Customer Reviews

Money Hungry (Coretta Scott King Author Honor Books)

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Sharon Flake has successfully written another inspiring book dealing with inner-city youth. Money Hungry was another breath taking story about the problems that inner-city youth face today. Just as she did in The Skin I'm In, Sharon created characters so true to life that the reader feels so in touch with each character. In Money Hungry,Raspberry is so worried about living on the streets again, she is obsessed with having a security fund so that she and her Mother never have to face that horrific ordeal again. I already miss Raspberry and her friends. Finally, an author that grabs and holds the attention of my students who are so reluctant to read. With her books, my students do not want to stop reading, this being a major accomplishment. Don't expect to be able to put this one down. Thanks Sharon Flake for giving my students stories they can relate to. We are waiting for many more.

This book is real also. It tells you how life is about when you are poor. This family is poor and is getting in all this trouble with the neighbors. The little girl name rasberry hill loves money. She will do anything for some money. So if you love money the way she do then this is the book for you.

I am a huge fan of "The Skin I'm In" and use it as a read aloud for my 7th graders. I find that my students, the majority of whom are African American, really respond to the characters and tone that Flake uses in her writing. They have long been asking me for other books she has written, and I was thrilled when her sophomore effort appeared on shelves.

However, I felt that "Money Hungry" falls far short of its predecessor. I felt that a wealth of wonderful characters were introduced but never developed. Perhaps we are being set up for sequals, but I was left wanting more information about Zora, Mai, Sato, and Ja'nae. I also felt that the book never came to a true resolution. Will Raspberry ever learn to feel safe? Will she get past her fears? It almost felt as if the ending was rushed to keep the book from becoming too long. It wrapped up much too abruptly.

I am happy to report that my students are responding favorably to the book. I am always pleased to find fiction that they can relate to.

I read "Begging for Change" before I read this book and now I understand why Raspberry was so mad at her mother. Personally, I think her mother deserved to get hit upside the head for doing what she did with the money. I felt bad because I think I'm quite a bit like Raspberry when it comes to people owing me money. But nevertheless, this book is about a young girl from the projects who has an entrepeneurial spirit out of this world (and her principal will co-sign on it too!) She has a few close friends who are very interesting characters themselves, an old-school mother who believes in being everybody else's mother, and a charismatic crush who cracks me up! Raspberry's main concern is to make enough money so she'll never have to live on the street again or have to live with anybody else. The dialogue was realistic, the plot was clean, and the story moved so quickly I was disappointed when it ended. I'm now set on reading every last one of Flake's books because she has not failed me yet.

The message in Money Hungry by Sharon G. Flake has a lot to do with life, and I would recommend this book to teenagers and to who ever love to read. The story tells about four girls that have problems with money either they don't have it or they try to fine a way to make. So the people at there school consider them to be money hungry. A girl, Raspberry, whose mother and she have been kicked out, and were staying in the city dump. Soon the girl's mother found a job, and then they bought an apartment. That little part in the story was probably telling about someone the author new that was staying somewhere and were kicked out there house. Then, it goes on to tell how the girl hated to be without money. She felt that if she didn't have money or enough to pay for what ever they owe that they would be put back out on the street.
The story had some weakness were the author stats to include too many details that don't really have anything to add to the theme of the story. The girls would be in a particular area and the author would start to explain how the area looks like or what a person would be wearing. There ate also times in the story where she starts to tell about the other girl's problems. Over all, that would be most of the weakness in the story.
Then you have your strengths. Flake found a good way of combining every body's situation to the main characters. In one of the chapters the main character is accused of steeling money from one of her friends. So the parent of that friend called the mother of the main character and took that she was steeling. The girl's mother was so shocked she began to throw all the money the girl made out the window. Then finally the man called back and explained to the girl's mother that there was a misunderstanding, and that his grand daughter told him what had happen.
M y point that I'm trying to get across is that most of the stories you read in Money Hungry might just be a story like yours. Stories are no different from life. I would recommend this for teenagers and anyone who want to read a great book.

The message in Money Hungry by Sharon G. Flake has a lot to do with life, and I would recommend this book to teenagers and to who ever love to read. The story tells about four girls that have problems with money either they don't have it or they try to fine a way to make. So the people at there school consider them to be money hungry. A girl, Raspberry, whose mother and she have been kicked out, and were staying in the city dump. Soon the girl's mother found a job, and then they bought an apartment. That little part in the story was probably telling about someone the author new that was staying somewhere and were kicked out there house. Then, it goes on to tell how the girl hated to be without money. She felt that if she didn't have money or enough to pay for what ever they owe that they would be put back out on the street.
The story had some weakness were the author stats to include too many details that don't really have anything to add to the theme of the story. The girls would be in a particular area and the author would start to explain how the area looks like or what a person would be wearing. There ate also times in the story where she starts to tell about the other girl's problems. Over all, that would be most of the weakness in the story.
Then you have your strengths. Flake found a good way of combining every body's situation to the main characters. In one of the chapters the main character is accused of steeling money from one of her friends. So the parent of that friend called the mother of the main character and took that she was steeling. The girl's mother was so shocked she began to throw all the money the girl made out the window. Then finally the man called back and explained to the girl's mother that there was a misunderstanding, and that his grand daughter told him what had happen.
M y point that I'm trying to get across is that most of the stories you read in Money Hungry might just be a story like yours. Stories are no different from life. I would recommend this for teenagers and anyone who want to read a great book.

In this adventurous story, a thirteen year old raspberry hill will do anything to get her hands on cold hard cash. Anything from washing cars, cleaning houses and to the extreme of stealing money. But no matter how much cash raspberry makes, money can't solve her and her mama's problems or put them in a real house instead of the projects.
When it comes to money raspberry will risk anything to get money- even friendships and suspension from school. Will money ever be the answer to a great life? Will raspberry and her momma get the life they deserve or can raspberry make enough money to keep her and her momma off the streets?
Sharon g. flake puts her skills to the test when writing Money Hungry. From her own personal experiences, she writes about the troubles of growing up as a black poor person. She does an exceptional job of leaving cliff hangers and unanswered questions through out the book. When reading this book, you'll be expected to never put this book down! You can bet on this!

Money Hungry is a great book writen by Sharon Flake. It talks about friendship and the troubles that Rasberry had with her mother, but what this really talks about is how money can affect your friends and family.If you need a lesson about money, you should read this enjoying book.

I love how she relates everything to how kids are today. I read this book in 1 day, (the first time ever) because I couldn't get enough of it. Don't let other people say how its boring, I belive its the best.

Money Makes the World Go `Round

Raspberry Hill is a young girl on a mission. After she and her mother left her crack-addicted father, they find themselves living on the streets. Raspberry is determined to make enough money so that she and her mother will never be forced to be homeless or hungry again. She enlists the help of her friends Ja'nae, Mai, and Zorro to make money by any legal means necessary.

Raspberry finds herself making a great deal of money and becomes obsessed with stashing enough money away that nothing else seems to matter. When one of her friend begins to borrow money without paying it back, Raspberry is faced with a dilemma, having to decide what she values more-money or friendship.

Sharon Flake has done an excellent job with this book. It is entertaining and shows the devastating affects of poverty. Flake also introduces several sub-plots through Raspberry's friends. Issues of abandonment, divorce, and being biracial are also discussed within the book. I highly recommend this novel to children and young adults as an eye opener about homelessness and poverty. I look forward to more works from this author, and would love to see a sequel or a separate book about each of Raspberry's friends.

Reviewed by Latoya Carter-Qawiyy...