Chelsey Bodeine is a lanky, golden-brown-skinned preteen with a happy-go-lucky disposition. She's as beautiful as the word "angel," and nothing seems to get her down. Chelsey looks forward to finally becoming thirteen and leaving behind her preteen years. Unfortunately, she's not looking forward to the summer that stands between her and young womanhood.
She constantly reminds herself that after this summer, her mother will no longer be able to say to her "almost a young lady or almost a teenager." She vows the word "almost" will no longer be a part of her vocabulary after the most important day of her life! Chelsey remembers her grandmother always telling her that she became a "young lady" at the age of eleven. She doesn't quite understand the difference between the "young lady" her grandmother became at the age of eleven and the "young lady" she dreams of becoming, but she realizes that she will know once and for all what it means to be a young lady after this summer. She figures out in her mind that the young lady her grandmother became at eleven isn't the "young lady" she has dreamed of becoming since she was ten. All Chelsey cares about is becoming a full-fledged teenager on September 1.
Whenever she talks to her best friend Alisha about what her mother says, that with young womanhood comes responsibilities, Alisha becomes girly giggly and says, "That's not the kind of responsibilities your mom's talking about." Chelsey puts her hands over her ears when Alisha becomes girly giggly.
Chelsey spends every other summer in Louisiana with her mother's oldest sister, Aunt Ophelia, but unfortunately, this isn't the summer she'll be spending time with her favorite aunt. The thought of not spending the most important summer of her life with Aunt Ophelia gives Chelsey a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. Chelsey's not looking forward to spending her summer alone and clueless. This summer is the most important summer of her life, and she will have to endure it without the wise advice and comforting arms of her Aunt Ophelia. Chelsey knows that without Aunt Ophelia, this will be one long and lazy summer.
