Yolonda's mom is concerned with the increasing violence and drugs in their Chicago neighborhood, so she moves her family to the much smaller town of Grand River, Michigan. Yolonda's street smarts don't help her much in Grand River, and she has to learn an entirely new set of strategies for survival - especially when she realizes that her little brother, Andrew, is a musical genius and she can't get anyone else to believe her. This was so well written that I felt like I completely knew and understood these characters, even though their lives are very different from mine. This definitely deserved its Newbery honor!