Carolina lives in an old school bus with her mother and baby sister. The family's poverty is poignant yet unsentimental. Despite her mother's objection, Carolina calls her Melanie instead of Mom, because "a real mom wouldn't live in a school bus. Real moms lived in real houses. They were married to the fathers of their children. So she kept calling Melanie Melanie." Carolina makes two new friends: one is an injured baby crow and the other is a Stefan, a wealthy boy just her age who has everything -- except the use of his legs. As always, Hobbs tells her story with clarity and courage. She refuses to dodge the hard questions but makes her characters (and her readers) face them and try to find answers. This is a powerful book about loyalty, friendship, and choices.

Bought another copy for another granddaughter.The first one loved the story so much she is rereading it. I highly recommend this book .

Carolina Crow Girl is a fast moving easy to read book! I got it two days ago and spent my Thursday reading and got through a lot more than half! I am not the fastest reader either! If you are looking for an easy to read quick little book this is definately a great pick! It shows how to get along with just enough. You don't need a mansion to go through life.

Loved this book and I am an adult.As a grandmother who has many books for my grandchildren to read ,I can feel free to have this book right out on the coffee table for them to pick up.It is good and I say good for the kids of today to read with all their mixed up feelings about devorce in their families. Am turning my copy over to the local library for other children to read and enjoy as we have after my family has finished reading it. Bravo Valerie Hobbs ! Keep these good books coming.

this is a really good book! it gives good insight on a teen girl's point of view on things. not only that, but it is fast paced! i got in bed to read at nine and stayed up until two to finish it! belive me, you will like this book!

Bronwyn Lewis is a sixteen-year-old girl who has just been forced to move to Ojala, California with her family. The year is 1960. Bron is a good student, and has always lived life by the rules. It doesn't take long for her to realize if she doesn't change herself, she will not fit in with the carefree, easygoing teens in town. A popular interest of these individuals is drag racing, something that Bron wrongly thought she would never experience herself. Soon she meets J.C., an extremely attractive racer, and Will, a down-to-earth, old-fashioned country guy. She gets caught between them, and some interesting things occur with both men. I guess you could say she has a lot of things on her mind, including her reckless friend Lanie, the legendary horrific fires of Ojala, the profits of her family business, and her life's turn for romance and adventure. Hobbs really brings Bron's story to life through her dense plot and rising action. There is an overwhelming mood this book gives you through Bron's interactions with other characters. I really started to enjoy the book as the number of friendships and relationships Bron aquires increased. The ending really left me thinking because there is a distinct mystery to it. The genre is a combination of coming-of-age, adventure, and romance; no single genre would be fit by itself in my opinion. I really felt like I knew the characters personally as the plot thickened. I would definatly recommend this book to anyone. If an adult were to read it, he or she would have a good idea of the aspects of American teenagers' lives.

I think this was a great book because it captured the life of a teen girl. Some thing she did reminded me of my friend who is exatly like Bron. I would recomend this book to everyone. I think adults should also read this book so they can get and understanding of a teens life. Some parents dont understand Teens. Eveyone but this book its worth reading.

This is one of the best books from Valerie Hobbs. It had a lot of unexpected twists and turns. The book started off fast and made you think before jumping into conclusions. The plot was nicely organized and well written. The characters were interesting and you could picture what they would look like. The wonderful beach setting made you feel like you were actually there, feeling the ocean breeze. Tender explains that no matter what you are going through the best will come out unexpectedly.

I <3ed reading this story since Liv kinda reminds me of myself & my friend....our personalities. I was sad at the end, about their realtionship...Do please read this book, if u don't it'll be your own damn fault. Hey i'll even get to say "I told you so!" ENJOY!!!!!! Thanks again Mrs. Hobbs, please do write more books like TENDER.

Valerie Hobbs is a master of her craft. Her greatest gift, perhaps, is the creation of vivid, memorable characters. This talent is clearly displayed in TENDER. Liv is a struggling, often impulsive teenager with rough, believable edges. Her beloved grandmother has just died, and she is forced to live with the father who deserted her at birth. She doesn't know him. She doesn't want to know him and certainly doesn't want to love him. But she becomes his "tender" on the fishing boat--he's an abalone diver. TENDER is the moving story of a relationship; it's also a powerful story about change, growth, and the power of love. Hobbs is unflinching writer -- she tells her truth and her characters breathe real air. TENDER is for teenagers, but adults will revel in it too.

