by Whitney G.
First published 2011
In 2007, the narrator is a college sophomore with one burning goal: joining a prestigious black sorority. She hears whispered stories about hazing and pledging rituals, but rather than deterring her, these rumors fuel her desire. She believes that enduring hardship will make membership more meaningful. When she gets selected alongside nine other hopeful women, she assumes a few weeks of pre-pledging in spring 2008 will lead to full initiation by fall. Instead, twenty grueling weeks follow. She buys food for current members, scrubs their houses clean, and sits through endless late night sessions disguised as study groups. Fall 2008 arrives, but no pinning ceremony awaits her. She finds herself in a formal hearing, recounting every detail of those twenty weeks to officials who will decide the sorority's fate.
Genres: fiction, literary-fiction, african-american, contemporary, 21st-century, college
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: endurance-test, formal-hearing, initiation-ritual
Setting: Africa, United States
Period: 2007, 2008
368 pages · Paperback · Createspace