Edge of Ready (Gravel Road)
Reluctant readers seeking out the urban realism popularized by the high-low publisher Orca will find another worthy world of fiction in Saddleback’s Gravel Road line. This sober entry finds 17-year-old Dani caught in a bad situation: her friend Ruth has arranged for Dani to lose her virginity to Ruth’s older brother, Evron. For weeks Dani suffers through unwanted intercourse before putting her foot down—at which point Evron rapes her. It’s a hard-hitting tale told via predictable but believable plot points; even more welcome, though, is Tillit’s ability to portray the roadblocks the poor face in achieving success. Dani, an excellent student, is nevertheless in danger of flunking out months away from graduation, and all because her mother can’t afford a babysitter for Dani’s baby brother, forcing Dani to skip school. It’s a circle of catch-22’s, but with the help of a friendly teacher and gentle counselor, as well as the intervention of Ruth and Evron’s kind older brother, she perseveres. This book inspires without resorting to sugarcoating or preaching. Grades 9-12. --Daniel Kraus