Joon is 13 years old when her father leaves for good. Her mother, never very stable to begin with, becomes more unstable after he leaves. Joon decides that she needs to run away from home in order to survive. In vignettes, she tells of her life on the streets and looks back on aspects of her life before she left her home in the Bronx in the 1980's. While no detail is spared in her descriptions of life as a drug user and prostitute, this is not a hopeless book. The people she meets and the situations she describe are told in such a way that the reader wants everything to work out as well as possible for the people involved. There are no fantasy endings, but there is a realistic ending as Joon claws her way out of life on the street.
This would appeal to teen readers of urban fiction. Because of the situations and choices Joon describes, it would be more appropriate for older teens.
Reviewed by Sue, Reference/YA Librarian
Reviewed from an advanced reader copy.
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