I liked it a lot, although I'm not sure I would have picked it for my best book of the year. Certainly there is some masterful stuff going on here. Joaquin, Grace, and Maya all are distinct voices with different problems, and each is easy to root for. The secondary characters are well-fleshed out. I turned the pages quickly. It tackles so many issues--adoption, divorce, foster care, teen pregnancy, alcoholic parents, bullying (and I'm sure I forgot some.) I don't know. It just didn't make me feel the same way that other books I've read this year have. Still, it's worth having in your collection, just for the way the three main characters interact alone.