"With a realistic look at girl-on-girl violence and gripping characterization, Williams-Garcia masterfully builds tension to the momentous ending."--Kirkus Reviews
"Williams-Garcia deftly creates portraits of each of the girls as the narration moves from one to another, with the triangulation of view resulting in some fascinatingly complex characterization."--Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
"The latest novel from Williams-Garcia offers a piercing snapshot of three girls in an urban high school, their daily struggle to realize their hopes and dreams, and the threat of school violence to shatter them all."--Horn Book Magazine
"Williams-Garcia makes the drama feel not only immediate but suffocatingly tense, as each tick of the clock speeds the three girls toward collision. Most impressive is how the use of voice allows readers to fully experience the complicated politics of high school; you can sense the thousand mini-dramas percolating within each crowded classroom."--ALA Booklist (starred review)
"Teens who live the reality of girl fights and getting jumped every day will surely see themselves and their friends in these girls."--Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA)
"Williams-Garcia has given her characters strong, individual voices that ring true to teenage speech. The ethical decision will get readers thinking about the larger issues surrounding community, personal responsibility, and the concept of 'snitching.'"--School Library Journal
"This nail-biter of a tale, told from the girls' three viewpoints, has great insight into the lives of teenage girls and how they interpret and perpetrate bullying."--Chicago Tribune
So well-observed that the characters seem to leap off the page, the novel leaves a strong and lingering impact. --Publishers Weekly (starred review)"
Williams-Garcia deftly creates portraits of each of the girls as the narration moves from one to another, with the triangulation of view resulting in some fascinatingly complex characterization. --Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books"
Williams-Garcia has given her characters strong, individual voices that ring true to teenage speech. The ethical decision will get readers thinking about the larger issues surrounding community, personal responsibility, and the concept of snitching. --School Library Journal"
Rita Williams-Garcia's Newbery Honor-winning novel, One Crazy Summer, was a winner of the Coretta Scott King Award, a National Book Award finalist, the recipient of the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction, and a New York Times bestseller. The sequel, P.S. Be Eleven, was also a Coretta Scott King Award winner and an ALA Notable Children's Book for Middle Readers. She is also the author of six distinguished novels for young adults: Jumped, a National Book Award finalist; No Laughter Here, Every Time a Rainbow Dies (a Publishers Weekly Best Children's Book), and Fast Talk on a Slow Track (all ALA Best Books for Young Adults); Blue Tights; and Like Sisters on the Homefront, a Coretta Scott King Honor Book. Rita Williams-Garcia lives in Jamaica, New York, is on the faculty at the Vermont College of Fine Arts in the Writing for Children & Young Adults Program, and has two adult daughters, Stephanie and Michelle, and a son-in-law, Adam.