Two strong young adults each struggle for survival in contemporary Harlem: Motown is already a loner with only the wisdom of an elder to guide him; Didi dreams of college while her brother becomes drug dependent and her mother's sense of reality slips. Plausible circumstances bring these high-spirited teenagers together, and suspenseful events unfold the means by which they maintain their hopes. This novel is the winner of the 1984 ALA Coretta Scott King Award. (Age 14 and older)