The Word on Street Lit No. 5

By Rollie Welch, Collection Manager, Cleveland P.L. -- Library Journal, 06/25/2008

Often criticized for its focus on violence and graphic depictions of sex, street lit also portrays male-female romantic relationships, as June's selections written from the male perspective demonstrate (May's column, meanwhile, put the spotlight on strong female protagonists).

Jason Poole pens the inner feelings of a pimp keeping a hospital vigil for his fiancée/best girl in Victoria’s Secret. Treasure Blue recounts the oddly tender love story of Keyshia and Clyde, two criminals who recognize hidden emotional pain in each other. In Come Get Some, Nane Quartay offers a coming-of-age story pivoting on a forbidden sexual tryst between an older woman and a 16-year-old youth.

Through all their trials and tribulations, these characters disengage from the tough streets, build relationships, and, yes, sometimes even discover love.

Pick of the Month

Relentless Aaron. Single with Benefits. Griffin: St. Martin’s. Nov. 2008. 288p. ISBN 978-0-312-35937-9. pap. $14.95 F
Verdict: For an incisive look at a man’s inner thoughts and feelings as he juggles multiple sexual encounters, look no further than Relentless Aaron’s (Extra Marital Affairs) new novel. In capturing the emotions of pure sexual release and introspective debates on being true to women, this author is unparalleled. As a bonus, the sexual scenes are a matchless combination of sensuality and naughtiness.
Background: Shawn Hopkins, a 19 year old intent on achieving success, has fallen hard for Venus, who flaunts a Caribbean woman’s sensual attitude. Although vexed, Shawn reluctantly agrees to share space with Allison, a girlfriend of Venus who needs time away from her man. But temptation soon arises, and Shawn enters not one, two, or three, but five sexual relationships, as well as enjoying a threesome with Venus and Allison and mixing work with pleasure by sleeping with his boss, a wealthy client, and a wealthy client’s administrative assistant. As he becomes financially successful, Shawn ponders to which woman he wants to commit forever but fails to notice the warning signs of romantic disaster. The morality lesson here: being played can dampen the pleasures of the bedroom.

Blue, Treasure E. Keyshia and Clyde. One World: Ballantine. Aug. 2008. 368p. ISBN 978-0-345-49329-3. pap. $14. F
Verdict: Blue (Harlem Girl Lost) rocks his story with rough sex, heavy drug use, and murder—not to mention scenes of tenderness and love between the titular damage souls. Unfortunately, the novel’s promising opening of Keyshia checking a pair of nine millimeter pistols as she braces herself to free Clyde is stalled by the lengthy courtroom buildup in the book’s second half. For collections where Blue has fans.
Background: Twelve years old and unwanted by her mother, Keyshia is shipped from Charleston, SC, to live with her aunt in Harlem in New York City. Life on 125th Street is harsh, especially with her abusive aunt, and Keyshia begins selling herself for drugs. Teenage Clyde’s game is to rob drug dealers, and he rescues Keyshia from a violent dealer during a job that goes way wrong. Forced to make restitution to the victim’s associates, the duo goes on a crime spree to raise the cash.

Noire. Noire Presents: From the Streets to the Sheets: Urban Erotic Quickies. One World: Ballantine. Aug. 2008. 352p. ISBN 978-0-345-50848-5. pap. $14. F
Verdict: For readers seeking a certain grimy sexual explicitness, Noire (Hood; Candy Licker) has commissioned these truly erotic tales by some of today’s hottest urban authors (e.g., K’wan, Eric Gray, Euftis Emory, and Plea$ure). The tone is set with such alluring titles as "Me, He, and She," "Homey, Lover, Friend," and "Thug Lovin." Readers should buckle up because this is a helluva ride for erotica and larger street lit collections.
Background: In one tale, we enter bedrooms, clubs, and apartments with video cameras and become privy to the characters’ sexual prowess. In another story, strippers dance, emotionally detached and oblivious to the men waving money and demanding more than just a dance. And in a third, a freak with three breasts gets top billing at a club but dreams of getting out of the hustle. In K’wan’s "2 Can Play," the narrator preys on the insecurities of women. No whispered pillow talk here, just profane demands to bring it harder and faster.

