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"We used to sit on the playground and plan our weddings, tracing long flowing white gowns in the sand with sticks. Then, in sixth grade--I can't remember the day it happened--a stone rolled in front of our futures. We dropped the sticks and our dreams and started planning our funerals instead." This sad, resigned voice, wise beyond her teen years, is that of Kata, a girl who has just lost her best... More

"We used to sit on the playground and plan our weddings, tracing long flowing white gowns in the sand with sticks. Then, in sixth grade--I can't remember the day it happened--a stone rolled in front of our futures. We dropped the sticks and our dreams and started planning our funerals instead." This sad, resigned voice, wise beyond her teen years, is that of Kata, a girl who has just lost her best friend, Ana, to gang violence. Ana and Kata, inseparable since fourth grade, are on their way home from winning another underground dance competition, when Ana reveals she is pregnant. Although Ana is worried about her mother's reaction, both girls know this is good news--now she can finally "face out" and escape the gang life in which the two have become hopelessly entangled. Moments later, Ana is killed in a drive-by shooting, and Kata must cope with the loss of her other half ("it took two of us to make one person"), as well as her helpless, alcoholic mother, her murderous hunger for revenge against Ana's killers, and her desire to leave gang life forever.

Lynne Ewing, author of Drive-By, an ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers, spins a harrowing, captivating tale with Party Girl, which paints a clear picture of gang life with lovely, mesmerizing prose. Ewing's sense of drama is exquisite, and the realism is enhanced by her incorporation of Spanish, Quechua, and gang lingo into the dialogue. As readers live through Ana's struggles, they may be inspired to think more deeply about what lies beneath the tough exteriors of hardened gang members. For example, consider Ana's haunting recollection: "Sometimes when I was a little girl, I would play with my mother's hand, pretending her hand was a doll. She'd let me hold the hand, kiss the fingers, cuddle the arm while she drank her beers and smoked with her free hand and talked to dark men." While the ending may feel a bit too tidy for cynics, the final message of hope is a welcome relief after this grim, eye-opening walk on the wild side. (Ages 12-16) --Brangien Davis

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