Sara, 15, is the only child of her 40-something parents, who own a successful steak-and-seafood joint on the California coast. A vegetarian who lobbies for all sorts of politically correct causes, Sara finds her parents impossibly self-serving and materialistic. When they announce that they are considering the open adoption of an infant, she doesn't know what to think. Iris, the baby's birth mother, drifts in and out of an abusive relationship, has a dead-end job and no prospects for the future. To Sara, however, Iris represents everything she yearns for--independence, romance, adulthood. Identifying more and more with her idealized image of Iris, Sara drives an emotional wedge between herself and her parents. The book is written in first person in the form of letters from Sara to her sibling-to-be; the narrative usually captures the conflicted feelings, rebellious tone, and self-righteous attitudes of teenagers. But there are times when Sara is almost a caricature--her blindsided adolescent opinions won't ring true for readers, and the dose of reality that cuts her down to size has the feel of manipulated hysterics.