First story starts immersive in getting cat-called by young NY slouches. Her single mom has ovarian cancer while she’s on track to enter Ivy Leagues. This is a nice departure from the normal poor girls who become involved in drugs and SW in the series. A smooth, nice boy named Damon knocks on her door, saying she grabbed his bag by mistake. Predictably, it’s full of drugs to sell but he seems more concerned about her sad living situation and the street kids who tease her preppy attire. She’s never had a boyfriend before, so focused on her studies and annoying aunt. Very cute. The story also involves her finding out about her father and how he wasn’t so different than D, getting rid of her creepy uncle and helping her depressed turned crack addict aunt. The end is a bit quick but good and final enough to be kept as is or have a sequel.
The next story is about three ratchet girls celebrating a birthday, getting blitzed. One is about to get an abortion, another preparing to go to school for music (Shawna), another w/ a belligerent mom (Ronnie). Keisha’s mom is similar, a ho, and when people don’t take her serious because of it, she burns bridges. Already a pariah, she doesn’t wanna tell people she’s les. They don’t sound too different from one another, like they’d be the crowd squeal fighting at 7AM in high school. Not a bad story at all but not a great intro to sort things out. Also it goes on for a little too long with too many topics to cover. Usually these series have 3 stories but this second story is about as long as two.