Begging For Change is the sequel to Money Hungry, another novel I recently posted. This particular book takes us a little deeper into Raspberry's troubled life. Forced to continue to live in the projects, Raspberry's mother is attacked by a thug neighbor girl called Shikera. When Shikera is arressted for assault her friends band together to make life miserable for Raspberry adn her mother. Raspberry is also forced to consider life on her own without her mother to look after her.
Raspberry's father, a homeless drug addict, comes around multiple times and steals money from her. Each time she is deeply wounded by his betrayel.
As you would expect her mother heals and things end up working out. But is not the predictable happy endings that draw me to Flakes books. It is the insight I gain from getting this private glimpse into the lives of Raspberry and her extended family.
Flake allows me to see into a culture to learn that there is more than meets the eye. There are bad scarey people that live in the projects. There are drug addicts and thieves. There is also a strong community spirit when it comes to helping people out and looking out for the people you care about. There are people willing to go to bat for you. Friends who allow you to be yourself. I learn so much each time I read a Sharon FLake novel. Most importantly I learn to look a bit closer. I used to always say that color didn't matter to me. But it should matter in positive way. I should take time to get to know other cultures and assume we are all alike.
I look forward to reading more works from Sharon FLake.
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