Chill Wind [Hardcover]

Janet McDonald (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 22, 2002

A tough and funny project girl manages to make that chill wind blow away

The good life, according to Aisha Ingram, is easy. It's hanging with friends, dancing, listening to music, whatever . . . but it doesn't include worrying about the future. Chilling out is her mantra until she receives a sixty-day termination-of-welfare-benefits notice. Without her monthly food stamps and assistance checks and with no help from the father of her two children, Aisha's life threatens to become a little too "chilly." The clock is ticking and she doesn't have many options, but one thing she knows for sure: workfare is not for her. There's no way she's going to scrub subway cars or sweep city sidewalks. Aisha tries to come up with other ways to get money, but things don't look good. Soon another notice comes: only thirty days left. Then she sees an ad on TV for BIGMODELS, and she figures she might as well check out the agency. After all, she is pretty enough. But just when it looks like Aisha's problems might be solved, things grow crazy again.

In Aisha, Janet McDonald has created a larger-than-life heroine who finds and succeeds at what is right for her.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Returning to territory first explored in Spellbound, McDonald here shifts her focus to Aisha, the high school dropout who was pregnant with one child already. The author once again uses a third-person narration to create Aisha's authentic voice and unique perspective, but the novel's solutions ultimately seem too simple. Aisha, now 19, has reached her five-year lifetime limit for receiving welfare and must enter workfare or "get kicked to the curb." Determined not to do any of the "slave jobs" she's been offered, she searches for another solution, such as pretending to be mentally ill or trying to convince her kids' father to marry her. She eventually realizes there aren't any "lucky breaks around the bend for a project girl on welfare with no schooling," and she goes to work patrolling the subway. Conveniently, she gets chosen to be in commercials. Her mother quits drinking, and this, coupled with her sudden bonding with her sister, add to the improbable ending. Readers get a strong sense of Aisha's world-the projects, her battles with the welfare system, her friends and their families-and the ribbing between friends reads genuine. But, in the end, with things coming so easily to Aisha, readers will be left wondering what she has learned along the way. Ages 12-up.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 8 Up-With her welfare benefits running out and no help from her children's father, 19-year-old Aisha is forced to examine her options. She remembers the words of her friend Raven (the central character in the author's Spellbound [Farrar, 2001]): "-nowadays they kick you off welfare after five years. So you won't be chillin' for long." While Aisha's alcoholic mother continues to offer some help and occasional baby-sitting, the teen procrastinates. She determines that workfare isn't for her, and eventually decides to answer an ad for "BIGMODELS, Inc." Despite an argument with the agency's receptionist, she manages to impress the president of the company. Bullish yet naive, Aisha stops at nothing to find and succeed at what is right for her. Well-drawn secondary characters move the story along and the plot develops at a comfortable pace. The language is real and believable and invokes life in an urban setting. Determination, familial love, and courage are the themes examined and while the fairy-tale ending isn't particularly believable, teens will find it satisfying.
Janet Gillen, Great Neck Public Library, NY
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR); 1st edition (October 22, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374399581
• ISBN-13: 978-0374399580
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,557,385 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good Story bad ending., October 29, 2007

By 

S. Richardson "Books Eye View" (Mississippi) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Chill Wind (Paperback)

I really liked this story.....at first. It delt with real beliefs that some people carry today and it told a valuable lesson. However, the "cinderella" ending is way too unbelievable for a story that is written so realistically. Many young people will read this story and I think it is wrong to send the type of message that the story's ending gave. The main character was lazy, dropped out of high school and refused to work. "Just let the system take care of you" was her motto. Most people who drop out of school, go on welfare expecting the system to take care of them and then refuse to work when they get cut from public assistance do NOT get offered a dream job as an actress, along with wealth and fame as a solution to their problem. And was the main character offered this opportunity because she was hard working? went back to school? got a job? changed her thuggish ways? NO!!!!!! She got offered it because she was "pretty" and had "guts." GIVE ME A BREAK! The ending ruined what could have been a wonderful story. I cannot give this more than 3 stars. And I do not recommend it to young impressionable minds.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The most realistic book ever!, March 31, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Chill Wind (Hardcover)

