Until the last few chapters, this was a 4 star read for me. Then things jumped too quickly with the time lapses and I would rather have seen things happen. 
 So 3.5 stars. 
 A sweet romance of two teens with less than ideal home circumstances, I loved the diversity barrier that had to be overcome and how easily they managed to ignore it. 
 The gang bit of the story made me sad and terrified at the same time, especially since I know it really happens and that such young kids find themselves stuck in these situations - and for such noble reasons as protecting the family. 
 Shelley is a a sweetheart. Brittany wasn't my favourite, but I admired a lot of her actions even though a lot of it was typical teenage girl. 
 I loved Alex. He tries so hard to talk a tough game but his actions reveal his heart (view spoiler)[when he was so sweet with Shelly I am pretty sure that 9/10 girls would have swooned (hide spoiler)].