Like a Broken Doll

January 1, 2011

Gr 7-10-Someone is stealing money from girls' purses and the proceeds from the cheerleaders' car wash. Sereeta happens to be on the scene every time some cash goes missing. Not to mention that Chelsea saw her cutting herself and everyone saw Sereeta's mom come to school drunk. Then there is Quincy, who also happens to be around when some of the money disappears. His family surely needs it. Or-could the girls be making it up? It's rumored that when Ryann reported the missing $100, her parents gave her another $100. And she has been coming to school with a lot of new clothes. The issues are resolved easily, neatly, and unrealistically. The cutting issue is raised in chapter four and "resolved" in chapter seven. There is a disconnect with the jacket art: the broken doll is clearly Sereeta, but the cover depicts the torso of a young man and barbed wire.-Amy Cheney, Alameda County Library, Oakland, CA

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2010
Grades 7-10 When cash disappears from the purses of several girls at Harriet Tubman High School, everyone suspects that troubled junior Sereeta is the thief. Her classmate Jaris, who loves her, is sure she is innocent, though, and he also knows that Sereeta is in deep trouble at home, where her stepfather and mom dont want her. Why is she wearing long sleeves in the heat? What is she covering up? With his happy family, Jaris seems to have it all together, while Sereeta is falling apart. Part mystery, part social realism, the plot in this Urban Underground title is sometimes contrived as Jaris, who is just too perfect, conveniently overhears the theft victims talking about how they lied. But the dialogue is fast and immediate, without obscenity, and the social realism reveals the diversity in the African American working-class neighborhood, the problems and the pride, which builds until a closing celebration of the historic hero the school is named for.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)