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YA
When twelve-year-old Nell spends the summer with her relatives in upstate New York--bonding with her cousin Foley and flirting with his best friend, Slade--she must decide whether to tell what she knows about the boys' involvement with a dangerous gun cartel when Slade is killed and Foley disappears. Pinkney's portrayal of a tightly knit African-American community is so detailed and evocative of lazy summer days that the tension in the story is never allowed to build.