Kaylee Glass had made a huge mistake and it's going to cost her. Possibly money, but most probably her parents' trust. After the last time she'd gotten in trouble at school, she promised to reform. Now, here she is with her dad's ATM card in her pocket, across town when she's supposed to be in school and there's a blackout, making it impossible for her to get home in time.

Not only is the blackout challenging (she's in New York City), but Kaylee has synesthesia -- the connections to her brain don't work in a usual manner. Sometimes she smells things when people talk, or sees things in different colors than they really are. Desperate to get away from the boy who almost tricked her into using her dad's ATM card, she's trying to get back to Brooklyn and finds herself dependent on a boy she just met. She follows Ramon, whose voice smells like honeysuckle, and meets his smart-aleck sister, runs into carjackers and is continuously stalked by the boy trying to steal from her.

While there seem to be several sub-plots going on in this book, the thing that really grabs the reader is the characterization. Kaylee is a struggling teenager who brings back all those insecure feelings from the teen years. Ramon is a cocky, cute and generally good kid with a terrific sense of responsibility. You'll find yourself rooting for the two of them as they run into challenges that most teens never have to deal with. While I liked this book, I didn't like it nearly as much as Ms. Nash's BEAMER O'BRIAN'S ABSOLUTELY GINORMOUS GUIDEBOOK TO GUYS. I felt as if the scary situations were a little overblown -- but as I said, the characters definitely make it worthwhile.