This Raging Light

In a flashback, we learn that Lucille and Wren's current troubles began when their father developed a mental illness and attacked their mother, and Lucille had to physically get between them.

Lucille's intense, hormonally charged love for Digby, who shares her feelings but is in a committed relationship, leads to some passionate kissing and, in one scene, Digby's hand under her T-shirt. Also a lot of guilt. Lucille describes a previous episode of eluding a lecherous classmate:

"It was like he had a bomb in his pants that was going to go off and explode the world if he didn't get what he wanted, if I didn't let him touch me. I had to pry myself away that last day, or I would have lost my virginity against a dirty wall, and I wouldn't let him move me to a second location when he said his parents weren't home and we should go there. He promised he wouldn't push me, but I knew better. The brakes don't seem to work so well once you get past a certain point."

Multiple uses of "f--k," "s--t," "piss," "ass," "douche bag," and more.

In one scene, two teens share tequila and a cigarette. Cooking with liquor comes up in conversation, as one adult is a caterer and a kid is obsessed with Food Network.

Parents need to know that This Raging Light (the title taken from a Dylan Thomas poem), by first-time author Estelle Laure, deals with the plight of a 17-year-old girl who's trying to take care of her little sister and dodge the attention of social services after her father lands in a mental institution and her mother abandons them. She does this all while overwhelmed by her feelings for a boy she's suddenly in love with, who's already in a committed relationship. Tough, determined Lucille doesn't always do the conventionally right thing (she forges her mom's signature on school notes and takes a restaurant job where she has to wear skimpy clothing), but her moral compass is well calibrated, and however strong the hormones, she's troubled about being involved in a cheating relationship. There's some steamy kissing and hands under clothing but no graphic detail, and in one scene teens share tequila and a cigarette. There's plentiful strong language, including "f--k," "s--t," "ass," and "douche bag." The story involves many positive messages about taking responsibility for your own life, taking care of your loved ones, community, and kindness. The next installment in the series is scheduled for fall 2016.