- Thomas M.
- Monday, April 24, 2023
The Financial Literacy book review series #FinLit recommends thought-provoking books about money, investing, and personal finance. This post is about Money Hungry by Sharon G. Flake.
Even now, Momma’s always dreaming about the future. But you can’t cash dreams in at the bank or buy bread, or pay rent with ‘em. You need hard, cold cash for that. So every penny I get, I save. Momma thinks I just got a little pocket change stashed here and there. But nickels don’t keep you off the street. That’s why I got six hundred dollars stashed all over my room.
You gotta sell a lot of pencils and skip a lot of lunches to make that kinda dough. But it’s worth it. ‘Cause if you got money, people can’t take stuff from you – not your house, or your ride, not your family. They can’t do nothing much to you, if you got a bankroll backing you up.
Thirteen-year-old Raspberry Hill is an entrepreneur who would bend over backwards to pick up a penny. A family crisis upended her relatively comfortable childhood, and now Raspberry and her mother are desperate to make ends meet. She knows the value of a dollar, though she cares more about hoarding cash than her friends do. She ropes them into her money-making schemes in the hopes of earning some security and stability.
This book has many examples of how people perceive each other and themselves. Raspberry's friends and classmates treat her money hunger differently, but they also deal with their own self-image. The cast is full of personality and shows different sides of issues like addiction, romance, bullying, divorce, weight, and race. This was first published in 2001, so characters listen to CDs, but how and why they dance to music never gets old. Even though Flake writes from Raspberry's perspective, other characters are so interesting they could lead their own books (or the sequel, Begging For Change).
Money Hungry is a gritty realistic fiction book that has lots of drama and pointed dialog but also heart and hope. This book is a great example of how money can't buy happiness, but it can buy comfort and security. What those look like will differ from person to person.
Thomas M. is a Certified Financial Education Instructor℠ (CFEI®) and has previously blogged about Financial Lessons That Can Backfire, Talking To Kids About Money, and Online Financial Literacy Library Resources.