“There wasn’t enough caution tape in the world for our neighborhood.”

One of my best books of the year, if not my lifetime. Wolfe’s debut is extraordinary! First of all, there is something about that time between childhood and becoming a teenager that Wolfe captured perfectly. It is so fraught with messiness. You want to take part in childhood pleasures like jump rope, but at the same time you’re becoming cognizant of teenage and adult life where life becomes much more complex, particularly when you are living in the gang-ruled Chicago projects. That cusp of losing your childish innocence at 12 years old is so clearly captured here. Our main character Fe Fe is undergoing that transition at the same time her brother becomes initiated into a gang and their low-income housing is about to be demolished. She’s growing up as she’s dodging bullets from all the drive-by shootings each night. 

Second, there is the systemic racism as well as outright racism that Wolfe addresses in this fictional story that’s set in the late 1990s in the Chicago projects. She makes the reader really feel the oppression that exists then and today, especially in policing and segregation via these urban projects. The cycle of generational poverty is so clearly seen in Wolfe’s narrative.

Third, there is the historical accuracy. I have had Ben Austen’s non-fiction book “High-Risers” about this Chicago low-income housing on my “Want to Read” list, but after reading this I think it would make an excellent pairing and I NEED to get to that book this year. I want to know more about how this project evolved, what happened, and the aftermath. Also, this novel was set in 1999. I had graduated college by then, and, sheesh, I suppose this is historical fiction - I should know more about it! 

Fourth, but probably should have been listed first, are the characters. They all come to life within the pages. Fe Fe, our main character, is held on a tight leash by her single mother. But when Fe Fe’s older brother becomes initiated into a gang and their housing is being demolished, life forever changes. Fe Fe’s mother is amazing, so wise, and her protectiveness is well-founded. You can definitely see the differences in parenting that the four friends received and how that, combined with their circumstances, will likely impact their futures. What happened to Tonya and Stacia was completely heartbreaking. The reconciliation Fe Fe has with her past is so moving. 

And the unputdownable plot. I kept turning the pages (sometimes fearfully) to know what happened to these characters. 

Exquisite! #lastsummeronstatestreet