As she did in <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">Feathers with the poetry of Emily Dickinson, Woodson here invokes the music of the late rapper Tupac Shakur, whose songs address the inequalities confronting many African-Americans. In 1994, the anonymous narrator is 11, and Tupac has been shot. Everyone in her safe Queens neighborhood is listening to his music and talking about him, even though the world he sings about seems remote to her. Meanwhile D, a foster child, meets the narrator and her best friend, Neeka, while roaming around the city by herself (“She’s like from another planet. The Planet of the Free,” Neeka later remarks). They become close, calling themselves Three the Hard Way, and Tupac’s music becomes a soundtrack for the two years they spend together. Early on, when Tupac sings, ''Brenda’s Got a Baby,’’ about a girl putting her baby in a trash can, D explains, ''He sings about the things that I’m living,’’ and Neeka and the narrator become aware of all the ''stuff we ain’t gonna know [about D],’’ who never does tell them where she lives or who her mother is. The story ends in 1996 with Tupac’s untimely death and the reappearance of D’s mother, who takes D with her, out of roaming range. Woodson delicately unfolds issues about race and less obvious forms of oppression as the narrator becomes aware of them; occasionally, the plot feels manipulated toward that purpose. Even so, the subtlety and depth with which the author conveys the girls’ relationships lend this novel exceptional vividness and staying power. Ages 12-up. <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">(Jan.)

Gr 6-10 D Foster, Neeka, and an unnamed narrator grow from being 11 to 13 with Tupac Shakur's music, shootings, and legal troubles as the backdrop. Neeka and the narrator have lived on the same block forever and are like sisters, but foster child D shows up during the summer of 1994, while she is out "roaming." D immediately finds a place in the heart of the other girls, and the "Three the Hard Way" bond over their love of Tupac's music. It seems especially relevant to D, who sees truth in his lyrics, having experienced the hard life herself in group homes and with multiple foster families. Woodson's spare, poetic, language and realistic Queens, NY, street vernacular reveal a time and a relationship, each chapter a vignette depicting an event in the lives of the girls and evoking mood more than telling a story. In this urban setting, there are, refreshingly, caring adults and children playing on the street instead of drug dealers on every corner. Readers are right on the block with bossy mothers, rope-jumping girls, and chess-playing elders. With Tupac's name and picture on the cover, this slim volume will immediately appeal to teens, and the emotions and high-quality writing make it a book well worth recommending. By the end, readers realize that, along with the girls, they don't really know D at all. As she says, "I came on this street and y'all became my friends. That's the D puzzle." And readers will find it a puzzle well worth their time. Kelly Vikstrom, Enoch Pratt Free Library, Baltimore, MD

"The summer before D Foster's real mama came and took her away, Tupac wasn't dead yet." From this first line in her quiet, powerful novel, Woodson cycles backward through the events that lead to dual tragedies: a friend's departure and a hero's death. In a close-knit African American neighborhood in Queens, New York, the unnamed narrator lives across from her best friend, Neeka. Then D Foster wanders onto the block, and the three 11-year-old girls quickly become inseparable. Because readers know from the start where the plot is headed, the characters and the community form the focus here. A subplot about Neeka's older brother, a gay man serving prison time after being framed for a hate crime, sometimes threatens to overwhelm the girls' story. But Woodson balances the plotlines with subtle details, authentic language, and rich development. Beautifully capturing the girls' passage from childhood to adolescence, this is a memorable, affecting novel about the sustaining power of love and friendship and each girl's developing faith in her own "Big Purpose."

The mothers of the narrator and her best friend don't allow them to leave their block. The girls are drawn to D, whose foster mother lets her "roam." It's 1994, and the main characters are captivated by rapper Tupac Shakur's legal troubles and near-murder. Woodson eloquently lays out what Tupac means to the trio and their community in this ruminative, bittersweet novel.

The summer of 1995 brings D Foster away from her foster home to the block where 12-year-olds Neeka and the unnamed narrator reside. The three girls find themselves bonding over parental restrictions and Tupac Shakur, and their developing friendship encourages the girls to embark on a forbidden bus ride off the block. After D returns to her mother's care, Neeka and the narrator find that not even Tupac's death can hold the three of them together. With her colloquial and gentle style, Woodson weaves a tale of burgeoning friendship among three New York girls. Blending equal parts bravado and emotional frailty, D's presence adds a lively element to the solid relationship of the two longtime friends; D quickly becomes the mischievous voice encouraging rebellion. Though authentic, the secondary plot with Neeka's brother breaks the continuity of the story. The unnamed-narrator conceit is odd for Woodson; her work needs no such devices to encourage multiple reads. Walkmans and bootleg tapes solidify the setting of the previous decade, bringing added authenticity to Woodson's satisfying tale of childhood friendship. (Fiction. YA)

As they search for their Big Purpose in life, one of the three girls who call themselves Three the Hard Way narrates the tale of Neeka, D, and herself in a Queens neighborhood during the mid-1990s as they become teenagers. The music and tribulations of Tupac weave in and out of the narrative, but most of all it is the story of D, who appears one day and becomes part of a tight-knit friendship. D's story emerges in carefully guarded bits and pieces: She has been bounced among foster homes, her mother taking her when she is able. D feels a connection with Tupac, whose songs about pain echo the craziness of D's life. When D is with her "girls," her life is the best it has ever been, but the summer before Tupac is killed, her mama comes to take her away. As always, Woodson's lyrical writing rings true. Not only does she understand the beauty, confusion, and pain of growing up but also the impact of important music as adolescents search for answers to life's conundrums. Woodson interweaves other food for thought: Neeka's oldest brother Tash is gay and in prison, and her second-oldest brother lives to play basketball. Neeka's family is large and noisy, but the narrator lives only with her mama. One of the most poignant scenes in the story is a family trip to visit Tash at prison. Woodson creates a thought-provoking story about the importance of acceptance and connections in life.-Mary Ann Darby.