Wow, this one really covers a lot of issues, but the main one is depression. The fact that poor Julia, the main character, is so sheltered and imprisoned in her home that she doesn't even seem to recognize the symptoms made me the most sad. This book makes me feel incredibly lucky to be in the position I am: a white girl who went to college with supportive parents, money to travel, a wonderful husband, and never had to fear having just cans of beans to eat. And yet she doesn't see herself as that poor. She knows her life sucks and she feels trapped by it, but the conditions she lives in are the conditions everyone else in her neighborhood lives in-there in the ghetto of Chicago.

Themes: teen pregnancy, death of sister, family secrets, when to lie and keep secrets to protect others, first times, overprotective mothers (to the point of damaging), suicide, depression, discovering who you are and where you came from, and being a senior applying to college.
PHEW. This book is a roller coaster!