Money Hungry By Sharon Flake

I had the wonderful opportunity to meet Sharon Flake at the VSRA conference in Roanoke last week. I read her book The Skin I'm In last year when one of my students was reading it and having trouble getting into it. Her mom had bought the book for hoping that it spark a love of reading. I really enjoyed the book and was eager to read more from Sharon Flake.
I selected Money Hungry because it is a part of a sequel and the summary on the back was intriguing. I am currently selecting books for a group of students for a lunch bunch reading group and I want books with sequels or other good selections that relate to encourage reluctant readers to grab another book when we complete the group.
I sat down to read Money Hungry yesterday and did not put it down until I was finished. This was another enjoyable read by Sharon Flake.
I love the way she embraces cultural and creates her characters in real life situations with real life problems. I find it interesting that Sharon has some characters speaking with AAE (African American English) and others in SAE (Standard American English). Her characters are free of stereo typical roles and yet embrace heritage and cultural. Conflicts are solved in nonviolent ways. The most interesting aspect for me personally is that her characters are very real to life and she puts them a situation that seems very real and then allows the reader to see what most people would think (as inspired by stereo types) and then lets us see inside of the character to the reality of the situation.
In this particular book, Raspberry, is seen as greedy and money hungry because her main goal everyday is to make money. She sells things at school and works hard after school always coming up with a new plan to make money. Raspberry is desperate to make and hide money. Her friends, mother, and school staff look at her in a negative way because of this never really asking why she was so focused on money. As the story progresses we see the hardships that Raspberry and her mother face while trying to make a better life for themselves and get out of the projects. Come to find out, Raspberry is so obsessed with money because she is building a nest egg for her and her mother in case of emergency. They were homeless once and Raspberry never wants to be in that position again.
Throughout the story of Raspberry and her obsession with money we get a glimpse of her life in the community, at school, and with her friends.
Sharon Flake does a great job of allowing the reader to glimpse life in the projects. There are good neighbors who look out for one another. There are friendships bonded in such a deep way that you feel their connections. There are also dangerous situations and the need to survive.
I will be reading her second book in this series today!