Hot Girl by Dream Jordan

Another book by a new author, this one who received a degree in creative writing from New York University. The book is set in Brooklyn, New York, and is told in the first person by its 14-year-old heroine, Kate. She has been in foster placement all her life. Only in the past year has Kate started getting her act together. Two people have made the difference in her life - a straight-talking social worker who cares about her and isn’t afraid to show it, and her best friend Felicia, who cares about getting somewhere, and is not into following the crowd.
The only trouble now is that it’s summer, and Felicia is gone – gone on a special events teen tour of Africa, one that Kate could have joined if she wasn’t so hot-tempered. Being insulted by some of the other girls about her violent past (she had been in a gang) and her bargain basement clothes, Kate decided she wouldn’t go.
Lo and behold, a new girl turns up, and wants to be friends with Kate. She’s a sharp looker and dresser, and even wants to help Kate jazz up her image. But Naleejah has some other things about her that are not so positive for Kate, like jumping into guy’s cars and into their beds.
Jordan has created very lively and real characters…the “beautiful” boy Kate is crazy over has some problems from his own home environment, and Naleejah is believable in her neediness, even as she shows off with her aggressive ideas.
Kate’s foster home environment has some special issues too, and Jordan is good at capturing that frustration between teens and their care-givers. Both sides can act pretty pitiful, but if they give each other a chance they can connect. The book has been criticized for Kate’s determination to stay out of trouble with boys, as her background would not predict that. But young girls do need role models like this, and need to hear statements like Kate’s.
I look forward to reading more of Dream Jordan. You can catch her website at http://dreamjordanbooks.com/

Three Little Words: A Memoir by Ashley Rhodes-Courter

Ashley Rhodes-Courter was Ashley Rhodes, living in the United States’ foster care system from the age of three until her adoption at age 12. Her mom was not the best of mothers, a teenager who was arrested for passing a check stolen by her boyfriend. Her mother’s arrest precipitated Ashley’s entrance into foster care in Florida, and even though her mother was released, she was declared too destitute to get her children back, Ashley and Ashley’s half brother Luke. Ashley gives us her memories of different placements, which include an interlude of some months leaving Florida to live with her maternal grandfather and his girlfriend in South Carolina. While the girlfriend gives both children loving care, the grandfather has issues with violence and alcohol which eventually cause Ashley and Luke to go back to foster care. Altogether, Ashley lives in nine different placements, sometimes with and sometimes without her brother. Through Ashley’s eyes, you see even well-meaning case workers making no attempt to explain developments to a child in the system, and see some foster parents working the system for their own benefit, including one foster “mother” enjoying punishing both physically and mentally the children entrusted to her care. When children want to get help in these situations, they are often afraid to speak for fear of retribution by the foster parents. I especially liked Ashley’s account of her adoption and subsequent developments with her adoptive family. Written ten years after being adopted, her straightforward narration of her struggles to adapt to a secure situation speaks for itself and gives unique insight into her emotional adjustment.