Growing up, I spent most of my allowance on candy (don’t worry, this is going somewhere), so I didn’t buy too many many books as a young girl. But with my handy-dandy library card, both for school and the public library, I had the chance to read quite a few classic and lovably rachet books that have had a strong impact on my way of thinking ever since. Whether they were recommended by my classmates, read in class, or picked up after hearing about them in my favorite magazines, I found that I wasn’t the only one who read these novels and memoirs back in the day. Here are a few books every black girl read back in the day…at least once.
Coldest Winter Ever
I can remember toting that thick little book around with its bright colors, trying to find a sophisticated way to explain to my mother that it was about a girl who was the daughter of a drug dealer who is living life a little too fast. Folks end up in jail, disfigured, and in group homes through the rollercoaster ride that is The Coldest Winter Ever. As ratch as it was, Sister Souljah’s first real novel was one of the most entertaining books I’ve ever read.
