XO Ronette

February 1, 2014

Gr 9 Up-After resigning herself to the not-terribly-exciting Chicagoland Community College, hotel maid and poet Ronette Bradley is taken off the wait list of the prestigious Houseman University, a historically black college in Washington, DC. This series opener details the teen's first weeks on campus, where her hunky football-playing boyfriend Jayson has also been accepted. She's been given a scholarship that covers half of her tuition, and with her mother's promise that the rest will be paid out of a secret rainy day fund, Ronette is ready to dive into undergraduate life. Despite being roomed with a nasty and privileged party girl, Chyna (the tabloid fodder daughter of famous talk show host Crystal), the young woman's college experience seems to be panning out fabulously; she's the only freshman in an otherwise senior-level poetry class taught by her idol and has befriended bubbly Marta, not to mention her adoring boyfriend, who, despite being chased by desirable girls on campus, seems to only have eyes for her. Predictably, drama ensues: her mother only manages to find the tuition money by reaching out to Crystal's talk show, and Jayson winds up in bed with Chyna. A fairly piecemeal plot and syntax that seems directed at a hip youth demographic from the mid-'90's (Ronette's first sexual experience is described as "da bomb") make this an additional purchase, unless there is a large call for similar titles.-Joanna Sondheim, Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School, New York City

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2013
Grades 9-12 Ronette Bradley rocks when it comes to test taking, but her overall grades aren't impressive. That's why she is cleaning hotel rooms after high-school graduation. Worse yet, she is relegated to attending Chicagoland Community College while her hunky, upper-class boyfriend, Jayson, heads to D.C. and exclusive Houseman University. When she receives a last-minute call offering a partial scholarship to Houseman, she is determined to make the grade. Once on campus, Ronette's new life is filled with meeting challenges and making decisions, such as handling a Black American Princess roommate, securing her tuition, and saving her relationship with Jayson. Despite some improbabilities in the fast-paced story line and a reliance on slang, reluctant readers will embrace this title in Gottesfeld's new high/low urban fiction Campus Confessions series for its readability and American dream qualities. Give this to readers who enjoyed any of the Bluford High books.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)