FSG, 2003, 16.00, 135 pp.
ISBN: 0374399557
High school is over for the teenage sisters Keeba and Teesha Washington. All their “adjective” friends are moving on from partying to adulthood while the two siblings remain clueless on Brooklyn benches. The duo feels talent-less and slinging burgers seems wrong for a high school graduate.
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A friend persuades Keeba and Teesha that they have a talent that is hair braiding. Another friend floats a loan, and the sisters open up TeeKee's Tresses beauty shop. However, the slums of the Hillbrook Houses projects does not lend itself to a thriving business as the two young ladies cope with few customers, an unexpected rent increase and vandalism.
This is a strong inner city character study that uses street slang to provide insight into the life of a new high school grad struggling with the changes of adulthood. The two sisters, the support cast, and Brooklyn are well- written and believable charcaters whose message is to work hard on what one does best. However, though entertaining and teens will appreciate the novel due to the protagonists and their friends, the story line lacks a center so that it feels like electrons without a nucleus. Still high school students will enjoy the adventures of the Washington siblings.
Harriet Klausner
The review of this Book prepared by Harriet Klausner
