MIDNIGHT: A GANGSTER LOVE STORY

By Sister Souljah. (Atria, 512 pages, $26.95)

Souljah's previous novel, "The Coldest Winter Ever," is still popular among urban fiction lovers, and I eagerly anticipated the chance to read her new book. But I was unprepared for the alternate universe I was about to enter. A world where a 14-year-old works, takes care of his family and their business, and seeks to buy a house and get married. This tale is told through the eyes of Midnight, a Sudanese youth who has just moved to America. As the story begins, he proceeds to dis, no, rip into shreds the black American identity. From Christianity to dating to some of the less-than-stellar behavior that blacks get involved in, throughout the novel Midnight looks at the difference between black Americans and the Sudanese. Although bruising a bit from its rough and maybe sometimes true words, the book shows the true grit of the New York boroughs, the strength and determination of an immigrant family and how, even in a concrete jungle, a rose can bloom. Midnight falls in love with the Japanese Akemi. Defying language barriers and raised eyebrows from relatives, the two are married in the eyes of Islam. The book ends as if there will be a sequel. I hope there will be.

MELISSA WALKER,

CALENDAR WRITER

Love and Peaches

By Jodi Lynn Anderson (Harper Teen, 243 pages, $16.99)

Love, friendship, adventure. ... Most teenagers live for these. This final installment in Anderson's "Peaches" trilogy features lessons in all three. Best friends Murphy, Leeda and Birdie return to their roots in Georgia to sort out their true desires. Murphy is obsessed with her need to find out who fathered her and also wants to figure out how she feels about her onetime boyfriend, Rex. Leeda is shocked by an inheritance she receives from her grandmother. Birdie flees from a premature marriage engagement only to learn that the peach orchard where she grew up is on the auction block. The girls are likable, and the story has interesting twists, including an amazing secret Leeda uncovers about her grandma. The book stands on its own, but with such engaging heroines, you might want to begin with the first two books, "Peaches" and "The Secrets of Peaches."

JUDY ROMANOWICH SMITH,

NEWS DESIGNER