Patrice Gaines

From School Library Journal
YA? Gaines's autobiography reveals a life filled with despair, peril, and finally hope. She was the oldest of six siblings in a financially stable African American family in the 1950s. Her father was a career Marine and her mother was the mainstay of the home. Gaines was not happy and blamed institutionalized racism and the emotional coldness of her father for much that went wrong in her life. She was raped twice, became a shoplifter and drug addict, had a baby out of wedlock, got pregnant again and had an abortion, was married and divorced twice, and went to prison. Today, after a long and painful look into herself and the people with whom she associated, Gaines is now a successful writer of poetry and fiction as well as a celebrated journalist for The Washington Post. This is an insightful story full of pain, anger, and emotional and mental growth. The author pulls no punches in her straightforward and frank writing style, detailing her sex life and drug addiction. Yet her stated purpose in telling her story is to give hope to other women who feel the utter despondency she once did. She succeeds admirably.-- Pat Royal, Crossland High School, Camp Springs, MD, Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.… (altro)