Sixteen-year-old Raven was always "the smart girl," her nose in a book and a promising future, despite the fact that she was raised in poverty by her uneducated single mother. But when Raven goes to a party one night and meets a boy she can't say "no" to, she gives in to his charismatic ways and she's left with a baby. Suddenly high school is no longer bearable and her college plans have vanished into the night. Raven becomes just another girl from the projects sitting alone in the apartment, watching daytime television.  

Raven's best friend Aisha seems to fit into her life better than Raven does; Ai was never really good at school, so as long as she has her friends and doesn't have to set foot in another school, she's happy. Raven wants more than hanging out all day --- she wants to make a secure, good life for her son Smokey --- but she can't find where to begin. She tries to find a job, but her lack of a high school diploma means she can only find work in a fast food shop. Raven can't see a way forward until her ambitious sister Dell arrives with a flyer about a new program called Spell Success.

Spell Success offers college prep and scholarships to lower-income students. Potential participants are selected through a spelling bee. This sounds impossible for Raven, whose spelling has never been great. Dell supports her, though, and helps her practice and study, even as Ai does nothing but give Raven grief.

I really loved Janet McDonald's story of someone who seems to have very little in her favor but who is willing to work hard for success. The writing is at times funny, poignant and always effecting. McDonald knows the world about which she writes; she grew up in a housing project then went to three highly selective universities after she finished high school. By using her own journey to inform her novel, McDonald can tell Raven's story without ever becoming preachy or flinching from the harsher realities of life in a low income community. I hope she continues to write. SPELLBOUND is a must-read!

   --- Reviewed by Cassia Van Arsdale

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