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Kerry Cohen Hoffmann is a psychotherapist who works with teens and their families. She received her MFA in creative writing from the University of Oregon and an MA in counseling psychology. A mother of two, she is a native of New Jersey but makes her home in Portland, Oregon.

Easy. At the ripe young age of fourteen Jessica has discovered that getting the attention she wants is just that — easy. It's not the attention of a divorced mother who spends all of her time grieving over a broken marriage. Nor is it that of a father with a new girlfriend who's moving on with his life. It's certainly not the attention of a clueless older sister or a best friend since grade school who still acts like she's in grade school. No. For some reason being noticed by her friends and family seems to have become almost impossible. Boys — and men — are a different matter altogether. With the right clothes and attitude, Jessica realizes that she can get all the male attention she wants.

What she doesn't realize is how easy it is to get more than you're ready for.

In this compelling and often harrowing novel for teen readers, first-time author Kerry Cohen Hoffmann delves into the mind of a teenage girl as she attempts to replace the shifting relationships with friends and family with sexual exploration. With candid storytelling rooted in years of personal experience, Mrs. Hoffmann offers a searing look at how easy it is to take a wrong turn in search for the right answers.

Rebecca C. Moore - VOYA

Life has suddenly turned rocky for fourteen-year-old Jessica. Her family is preoccupied with divorce, depression, and remarriage; her best friend does not understand her; and her body has developed alien curves and thrilling but confusing urges. Looking for her "chance to matter" and to sate those urges, Jessica finds herself doing things she knows are dangerous. She picks up a twenty-year-old stranger, performs oral sex, makes out (and more) with popular boys who then toss her aside, and pointlessly loses her virginity. It takes the combination of a pregnancy scare, her father's sympathetic fiancTe, and her own abiding passion for photography for Jessica's self-respect to reassert itself and guide her back on track. When surrounded by books full of abuse, rape, and drug use, Jessica's cautionary tale might seem almost mundane. The familiarity of Jessica's life will enable easy connection with readers, however, and allow the story to pack a real punch. Although cringing parents-rather than the book's intended audience-might feel the most impact, it is sobering to see how easily an intelligent, "normal" girl could slide right into Jessica's high-heeled boots. Hoffman's stark, perceptive prose spares no blushes in describing Jessica's sexual encounters, although the descriptions are painfully realistic rather than gratuitous. One curious omission is any mention of STDs. Jessica's self-castigation may seem overtly didactic at times and the pat ending too upbeat, but the story will resonate with those confused by the allure of bad decisions, and it might give others insight into the pain of a so-called "slut." VOYA CODES: 4Q 3P S (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Willappeal with pushing; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2006, Simon & Schuster, 176p., Ages 15 to 18.