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Fifteen-year-old Emako Blue was supposed to be a star. Escaping the ghetto of South Central Los Angeles to attend high school in a more affluent area, she instantly becomes the sweetheart of the school chorus. In the short time between her arrival and her death at the end of a pistol barrel, she teaches four fellow students lessons that they need to learn: Monterey, to stop being timid; Jamal, to stop "playing the honeys"; Eddie, that life with an incarcerated sibling is difficult; and Savannah, that being mean is not a way to make friends. Readers can guess after one look at the cover how the story will end-no surprises here. The effect that Emako's death has on her friends lacks the depth found in Sharon Draper's Tears of a Tiger (Atheneum/S & S, 1994/VOYA February 1995), and a more complex treatment of drive-by violence is found in Lynne Ewing's Party Girl (Knopf, 1998/VOYA April 1999). Issues such as the tension created by super-rich and poverty-stricken people living in such close proximity are touched on too briefly-a more in-depth look would complicate the plot and make it more interesting. This story might also have benefited from reducing the number of narrators: In such a brief book, alternating among four first-person narratives is overkill and keeps the plot unsatisfying and superficial. Older teens will not find it gritty enough, but middle schoolers might find it good company on a rainy afternoon. VOYA CODES: 2Q 3P J (Better editing or work by the author might have warranted a 3Q; Will appeal with pushing; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9). Reviewed by Christine Borne.