Woodson, Jacqueline - After Tupac and D Foster

D Foster shows up in the narrator and her best friend Neeka's lives shortly after Tupac is shot for the first time, and she leaves shortly before he dies. D is a kid in foster care who looks forward to the day her mom will come back to her, and her life is worlds away from that of the narrator and Neeka, who aren't allowed to go past their block, who are looked after by their moms.

Even so, their lives aren't easy; the narrator's mom works to support the two of them, since her dad is gone, and Neeka's older brother Tash is in jail. That said, this didn't feel like a Problem Novel to me. The most significant moments are the girls hanging out and being friends and connecting to Tupac's music. I really like that the book is about rap and these three girls, given the general popular perception of rap.

It's hard to know what to say. This is a short, quiet book about the friendships that change your life even if they only span a year; how music can take hold of your heart; and how sometimes you don't know the people closest to you.

Smith, Sherri L. - Sparrow

Kendall grew up with her grandma, ever since her parents and her younger brother were killed in a car crash she miraculously survived. But now her grandma is gone, and the only relative Kendall has left is her Aunt Janet, who's been estranged from her grandma for all these years and whom she's only met once. To find Aunt Janet, Kendall heads down to New Orleans, where she finds a new family of sorts.

I've liked what I've read of Smith so far, and this is probably my favorite of her three to date (I'm very much looking forward to getting my hands on her latest, Flygirl, about a female black aviator in WWII). I particularly love the look at grief and the difficulties of a young adult trying to make her way through the world when she's lost all adult support.

One of the people she befriends in New Orleans is the daughter of her aunt's landlord, Evie. I liked Evie's prickliness and her relationship with Kendall, but I wish the trajectory of her character arc weren't so focused on dealing with her disability (she's in a wheelchair due to MS). There is a good deal about Evie that has to do with her desire for independence and how that's compared and contrasted with Kendall's own desire and lack of for the same, but I'm not sure how much of it transcends the "character learns to not limit herself due to her disability" trope.

Still, as with Lucy the Giant, I like Smith's look at teens who often slip through the cracks of the system, often of their own free will, and I like how the books redefine "family." There's just a lovely, quiet way her characters connect with each other that's good to read.