Last Summer on State Street by Toya Wolfe

To call Last Summer on State Street by Toya Wolfe a coming-of-age story is both accurate and inadequate.  Felicia, “Fe Fe,” is twelve and spends a lot of time on the porch of her apartment block skipping rope with her friends Precious, Stacia, and Tonya.  Chicago in the late 90s is a rough setting and the day-to-day was complicated and simple.  As a kid Fe Fe knows the difference between right and wrong and knows who to avoid in the stairwell.  Her mom and brother, Meechie, are her world and they ground her.  Cops are also a big part of her life and her neighborhood and when her brother is taken and mistreated, her world starts to crumble.  Stacia wants to be a grown up.  Precious takes solace in the church.  Tonya is a lost child with a drug addled mother and is raising herself.  Life in and out of the projects is not something I grew up with, but Wolfe does an amazing job of putting you there and caring about these families just trying their best.

For another novel about a child trying to understand the adults, institutions, and circumstances shaping his life, continue with our review of Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver. Both books give their young characters room to be observant, funny, frightened, and far more perceptive than the people around them realize. Continue reading →

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