After Tupac and D Foster by Jacqueline Woodson
Published by Puffin, 2010
PB, 153pp
The day D Foster enters Neeka and her best friend's lives, the world opens up for them. Suddenly they're keenly aware of things beyond their block in Queens, things that are happening in the world--like the shooting of Tupac Shakur--and in search of their Big Purpose in life. When--all too soon--D's mom swoops in to reclaim her, and Tupac dies, they are left with a sense of how quickly things can change and how even all-too-brief connections can touch deeply.