Diary of Latoya Hunter

Latoya Hunter's Diary is an intimate glimpse into the thoughts of a 12-year-old girl as she experiences her first year at a junior high school in the Bronx. Although the events of the year are individual--the murder of a neighbor, her sister's pregnancy, a trip to Jamaica (the country of her birth)--the emotions are universal.  She feels ambivalence about school and boys, conflict with a strict mother over freedom and time, and struggles with peer pressure. Latoya's voice is affirmative, inspiring, moving, human, and real. It rings through the despair that surrounds much of public education in America today, reminding us of the vulnerability, humanity, and potential talent of the children who depend upon it for so much.

"A powerful reminder of how much decency and hope reside even in those communities that have been the worst victims of social neglect, racism, and the self-absorbed politics and economics of the past decade."
--The Washington Post

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