MY FAVORITE BOOK IS "CHILL WIND" BECAUSE, IT IS REALITY AND IT HAPPENS TO ALOT OF TEENS THESE DAYS BUT MOSTLY TO GIRLS. CHILL WIND IS A BOUT A GIRL NAMED AISHA INGRAM WHO IS A HIGH SCHOOL DROP OUT WHO THOUGHT LIFE WAS ABOUT JUST HAVING FUN AND NOT HAVIN ANY LIMITS AND, NOT TO WORRY ABOUT ANYTHING. SO AISHA INGRAM IS A 19 YEAR OLD HIGH SCHOOL DROP OUT WHO HAS 2 KIDS ON WELFARE. bUT THE CONFLICT WAS THAT AISHA DID NOT KNO HER WELFARE TERMINATE AFTER 5 YEARS. SHE THHOUGHT SHE WOULD BE ON IT HER WHOLE LIFE AND NOT HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT WORKING TO MAKE ENDS MEET OR WORRY ABOUT WHAT HER, HER CHILDREN AND MOTHER ARE GOING TO EAT. AFTER SHE FOUND OUT HER WELFARE WAS GOING OT END FOR 30 DAYS HER MOM WAS READY TO KICK HER OUT HER HOUSE ALONG WIT HER 2 CHILDREN BECAUSE, HER OWN MOTHER COULD BARELY FEND FOR HERSELF. RIGHT NOW AISHA AND HER MOTHER, AND KIDS ARE LIVING IN THE GHETTO OF NEW YORK AND DONT REALLY HAVE MONEY TO EAT EVERYDAY, OR PAY THE BILLS EVERY MONTH. AISHA WOULD HAVE TO CHOOSE FROM OF THE CHOICES WELFARE GIVES HER. BUT THE PROBLEM WITH AISHA IS THAT SHE DOES NOT WANT TO GET A JOB SHE WANTS TO BE LAZY AND STAY HOME AND, DO NOTHING! SO ONE DAY WHILE SHE WAS AT A FRIENDS HOUSE SHE WAS WATCHING T.V. AND SHE SAW A COMMERCIAL FOR "BIG MODELS" AND QUICKLY TOOK THE NUMBER AND CALLED IT. SHE THUGHT THIS OUTSTANDING OPPURTUNITY FOR SOMEONE LIKE HERSELF. BUT THERE WAS A CATCH TO IT IN ORDER TO GET A MEETING WITH ONE OF THOSE SUPER MODELS SHE HAD TO PAY $ 50.00 WHICH, SHE DID NOT HAVE! BUT SHE TOOK SOME OF THE LEFT OVER MONEY SHE HD ON HER WELFARE CHECK, WHICH COMES EVERY MONTH AND, SHE WENT TO THE "BIG MODELS" AGENCY. WHILE AISHA WAS THERE SHE MET THE RUDE CLERK. WHO WAS FOR RACIST AND UNAPPRECIATIVE. WHILE THERE AISHA GOT THE BIGGEST OPPURTUNITY OF HER LIFE. THEY MADE THE CLERK REFUND AISHA'S MONEY AND GAVE HER A 2ND INTERVIEW BUT SHE HAD TO BE THERE PROMPTLY AT 3:30 BUT AISHA MADE IT THERE 5 MIN LATER. BUT THAT RUDE CLERK AT THE AGENCY GAVE HER APPOINMENT AWAY AND GAVE AISHA SMART REMARKS .THIS CAUSED AISHA'S BLOOD PRESSURE TO RISE. SO THEY FOUGHT AND SHE THOUGHT SHE WAS GOING OT LOSE HER CHANCE OF BEING A MODEL AND GO TO JAIL FOR THE FIGHT SHE JUST HAD SO SHE TOOK HER PROFIE OFF THE CLERKS DESK AND RAN. A COUPLE OF DAYS LATER AISHA HAD NO CHOICE BUT TO TAKE ONE OF THOSE WELFARE JOBS.
WHILE ONE DAY AT WORK AISHA MET UP WITH ONE OF THE SUPER MODELS AND THEY SAID" THEY WERE LOOKING FOR HER EVERY WHERE. SO AISHA BECOME A HUGE MODEL SHE NO LONGER HAD TO WORRY ABOUT PAYING BILLS AND EATING. HER AND HER FAMILY MOVED OUT THE GHETTO AND AISHA HAD NO PROBLEMS TO WORRY ABOUT FOR THE REST OF HER LIFE.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Chilly Lesson on Life, June 23, 2003

By 

TheRAWKidzReview - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chill Wind (Hardcover)

Aisha Ingram is a 19-year-old high-school dropout living in the projects with her two kids and no job. She's on welfare, living it up, partying and "chilling" until she gets several notices that her welfare check will be discontinued and her only option for income is to join a workfare program. Not liking the various job choices available through Workfare, she comes up with schemes and plans to outsmart the welfare office. Once they backfire on her, she takes a subway patrol job. Shortly thereafter, she answers a modeling ad and from there things begin to look up for her, but for how long?

McDonald has given us a wonderful depiction of a young girl that makes numerous mistakes in her life, but learns to focus on believing in herself and leaning on family and friends. I did feel the story was a bit too perfect in how it ended, but overall I'd recommend it to others. The dialogue is fresh and real and the characters are believable. In addition, the story is smooth reading and quick paced. I think that it is one that young adults will enjoy and pick up the lessons outlined by the author.

Reviewed by Tee C. Royal
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers