The Sweet In-Between (2008)

Sheri Reynolds' novel is a short yet tender portrait of a little girl lost. Seventeen-year-old Kenny lived through the death of her mother, and now her father's serving time for drug trafficking. As she struggles with abandonment and intense gender confusion, her life is rattled even further when she witnesses the tragic accidental murder of a teen in a neighboring home. As you turn The Sweet In-Between's pages, Reynolds uncovers revelations about Kenny's life that are more and more harrowing — e.g., borderline sexual assault from her stepbrother — but the novel still manages to come off as a, yes, sweet coming-of-age story, thanks to its young, wise-beyond-her-years, Scout Finch-esque heroine. B+