"Get It While It's Hot. Or Not" tries to present the dilemmas of teen sex but winds itself tighter and tighter into a ridiculous melodrama, trying frantically to cover pregnancy, adoption, AIDS, alcoholism, sexual ethics and censorship. The plot is about four sixteen year old girls who promised to be "friends till the end" (a phrase cloyingly repeated over and over again in the book) find out that Kit, one of them, is pregnant. For a second, you think this is going to be a heartwarming girl bonding movie that's a teenage "Now and Then", until it takes a turm for the dramatic, when the girls find out that Monk, the high school golden boy jock, has impregnated Kit. It later turns out he has AIDS. With Kit's pregnancy in mind, and a conservative group protesting the nurse handing out a condom, Kit decides to write an article about the truth behind teen sex, forcing her to reexamine her relationship with her boyfriend, Joe. Megan's little universe spins out of control when Kit decides to give up her baby for adoption, and people get majorly PO'd about her teen sex article. The biggest problem with "GIWIHON" is that it tries to cover too many topics in too short a time. For the most part, everything is touched on shallowly. When Kit announces the father of the baby is Monk, I was thinking "who the hell is Monk?" and then the author has to jump in and explain that (I shoulda seen this coming) he's the most popular boy in the school, yadda yadda yadda. Just when you think the author is actually going to get in depth with the highly controversial issues, she pulls out, leaves it up in the air and goes on to another one, leaving the book a mess of melodramatic events. The characters are very flawed, extremely shallow and poorly written. Megan's three friends are total stereotypes: the shy, awkward girl with severe family problems (Kit), the worldly, tough talking vixen (Mia) and the brainy mouse (Elaine.) Her mother is a ridiculous charicature referred to throughout the book as "The General." Because the author is concentrating so hard on cramming as many controversial issues into one book, we never really see any character development. The supporting characters just seem to pop in and pop out. "GIWIHON" tried valiantly but totally overdid it and became flat, sentimental tripe. There are better books on all of the topics: teen pregnancy ("Someone Like You"), censorship ("The Year They Burned The Books"), AIDS ("What You Don't Know Can Kill You", not great but more in depth), sexual ethics ("Kicks") and dealing with an alcoholic mother ("Define Normal.") Don't bother with this...

This book had controversial subject matter and everything you need for a teen book, but i didn't think it was very good. The plot didn't really draw you in in the beginning, and it didn't get any better in the end. i have read MUCH better books, and I thought this one was amateurish.

This book was excellent! It kept you reading the whole way through. A very "true to life" situation that is sadly, more and more common. I would give this book five stars because the book is so well written. You experience many emotional situations, as do the characters. Kit, a junior in high school, suddenly surprises all of her friends with the shocking news, she is pregnant. The four friends who have made the promise: "Friends 'till the end," soon learn what a friend really is, and just how far each will go. Cutting class, lying to parents, breaking dates, sneaking around in the middle of the night, all things they do to justify their trueness to Kit. Kit's mother is a drunk who has no feeling for her daughter what-so-ever, she just tells Kit to get herself out of the mess. When a rich couple comes into the scene and want to adopt Kit's unborn child. Kit is thrilled, however, Elaine, Mia and Megan, are not. They do not understand how Kit can just give up her own child. When the father of the baby is found to be HIV positive, things turn much worse. The couple takes back their offer to adopt the baby. The four friends learn what a friend truly is, many questions arise and the answers are hard to find. Throughout the book, Megan a writer for the school paper, writes an article on teen sex. When the superintendent forbids her to print it, what will she do? Is she willing to get suspended, even expelled, to speak out and say what's really happening in the lives of teens? I really enjoyed this book because the characters are well-descripted and have their own unique personalities. I really loved Mia's personality because she just seemed so caring and willing. Another reason I enjoyed this was for the plot line, it always kept you reading, the HIV twist was what really thickened the story. The last reason I loved this book was because the form of writing really let you in on what the character was thinking. You always knew what the friends were thinking of Kit, from her "nice spells" to mood swings, you'll never want to miss a second. I truly believe this book has some of the never before brought up issues of teen sex, along with questions that no one wants to answer.