The Dear One (Laurel-Leaf Contemporary Fiction)

The Story

Twelve-year-old Feni has to adjust when the pregnant young daughter of an old friend of her mother's comes to stay with them. A pregnant African American teenager lives with the family of her mother's friend until the baby is born in this exploration of issues of women's sexuality. Annotation. Twelve-year-old Feni doesn't see why her mother, who is already way too busy with her job, offers to take in her old college friend's fifteen-year-old daughter. Sure enough, sparks fly when Rebecca, a street-smart girl from Harlem, comes to spend the last months of her pregnancy in Feni's suburban home. As the weeks pass, tension grows in the household. Can Feni, her mother, Rebecca, and their friends draw together in time to help Rebecca decide what is best for herself, and for her baby?