First published 2022
Dasani lives in a Brooklyn homeless shelter where skyscrapers tower overhead but offer no refuge. She navigates a dangerous world of hunger, violence, and addiction while keeping her siblings safe from the constant threat of foster care separation. Her imagination soars beyond the shelter walls, but survival demands fierce fighting skills on the streets. When an opportunity arrives to attend boarding school far from the city, Dasani faces a crushing choice. Leaving poverty behind could mean abandoning the family she has fought so hard to protect. The decision forces her to question whether escaping her circumstances requires sacrificing her identity and the people she loves most. Pulitzer Prize winner Andrea Elliott traces eight pivotal years of Dasani's life, connecting her story to her ancestors' journey from slavery through the Great Migration. The narrative unfolds against New York City's exploding homeless crisis, where the gap between wealth and poverty widens daily. Dasani's struggle reveals the true cost of inequality and the power of resilience in the face of impossible circumstances.
Genres: family-life, american-fiction, social-issues, biography-memoir, 21st-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, sacrifice
Setting: Brooklyn, New York City
Period: 21st Century
640 pages · ebook · Random House
Content warnings: violence