Hot Girl

Hot Girl
by Dream Jordan

HOT GIRL by

Category:

Contemporary

Age Recommendation:

Grades 9+

Release Date: 11/11/08

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

Reviewed by:

Rating:

4 Stars

Kate is fourteen and has grown up in the foster care system in New York. She’s finally living in an environment that

is pretty stable, as far as foster care goes. She lives with Lynn and Ted and she actually has her own room. That’s

never happened before. So why would she want to ruin such a good thing?

It’s the summer and her best friend, Felicia, has gone on a two-month trip to South Africa. Kate had the chance to

go with her, but when she found out some girls that were giving her trouble in the past were also going on the trip,

Kate pulled herself out. She’s regretting her decision, because she’s stuck in the city with no one to hang with.

Kate is hanging out at a basketball court watching her homeboy, Charles, play ball with his buddies. While she’s

sitting in the bleachers, a fly girl (a very hip, together gal) strolls into the stands and sits down with her. The girl starts

chatting up Kate and sounding very cool and grown up. This is how Naleejah enters Kate’s life and changes her

summer. Though the changes might not all be for the better.

Naleejah has the hottest clothes, knows how to dress and look perfect, and, most importantly to Kate, how to get

the guys. Kate’s never had a boyfriend and doesn’t have the funds to plan her own make-over. But with

Naleejah’s know-how and help, soon Kate transforms into a hot girl. Kate loves how fly she looks now, but her

foster parents are concerned that she’s dealing drugs.

As the summer simmers by, Kate has to evaluate her friendship with Naleejah. Kate is starting to realize that she’s

always following Naleejah’s plans and never getting the respect she deserves from the friendship. She misses her

friend Felicia terribly, and her situation in her foster home is tenuous at best.

When she finally starts getting the attention from Charles she’s always craved (since second grade), Kate makes

some hard decisions that she will have to live with for the rest of her life.

HOT GIRL is a story of a strong girl stuck in a situation that’s far from her control. She doesn’t have to let the

foster care system turn her into a girl of the streets if she chooses to make the right decisions. Ms. Jordan’s novel is

a blunt and straightforward look at the hard life faced by inner city children stuck in the system. It’s not an easy

portrait, but Kate is a strong role model for any girl in a similar situation.