Tuesday, June 28, 2011

The Girl's Guide to Homelessness

It's rare these days that I will stay up late into the night reading. I love reading, but I'm pretty committed to getting my eight hours, so there isn't much that I let get between that. But I had to stay up last night to finish Brianna Karp's The Girl's Guide to Homelessness. Wow.

This is an emotionally gripping story of a young woman, who despite doing everything "right," found herself homeless. Brianna was educated, hard working, had a good job and a nice place to live. But when the economy tanked, she lost her job. Her savings soon ran out and she lost her home. Brianna shares her survival methods, talks about the stereotypes people have of the homeless, and the countless challenges she faced trying to get back on her feet. There is another huge component to this story though. Brianna recounts her background and upbringing, which isn't pleasant. Sexually abused by her biological father, physically and verbally abused by her mother, and brain washed by the religion she was brought up in, there are some parts of the book that were extremely difficult to read. Nonetheless, this is a captivating story that elicited a range of emotions: anger, sadness, and even laughter. Get it. Read it. Tell someone about it.

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