Smart Girl: A First-Gen Origin Story

Smart Girl: A First-Gen Origin Story is an award-winning, accessible memoir about what it really means to be "the smart one" in a working-class Black family coming of age in the late-80s and 90s-squarely in the heart of Gen X. Raised to believe she was destined for college, Dr. La'Tonya Rease Miles traces a winding road through nine public schools, a PWI, an HBCU, food insecurity, racism, graduate school at UCLA, and the quiet weight of upward mobility. With cultural touchstones ranging from Prince to college basketball to 90s hip hop, she blends sharp analysis with emotional honesty, showing how fandom, family, and resilience become survival tools.

*2025 IngramSpark Top Indie Pick

*2025 Catalyst Awards winner - Best Memoir

La'Tonya (LT) Rease Miles is a trailblazer in first-generation higher education. As a first-gen graduate herself, she has designed groundbreaking programs at UCLA and Loyola Marymount University to support first-gen students. A co-founder of the Black First Gen Collective and My Tribe Media, LT advocates for non-traditional learners and elevates first-gen narratives through scholarly work and digital communities. An avid fan of NBA basketball, college football, and pop culture, she holds a Ph.D. in American literature from UCLA and explores the intersections of first-gen identity and cultural representation in her writing. She is a member of or has sat on multiple national advisory boards, including the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators' (NASPA) Center for First-generation Student Success, the Journal of First-generation Student Success, and Penguin Random House Common Reader program, among others.