Shannon Holmes. B-More Careful. 2001.

This book is about the life of people in East Baltimore. In the first thirty pages, Mimi goes through her parent's divorce, not because her father is "in the game," (a drug dealer), but because of the other women and illegitimate children he has! Her mother just can't put up with it anymore. Her older twin brothers are also drug dealers. One of the twins is killed and the other avenges his death by killing the murderer. He is then sent to jail for life, so she loses both brothers. Mimi is also a pregnant teenager who names the baby in honor of her murdered brother. The language runs the gamut of street slang to almost normal conversation and narrative with plenty of sex, hustling, and crime. The book has no editing. Typos and poor grammar abound along with a lack of plot and no development of characters. Some would call many parts obscene and I would have to agree.

K'wan. Street Dreams. 2004.

Rio is a small-time hustler who just wants to make enough money to get on his feet and go legit. His friend Prince is a drug lord who would love to have Rio be a full time member of his operation. Trinity is Rio's woman, trying to get her GED and move into a real job. A moment of poor judgment leads Rio to take a larger role in Prince's operation. From there, things go downhill for Rio and Trinity. Set in Harlem, this novel provides lots of action periodically slowed down by attempts to moralize. Street lit fans will love the intensity of the plot, but just like in real life, happy endings are not guaranteed.

Sapphire. Push. 1996.

Her name is Precious, but she is treated like trash rather than treasure. Her mother abuses her, she has one child by her father and another on the way, and she expects nothing but misery from life. Then she is referred by her principal to a special class for troubled teens and learns to read, write, and express herself. Her self-confidence grows along with her knowledge. Sapphire tells the story in Precious's voice, ghetto-tough, poetic in its raw pain. Unlike many urban novels, this one points to a way out of the trap.

Sister Souljah. Coldest Winter Ever. 1999.

Winter Santiaga, seventeen years old as the novel begins, is in a seemingly enviable position among the sisters in a Brooklyn housing project. Her father is a drug king-pin and she is used to brands such as Versace and Chanel. However, their life changes quickly as the FBI arrests Mr. Santiaga and confiscates the family's possessions at their new Long Island mansion. A coming-of-age novel with moral lessons.

Vickie M. Stringer. Let That Be the Reason. 2001.

After her long-time boyfriend Chino abandons her and her baby son, Pamela decides to put what he's taught her about criminal activities to use. Calling herself "Carmen" to describe her new independent and tough-minded business persona, she begins by opening an escort service and then gets involved in the drug trade, shipping large quantities of cocaine from New York to Columbus. When she decides she's made enough money and wants to quit the game, she finds that the life she's set up for herself is not easy to back out of.

Tu-Shonda L. Whitaker. Game Over. 2004.

Vera Wright-Turner and her friends, Shannon, Angie, and Lee, seem to have it all: a glamorous life, designer clothes, luxury cars. Vera frankly admits that she was a gold digger, sleeping with more men than she cares to remember and hustling them for all the paper she could get. Vera has never allowed herself to be in love. Now things are different. Vera has Taj and Taj loves Vera and wants to settle down, especially when Vera falls pregnant. Vera's game has flipped and she doesn't know whether she can deal with it. Can she allow herself to be vulnerable enough to love? The great sex prevents her from thinking clearly, and also the various crises of her friends, who cannot get their lives straight either. To top things off, her aunt who raised her is going through a mid-life crisis, and Vera's mother is in drug rehab. This is a fast read, written as though Vera is telling the story in the racy language of the Hip-Hop culture. It's fun. You will be hanging on every word to see if Vera can really find the love of her life.