Sharon G Flake Books In Order

Skin I’m in

Maleeka suffers every day from the taunts of the other kids in her class. If they’re not getting at her about her embarrassing home made clothes or her good grades at school, it’s about her dark, black skin a deeper shade than any of theirs. When a new teacher, whose face is blotched with a startling white patch, starts at their school, Maleeka can see there is bound to be trouble for her too. But the new teacher’s attitude surprises Maleeka. Miss Saunders loves the skin she’s in. Can Maleeka too? A deeply involving novel that will draw readers into Maleeka’s world and let them see it through her eyes.

Money Hungry

Thirteen year old Raspberry Hill is starved for money. She will do just about anything legal to get her hands on the almighty dollar wash cars, sell rotten candy, skip lunch, clean houses. She is obsessed. She is driven. She is afraid. Memories of being homeless, sleeping in the streets, and eating handouts keep Raspberry’s eye on the only prize that matters to her: cold, hard cash. When the green stuff greases her palm, she gets comfort from feeling its crinkly paper power. And, when money is your best friend, there’s more to do than hold it. Raspberry kisses her cash. She smells it. She loves it. But even money can’t answer the questions that keep Raspberry awake at night. Will she and Momma ever move out of the projects? What did Ja’nae do with the two hundred bucks Raspberry loaned her? And what’s really going on with Momma and that rich doctor? A haunting story of greed and forgiveness by the award winning author of The Skin I’m In, this unforgettable novel will keep you glued to every page. Bank on it.

Begging for Change

H ‘Flake’s strength…
lies in developing genuine, believable adults and children.’ BCCB starred review H ‘Flake’s charged, infectious dialogue will sweep readers through the first person story.’ Booklist starred review Fourteen year old Raspberry Hill is still struggling to find security in her life. More than anything, she wants a father who will love and protect her, like Zora’s dad. When her mother is attacked, Raspberry does the unthinkable: she steals money from Zora, her best friend. It’s only when her thieving, drug addicted father returns that Raspberry begins to wonder whether betraying Zora will cost her more than she can ever repay. Is Raspberry destined to follow in her father’s footsteps? Raspberry is certain something’s got to change.

Bang!

Bang! Guns really sound like that, you know. Bang! And people bleed from everywhere, and blood is redder than you think. And little kids look funny in caskets. That’s cause they ain t meant to be in one, I guess. Mann is only thirteen, yet he has already had to deal with more than most go through in a lifetime. His family is still reeling from the tragic shooting death of his little brother, Jason, each person coping with grief in his or her own way. Mann s mother has stopped eating and is obsessed with preserving Jason s memory, while his father is certain that presenting a hard edge is the only way to keep his remaining son from becoming a statistic. Mann used to paint and ride horseback, but now he s doing everything he can to escape his emotions: getting involved in fights at school, joyriding at midnight, and much worse. His father, at his wit s end, does the only thing he thinks will teach his son how to be a man: he abandons him and his friend Kee Lee in the woods, leaving them to navigate their way home, alone. Now Mann, struggling to find his way back to civilization, must also reconcile himself to the realities of a world that has stolen his little brother, and that isn t even sure it still wants Mann in it. One wrong turn and it could all be over for him, too. Bang.

The Broken Bike Boy and the Queen of 33rd Street

I am a queen. I live in a castle, right across the street from the John Howard Housing Projects. Every day right after school I run to my bedroom window and open it wide even in the middle of winter when the wind blows wet snow up my nose. I watch for my knight in shining armor. He’s ten years old, like me, and rides a bike a two wheeler with rusty spokes and torn up seat. So begins Sharon Flake’s highly anticipated new novel a moving story of an unlikely friendship. Queen is a royal pain in the neck! Her Highness treats everyone like her loyal subjects: her classmates, her teacher, even her parents! That’s why all the kids hate her and it’s hard for her to make friends. To make matters worse, Queen known she is bright. Her teacher thinks she’s a spoiled know it all, and that keeps her in hot water as well. When a new kid comes to Queen’s school riding a broken bike and wearing run over shoes, he immediately becomes the butt of everyone’s jokes. Her parents insist she be nice to Leroy, since history has never been kind to queens who forget how to be humble. But Leroy isn’t just smelly, Queen thinks that he tells fibs whoppers in fact and when he says he’s an African prince from Senegal, sparks fly between him and Queen. There’s only room for one blue blooded family on 33rd Street, and Queen is determined to prove Leroy is an impostor. What Queen ultimately discovers about Leroy makes her wonder what ‘happily ever after’ really means. If a broken bike boy is truly Queen’s knight in shining armor, can he save her from herself, by teaching her how to be a good friend?

Who Am I Without Him?

Guys and girls get together, get played, and get real.
Who Am I Without Him?? is a Booklist Top Ten Romance Novel for Teens and is ‘breaking new and necessary ground’ in twelve short stories about guys and girls falling in and out of love and relationships, testing out ways to communicate with one another, respect each other and respect themselves.

This is a complex, often humorous, and always on point exploration of today’s teens determined to find love and self worth…
any way they know how.

The Sharon G. Flake Collection

The Skin I’m In ‘Flake’s debut novel will hit home.’ Publishers Weekly starred review Maleeka Madison, with help from her teacher, must learn to love her dark skin the skin she’s in. Money Hungry ‘The unerring details evoke characters, rooms, and neighborhoods with economy and precision.’ Booklist starred review Raspberry Hill is starved for money and will do anything legal to keep from becoming homeless again. Begging for Change ‘Flake’s strength…
lies in developing genuine, believable adults and children.’ BCCB starred review A year later, Raspberry’s thieving, drug addicted father returns, sending her into a tailspin of worry, deceit, and ultimately, redemption.

You Don’t Even Know Me

I sit in your classI play by the rulesI m youngI m flyI m black. In 9 stories and 13 poems, Sharon G. Flake gives readers insight into the minds of a diverse group adolescent African American males. There’s Tow Kaye, getting married at age 17 to love of his life, who’s pregnant. He knows it’s the right thing to do, but he’s scared to death. James writes in his diary about his twin brother’s terrible secret, which threatens to pull James down, too. Tyler explains what it’s like to be a player with the ladies. In a letter to his uncle, La’Ron confesses that he’s infected with HIV. Eric takes us on a tour of North Philly on the Fourth of July, when the heat could make a guy go crazy. Still, he loves his hood. These and other unforgettable characters come to life in this poignant, funny and often searing collection of urban male voices.