Begging for Change

by Sharon G. Flake

Overview

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?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781423132479
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	10/28/2009
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	10 - 12 Years

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.

Editorial Reviews

An impoverished teen obsessed with getting money whatever way she can, to build a nest egg for her and her mother, gets herself into trouble. "Touching upon issues of prejudice, street violence, homelessness and identity crises, this poignant novel sustains a delicate balance between gritty reality and dream fulfillment," said PW. Ages 10-up. (July) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

Gr 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.

School Library Journal

This sequel to Money Hungry (2001) stands on its own, as the tale of a young teenage girl struggling to do right by people in hard times. Raspberry Hill and her mother have a new home in a tough neighborhood. Her mother is hospitalized when a neighbor, on whom she's called the cops one too many times, takes revenge. Raspberry is still fixated on hoarding cash (her security blanket), which gets her into big difficulties when she takes some from her best friend's purse. Her friends from Money Hungry are back, and their old issues (being of mixed race, having absent parents) resurface. So does Raspberry's dad-a homeless drug addict, who loves his daughter on the one hand and betrays her on the other. Direct, conversational narrative and dialogue, and the representative urban setting make this a work that many different types will be able to enjoy on various levels. (Fiction 11-15)

Kirkus Reviews

"Direct, conversational narrative and dialogue, and the representative urban setting make this a work that many different types will be able to enjoy on various levels."—Kirkus Reviews

"Once again, Flake captures the essence of inner city life as she continues her insightful saga of Raspberry Hill, an impoverished teen obsessed with getting money whatever way she can."—Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher