Last Summer on State Street audiobook

the truth is that judging books by their covers WORKS.i 100% picked this up for the gorgeous cover, and i got not just prettiness but also:- a great read for fans of jacqueline woodson (i am a fan of jacqueline woodson)- a powerful story- a brilliant and real capturing of childhoodanother win for the shallow girls!this story was written in a hindsight perspective and sometimes switched, and as everyone knows i hate any kind of changing perspective, but i liked this anyway.a miracle.bottom line: covers forever!!!(thanks to netgalley etc for the e-arc)

Reviewed in the July 2022 edition of Quick Lit on Modern Mrs Darcy:I picked this new release up because of the gorgeous cover and wasn't disappointed. This coming of age debut set in the housing projects of 1990s Chicago unfolds over the course of one summer. As summer begins, we meet three young girls, all about age 11, who've formed a comfortable trio and spend their summer days double-dutching on the hot concrete under the watchful eyes of their neighbors, who have all been alerted they'll soon be displaced and moved (if they're lucky) to a different apartment block. When a new girl joins their friend group the circle, instead of growing larger, is broken, and things will never be the same for any of the four, who are largely left on their own to deal with the escalating threats around them. Beautifully told and utterly heartbreaking. Content warnings apply.

WOW. WOW. WOW. “Overcrowded with bricks, and gates, and too many people.”Born and raised in Chicago, my father a Detective with the Chicago Police Department, I can remember different points in my life driving by the Robert Taylor Homes on State Street, staring at them from the safety of the car. And every time, not being able to tear my eyes away from the slum, the broken and burned out windows, some boarded up, some left exposed to the elements, the graffiti, and most shocking: along each floor there ran from one side of the building to the other, a metal gate enclosing each outdoor hallway to keep people from throwing things, or each other, over the side. As a little girl it was a wonder, it was scary, and it was completely foreign. As a young adult it made me thank my lucky stars that I lived in a safe and nurturing community; the same city, but what felt like an entirely different planet.This story brought me to tears. Getting to know Fe Fe, Stacia, Precious, and Tonya was my absolute pleasure. I found myself researching the history of the Robert Taylor Homes, looking at old images on Google, needing to know so much more about this public housing disaster than what I had just come to accept long ago as a scar, an ugliness on my beautiful city.It is astounding to me that this is a debut author, and I will surely pick up the next thing that she writes. I highly, highly recommend the audiobook, as the narrator revealed heartbreaking, profound, and shocking events as if this were a biography. She brought magical life to these little girls and a beautiful voice to the women they became. Many thanks to author, Toya Wolfe and narrator Shayna Small for telling this story. It will stay with me for a long time. 💜

A tender and heartbreaking debut coming of age story about a group of four young Black girls growing up in the Chicago projects and the summer that changed all their lives. Set in the summer of 1999, Fe-Fe, Precious and Stacia love nothing more than playing Double-Dutch outside but gang wars and the scheduled demolition of their building bring irrevocable upheaval. The group dynamic changes when Fe-Fe introduces Tonya to the group, a mysterious girl who has dark secrets of her own. Full of heart, the story celebrates the resilience of Black lives while not shying away from the hardships, including the incarceration of young Black boys, sexual abuse, teen pregnancy and drug addiction. Great on audio narrated by Shayna Small and recommended for fans of What the fireflies knew by Kai Harris or authors like Jacqueline Woodson and Brit Bennett. Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my ALC.

*It’s very rare that I will pick up a book about a group of teenage kids (because most of the time it’s privileged, angsty teens and your girl has NO PATIENCE for that), but Ericka’s review made me want to pick this one up and I’m so glad I did!! *This is a book about friendship. Its ebbs and its flows. Its joys and its sorrows. I really felt that deep sisterhood type friendship with Fe Fe and Precious and I absolutely adored those two characters. The book is only 212 pages, but the author masterfully built many complex characters. The type of characters who you want to find out what happened to them after “the summer” the book is written about. I love that the author followed these characters into early adulthood and we could see their personal growth. *In the author bio at the end of the book, it’s mentioned that Toya Wolfe, the author herself, “grew up in the now-demolished Robert Taylor Homes on Chicago’s South Side” (the housing project where this book is set in.) It makes me wonder how many of Fe Fe‘s experiences the author shares with her and also explains how she paints such a visual picture of where these girls grow up. *I highly recommend this book!!

Wolfe opens this novel with a slow and steady pace — easing you into the tone, location, and direction she plans on taking you. From there, she builds a coming-of-age story that, by the end, reminded me so much of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, brick by brick. "I’d known Precious forever, Stacia a year, and Tonya for just a minute. We were so different, but everybody loved them some double Dutch. Sometimes we made a tight-knit crew; other days we couldn't get along for nothing." In many ways, both in the obvious and in the undercurrents, Wolfe's novel is decidedly different from the Betty Smith classic. From the location to the time period, from the scope to the main character's race, everything is impacted by these key differences. But comparing the 12-year-old Fe Fe Stevens to the 11-year-old Francie Nolan, and a 1912 Brooklyn tenement to 1999 on Chicago’s South Side in the Robert Taylor Homes (a now-demolished public housing project) is not so difficult in essence. And, like A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, I am so glad this book exists. I didn't read Smith's bildungsroman until 2017 — well beyond the age when it might've had an even greater impact on a younger me, but it impacted me regardless. Last Summer on State Street doesn't have the same scope as Tree, but they are kindred spirits. Where Smith's tale bounces around a few timelines — including the middle section devoted to the meeting of her parents — Wolfe's yarn is more tightly bound in 1999. However, the tone she applies is from a distance and reflection only gained from future knowledge, à la True Grit. This is an older Fe Fe (who does make an appearance later in the novel) telling the tale of her younger self and a summer that changed her whole world — in both small and significant ways.While young Francie clings to her true self through her love of literature and her active imagination, young Fe Fe discovers solace in the church, its congregation, and its capacity to aid those living in circumstances similar to her own. Additionally, Fe Fe is surrounded by a myriad of strong women by Wolfe, each of whom has their own imperfections, making them authentic and relatable. This compelling novel explores the struggle for survival, the institutional racism that underpins the projects, and themes of injustice. Such a remarkable debut novel, Last Summer on State Street balances the tragic with the hopeful. What I said of Smith's novel can be said of Wolfe's . . . this is a slow, simmer of a coming-of-age story — clearly written with Wolfe's heart holding the pen.Audiobook, as narrated by Shayna Small: Small did a phenomenal job. With such a diverse cast of characters — especially given the sheer number of female characters — I was impressed with how distinct and unique everyone sounded. Small channeled her passion into a performance that was true to the characters and the story. Wonderful, all around.

A short debut that packs a punch. I’ve been to Chicago dozens of times so it was interesting to learn of the Robert Taylor Homes and what it might have felt like to live there as the Housing Authority slowly started to tear down the buildings.The author herself grew up in the buildings and give a very good sense of place and feel for a young Black girl during that time.

RATING: 4 STARSLast month, I was in a writing workshop taught by Toya and she had plugged her debut novel, Last Summer on State Street. Set in 1999, this is a coming of age story about friendship, family, living in Robert Taylor homes (Chicago). Through Fe-Fe we see what it was like for a young girl to live with gang violence, and violence in general on an every day basis. How she becomes friends with three young girls who are each different and living their own hard life. The novel drew me in pretty quick, and I enjoyed Toya's writing and characters. I look forward to her next novel.

She may only be 200 pages long, but don’t be fooled: LAST SUMMER ON STATE STREET packs a mighty punch. This coming-of-age novel—about four young girls growing up in the Robert Taylor Homes on Chicago’s South Side, and the single summer that changed their lives, friendships, and neighborhood forever—was such an unexpectedly stunning debut, with a diverse cast of characters and a vividly-constructed setting that practically jumps off the page and pulls you into its streets. The prose was raw, straightforward, accessible, endearing, and heart-rending, all in equal measure. Though her experiences may have been uniquely traumatizing, narrator Fe Fe’s voice—her childhood naïveté and innocence, buffered by the introspection and understanding of an adult looking back on her life—was relatable and powerful.So, yes, stunning…. but also, more than that, this book is important. One of those once-in-a-lifetime books that everyone should read, because of what it tells you about yourself and the world you live in. Because of its capacity to reduce you down to your proper size again. Because you didn’t know you needed reducing, but it did.Everyone, read this. Everyone should read this book.***I won this in a Goodreads giveaway, so many thanks to GR and the publishers, William Morrow, for the ARC and opportunity to read.