The NECESSARY HUNGER: A Novel

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0684832348 ISBN 13: 9780684832340

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 1997

Two high-school girls growing up in the inner city, one Japanese-American, the other African-American, hunger for basketball stardom and a life beyond South Central Los Angeles. A first novel. 15,000 first printing.

Review:

Nancy Takahiro is a star high school basketball player who is smitten by a new player, Raina Webber. When Nancy's father falls in love with Raina's mother and the families move in together, Nancy's love for Raina becomes positively excruciating. This novel grapples not only with the awkwardness of adolescent love, but also with race: Nancy is Asian American, Raina is African American. And if that's not enough, it's full of information on college sport recruiting techniques.

About the Author:

Nina Revoyr was born in Japan and raised in Tokyo and Los Angeles. She received her M.F.A. from Cornell University, where she is currently a lecturer.