Birdie sometimes resents her mom’s overprotectiveness, which is why she hasn’t told her parents about Booker, the boy she really likes. Her parents have high expectations and she’s worried that Booker’s stint in juvie would be an issue, despite the mitigating circumstances. Birdie’s aunt Carlene, on the other hand, is easy to get along with. Clean and sober and working toward getting her cosmetology license after battling addiction for years, Carlene is far less rigid and judgmental than her sister, Birdie’s mom. Even Birdie’s doctor dad sometimes seems like he wants to cut both Birdie and Carlene some slack. Birdie knows her mom grew up taking care of Carlene, and has worked hard to move beyond her own self-described “ghetto” past to own her own salon. But that knowledge isn’t enough to ease the sense of betrayal when Birdie makes a discovery that completely upends her understanding of family. Spending time with the likable, acutely drawn characters this novel about an upper middle class African American teen in Chicago is an absolute pleasure. Birdie and Booker’s respectful relationship, and the novel’s open, non-punitive take on teens and sex (including discussion about birth control), is one of many things to appreciate. (Age 13 and older)

From Stonewall Award winner Brandy Colbert comes a novel about first love, family, and hidden secrets that will stay with you long after turning the last page.

Dove "Birdie" Randolph works hard to be the perfect daughter and follow the path her parents have laid out for her: She quit playing her beloved soccer, she keeps her nose buried in textbooks, and she's on track to finish high school at the top of her class. But then Birdie falls hard for Booker, a sweet boy with a troubled past... whom she knows her parents will never approve of.

When her estranged aunt Carlene returns to Chicago and moves into the family's apartment above their hair salon, Birdie notices the tension building at home. Carlene is sweet, friendly, and open-minded -- she's also spent decades in and out of treatment facilities for addiction. As Birdie becomes closer to both Booker and Carlene, she yearns to spread her wings. But when long-buried secrets rise to the surface, everything she's known to be true is turned upside down.