Girlz 'n the Hood

One-time, my folks took the family in our travel trailer to Portland, OR from California. When we reached out destination, my parents gathered us four kids around and asked us to put any money we had on the table. We needed gas money to get home. My sister and I had a couple of bucks, my brothers were too little to have any money.
This was my one and only brush with poverty. In essence, I was clueless. I grew up with two parents, my own bed at night, and a meal on the table.
This book opened my eye. WIDE. I can't imagine surviving a childhood like the one described in GIRLZ ‘N THE HOOD. A single mom, a house burned down, riding the bus all night with multiple siblings. My white, privileged self read this book with my jaw dropped.
*
Get woke! Read this book. It will haunt you for days and make you count your blessings. Yet, with a punchy, detailed style, the author makes you smile as well as cry. You'll be glad she got “all up in grown folks' business” and remembered it well enough to write this book.