Poole, Jason. Victoria’s Secret. Cartel Pubs. 2008. 224p. ISBN 978-0-9794931-4-0. pap. $15. F
Verdict: Narrated in an extended flashback, Poole’s third book (after Larceny and Convict’s Candy) has the feel of an epistolary novel as pimp Babyface, deeply in love with his best working girl, Victoria Gray, reads her diary while she lies hospitalized in a coma after a brutal attack. Love laced with an ever present danger will have street lit fans flocking to this title.
Background: Babyface treats his women well, and they feel he’s "the best pimp ever in the game." But his relationship with Victoria is so much more than business—he wants to marry her. The money pours in as the pair hits the hot spots of Atlanta, Chicago, Memphis, and Washington, DC. But it is too good to be true. Victoria’s heart of gold and loyalty to her fellow girls, along with Babyface’s lust for vengeance, threaten their romance.

Quartay, Nane. Come Get Some. Strebor: S. & S. (Strebor on the Streetz). 2008. 253p. ISBN 978-1-59309-176-7. pap. $13. F
Verdict: Quartay has written a well-constructed coming-of-age tale about four inner-city friends. As the boys mature from kickball-playing kids into young men who must be taken on their own terms, their youthful bonds are stretched to the breaking point. Quartay’s third novel (after The Badness and Take Two and Pass) is marked with violent scenes ripped from the front pages, and the disturbing climax will linger with readers.
Background: Teens Truitt, Mugwump, Whiteboy Paul, and Willmon live in the ghetto, witnessing adults committing illegal acts. Their maturity speeds up, especially for Paul when he begins an affair with his sexy English teacher, and Truitt, who loses his virginity. The young men find themselves questioning relationships, adult influences, and how to deal with women. Quartay deftly depicts the innocence that adolescents lose when dealing with the jarring reality of the streets.

Serrano, Daniel. Gunmetal Black. Grand Central. Sept. 2008. 500p. ISBN 978-0-446-19413-6. pap. $13.99. F
Verdict: Here’s proof that street lit is not limited to African American characters or readers. Debut novelist Serrano adds a Latino flavor to the genre with this intricate, Spanish-slang-laced story about a Puerto Rican parolee’s journey from jail cell to Chicago’s rough streets as he encounters betrayal, police corruption, casual sex, and stunning violence. The tense plot will grip readers, who will clamor for Serrano’s next work. For street lit collections and collections serving Hispanic populations.
Background: After serving ten years in a penitentiary, Eduardo "Eddie" Santiago is released, and his lifelong friend Tony Pacheco escorts him back to Chicago. But two cops bust Eddie and rob him of his moneybelt, stuffed with $40,000 in cash earned from a lucrative pot business on the inside. Vowing to recover his money, Eddie also becomes ensnared in a reckless plan to rob a casino while falling for a Mexican beauty with a past.

Sibley, John H. Bodyslick. Vibe Street Lit.: Kensington. July 2008. 402p. ISBN 978-1-601-83-004-3. pap. $13. F
Verdict: Street lit blends with science fiction to form a new subgenre—urban sf. Sibley’s futuristic debut is both a social commentary and a cautionary tale about science. What is intriguing is that the author shifts inner-city product demand from drugs to body parts. The results are the same: ruthless dealers take no quarter, and betrayal lurks around every corner. For street lit and sf collections.
Background: Cocaine and heroin are dirt cheap in 2031 Chicago, but thousands of dollars can be made selling human body parts. And if you need an organ transplant, Malcom "Bodyslick" Steel is the guy to know. Bodyslick can deliver, ruling the streets with his laser pistol. Sibley shows us that a futuristic Chicago is not a place for the timid.