Darcy Wills is beginning her junior year at Bluford High after an eventful summer. Her beloved grandmother died, her mother is pregnant, her father has moved back in promising that he is sober, and she and Hakeem, her ex, is back after moving to Detroit at the beginning of the summer. But now in early September the night before school starts Darcy sees him again with mutual friends Tarah and Cooper. Darcy does not know what to tell him about the summer. It turns out he’s keeping secrets too. To make matters worse, tensions are rising at home between her mother and father. Her mother is worried about bills, the new baby, and reconciling with her husband who came back after walking out five years ago. Darcy has a falling out with her best friend Tarah and she feels completely alone and wonders who she can trust. This is the fifth book with Darcy in the Bluford High series and like the others it portrays real problems with believable inner-city slang, though no profanity. It is unnecessary to read the entire series because enough of the back-story is included to understand what has come before. The happy ending may seem too pat to some readers but it is a good choice none the less for reluctant readers. ( )

It is the start of a new school year, but Darcy Willis has had a difficult summer, and has so many secrets that are threatening to break up her family and her group of best friends. Over a period of three days Darcy learns more about herself, her family, and her friends that strengthen her relationships and make her feel as though she has grown wiser. Darcy confronts difficult situations that are faced by many teens but that are not often written about in books for middle school and early high school students, like an alcoholic father, an occasionally abusive mother, and post traumatic stress from surviving attempted rape. The lack of in depth descriptions gives readers a glimpse of what these situations look like and feel like, and all of the controversial issues are resolved before the book ends. The story ends with Darcy learning a short, but valuable lesson about the strength that one gains in overcoming adversity. This hi-lo book’s target audience is most likely the African American urban community, but Darcy’s problems with friends and relationships make her story relatable for teens from any demographic. Throughout the book there is more conversation between characters rather than descriptive passages, making the plot move at a rapid pace that keeps readers on their toes quickly turning pages to see what will come next. ( )

Darcy ex boyfriend hakem comes back from Detroit but whit him back their is a lot of secrets can Darcy tell him her secret will she dare to ( )

this book is okay and tells a great story about Darcey and her sister. jesse ( )

Darcy Wills is about to head back to Bluford for the first day of school. At home, her mother and father are fighting over not being able to pay the bills and concern over a new baby on the way, and Darcy suspects her father has started drinking again. On top of that, Darcy's former boyfriend, Hakeem, who had moved to Detroit at the start of the summer, has returned to live with his cousin Coop but is apparently hiding something from Darcy. At the same time, Darcy is haunted by the fact she was nearly raped and hasn't told anyone about it. The stress of it all seems too much to bear, and Darcy searches for ways to keep it all together. Langan, as with other Bluford books, keeps up the action and pacing with realistic dialogue and a focus on characters' feelings. This is a book to which teens will relate, and is an easy sell to struggling readers. ( )