Almost Fourteen

William Sturgis, aka Wee Willie, is boss of Leningrad, a crime group in a central Ohio city. In Finally Thirteen, Willie thought he had planned the perfect kidnapping. Two thirteen-year-olds, Skyler McCray and Calista Snipe, were taken to be sold to a Russian gang making pornographic videos. The kidnapping went awry when the kids used their wits to escape. Luckily for Wee Willie, his role in the kidnapping was not uncovered. Calista continued with her youthful employment, cooking one or two weekly meals for Sturgis. Now, seeking revenge as well as profit, Wee Willie plots another attempt at taking the teens and selling them to sex traffickers. Almost Fourteen begins with first semester at Park Junior High winding down. Autumn is over and the climate in central Ohio is due to change as are the business dealings and dating relationships of Cali, Sky and their group of junior high friends. Mohini Irish, drug dealer in residence at Park Junior, faces competition in her petty criminal transactions. Bill Baxter sees his football season end on a bitter note, but his dating season begins. Lee Ann Mosley tries to balance two boyfriends. However, knowledge of her racial history creates a strange conflict with one of them. Incredibly, self effacing Talia Murphy, emerging from her life-long shyness, finds her impossible dream come true with astonishing results. The love relationship between Skyler and Calista also moves into overdrive. Will the two young teens be able to handle the pace? Just as their romance becomes totally confusing and overwhelming, Sky and Cali are presented with new challenges as one classmate devises a devious revenge plot, another classmate presents a challenging malady, and Cali’s parents decide it is time for birth control for Cali. Wee Willie faces an unexpected challenge from Michael Aristad, the leader of rival gang Gold Coast. Can that challenge prevent Wee Willie from enacting revenge on Sky and Cali for escaping from the earlier kidnapping? One thing is certain: Calista, Skyler, and their friends will find junior high anything but boring.