Jessica Darling is beginning the second half of her high school sophomore year without her best friend, Hope. Hope's parents packed her up and moved her off to Tennessee from New Jersey, hoping to save her from the fate of drugs and suicide which befell her brother Heath. So Jessica has to deal with the rest of her clique, whom she and Hope referred to as the "Clueless Crew" by herself. The Clueless Crew is pretty much that - only interested in boys and clothes and already pretty well-versed in sex & drinking. Jessica isn't particularly fond of this lifestyle, but she still hangs around with these folks, basically because she doesn't have any other friends.

Jessica also tangles with her parents - her father who is only interested in her track meets and in following her on her runs and her mother, who gets along better with her sister Bethany, especially now that they are planning her wedding.

Jessica is a bit more self-involved than say... Mia Thermopolis, but that's okay. She grows up and learns more about the value of friendship in this novel and I, for one, enjoyed watching it unfold.

Release planned for Wednesday, March 05, 2003 at Sent to private individual in Palo Alto, California USA.