The very qualities which probably attract young readers to this book may cause an instructor or parent to pause before recommending it. The main character's involvement with indiscriminate sex at the age of thirteen, her contracting of gonorrhea, her father's attitude toward her, drug and alcohol usage, abundant profanity among the young people, communal nude bathing, and an attempted rape are described and openly discussed. The twelve-year old Dare reads Hustler and begs alcohol and cigarettes from the locals of Excelsior Springs. Chrysta's first meeting with Lissa is over the need for a tampon, and the two girls discuss the men they have slept with, in a very general way. As runaways, they are constantly threatened by truly dangerous situations. Lissa describes an incident in which some men played Russian roulette with a gun at her head, and Chrysta is narrowly rescued from Howie's intended rape...