dismissed as an illusory urban drama. For example, Gem's new foster parent gives her four extra-large shopping bags of items from Forever 21, True Religion, Deliah's, and Hollister, three pairs of sneakers, a pair of Uggs, and two pairs of four-inch stilettos. There is very little struggle in the story. Gem reunites with her best friend, Pop, then snags a handsome thug-turned-athlete and lives a life of love. When she learns that her boyfriend, Ny'eem, has been cheating, it turns out to be a lie, because he truly does love her. These fairy-tale facets balance with some true grit, like Gem's conversation with her younger brother about his bedwetting and her visit to her drug-addicted mother that leaves her spinning. The tension between the high school girls over Ny'eem is excellent, but it resolves too quickly. A fast read for Simone's fans.Pamela Schembri, Newburgh Enlarged City Schools, NY

Kirkus Reviews

Street-smart, heartwarming and hopeful without being preachy, the latest from Simone (Upgrade U, 2011, etc.) opens with 16-year-old Gem and her little brother Malik arriving at another in a series of foster homes. Readers of the author's previous books will recognize Gem's new foster family: Cousin Shake, Ms. Minnie, Ms. Grier and Ms. Grier's daughter, Toi, and son, Man-Man. Although Malik is immediately won over by Cousin Shake's warmhearted but goofy antics, Gem has grown distrustful and used to disappointment. In what feels almost like a fairy tale, however, Gem is taken under Man-Man's wing and fortuitously reunited with Pop, the best friend she hasn't seen or heard from since sixth-grade. Support system in place, Gem slowly builds a new life for herself. She meets a boy and starts a romance, develops a rivalry with one of Pop's friends, and even makes moves toward playing basketball, a sport she loves but had given up. The dialogue and narrative voice are fresh, smart and cutting, full of clever comebacks and Internet-generation slang (S.M.H., "I am pissed.org"). Unfortunately, a relationship conflict at the end is resolved in a way that seems to suggest boys should be trusted above girls. Otherwise, warm, uplifting and entertaining. (Fiction. 12 & up)