Begging for Change - Hardcover

Flake, Sharon

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 078680601X ISBN 13: 9780786806010

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2003

Synopsis

The story of one young girl's struggle for money and survival, and the lengths she will go to get both, now reissued with an arresting new cover.

Is there greed in Raspberry Hill's genes? In this sequel to Coretta Scott King Honor Book Money Hungry, once-homeless Raspberry Hill vows never to end up on the streets again. It's been a year since Raspberry's mother threw her hard-earned money out the window like trash, so to Raspberry money equals security and balance. And she's determined to do anything to achieve it. But when a troubled neighborhood teenager attacks her mother and Raspberry's drug-addicted father returns, Raspberry becomes desperate for her life to change and ends up doing the unthinkable, potentially ruining her friendships and losing her self-respect along the way. Will Raspberry accept that nothing good comes of bad money? Or is she destined to follow in her father's footsteps?

About this title

About the Author

Sharon G. Flake has an international reputation as a top author for children and young adults. Her breakout novel, The Skin I'm In, established her as a must-read author among middle and high school students, parents, and educators. She has spoken to more than two hundred thousand young people, and hugged nearly as many. Flake has penned nine novels, numerous short stories, plays, and a picture book entitled You Are Not a Cat.

Her work has received numerous awards, such as the Coretta Scott King Honor award and the YWCA Racial Justice Award, and her books have been named to many prestigious lists, including Kirkus Review's Top Ten Books of the Year, Best Books for Young Adults by the American Library Association, Top Ten Books for the Teen Age by the New York Public Library, Top Twenty Recommended Books to Read by the Texas Library Association, 100 Books Every Teenage Girl Should Read, and Booklist Editor's Choice, among others. She lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. For more information, go to sharonflake.com, or follow her on Twitter @sharonflake.

Reviews

Grade 5-8-This sequel to Money Hungry (Hyperion, 2001) offers a compelling slice of urban life for a contemporary African-American teen. When Raspberry Hill's mother is hit in the head with a metal pipe and hospitalized, the 14-year-old steals money from her wealthy best friend's purse. She does odd jobs to earn additional money, only to have it stolen by her homeless, drug-addicted father more than once. Readers come to know Raspberry, her friends, and the people around her. While some are dangerous, a sense of community caring comes through, and she finds help among supportive adults. She is a survivor with a good heart, although she questions herself along the way, always worrying that she will end up like her father. With good friends and a truly loving mother to help her through, it's clear that Raspberry will make it, even if she gets a little bruised in the process. A story with an inspiring but not preachy message.
Sunny Shore, Chestnut Ridge Middle School, NY
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

*Starred Review* Gr. 7-12. "Would you be all right if your mother got hit in the head with a pipe and your father was high as a kite?" In this sequel to Money Hungry (2001) Raspberry Hill's mother is in the hospital after being attacked by a neighborhood teenage girl, and Raspberry's father, homeless and addicted to drugs, resurfaces. Terrified that she and her mother may land back on the streets, Raspberry steals money from a friend. Is she turning into her father? Flake's charged, infectious dialogue will sweep readers through the first-person story as Raspberry describes her fears and moral quandaries; her new romance; her fierce love for her mother; and her powerful, conflicted feelings about her dad. Although vivid images of urban poverty, violence, and drug addiction clearly illustrate why Raspberry is so afraid, Flake never sensationalizes. The identity struggles of some of Raspberry's biracial friends threaten, at times, to distract from the main story, but Flake manages ultimately to balance her many plots and blend them into a hopeful novel that encourages readers to share Raspberry's questions: Can money buy security? How do you forgive those who have hurt you? Does violence ever stop rippling through a community once it begins? Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 078680601X
• ISBN 13: 9780786806010
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 240