For those who are unfamiliar with this urban classic I have told everyone about it since I first read it in 1999, I bought for my younger sisters, cousins and friends...here is my brief run down:Winter Santiaga is a teenage girl, daughter of one of Brooklyn's most powerful drug lords, she’s always been pampered and protected.
The Coldest Winter Ever is about her struggle to survive on her own when everything is taken away from her.
Before her family is torn apart, Winter enjoys shopping for designer clothes with her "Moms," but Moms won’t be the same after the coldest winter ever. The biggest event of their lives starts a downward spiral for Moms, once the entertaining queen.
Winter also has a close relationship with her Pops. He stayed on top by not taking any of the drugs sold in order to remain level-headed, and encourages Winter to think ahead and to anticipate her oponent's move, like a chess player.“Just then the aggravating voice of Sister Souljah leaped out of the radio and started choking me. ‘If you consciously do negative things, then negativity will rule your life.’ I sucked my teeth and thought, Why don't that b____ just move to Africa?”
Winter has a serious crush on Midnight, one of her Fathers Henchman. His muscular and lean physique is something to admire. He’s shrewdly planning for the day when he'll vanish from the hood, leaving the dangerous drug world behind him.
In the end, all the characters gather for a funeral, and it’s clear who’s found higher ground and who’s hit bottom and stayed there. This book takes readers into the mindset of a juvenile delinquent.
The author accurately shows the desperation of ghetto culture, including slang and profanity. More importantly, though, the book demonstrates the social and economic reasons why Winter gets what she does. She feels entitled to the finer things in life, and she accepts that they came through criminal activity. The ever-confident Winter is soon over her head.
The most poignant moment, for me, occurs at the end, when Winter is looking at her younger sister, knowing she’s on the same losing track that Winter herself had been on. In the ghetto, history repeats itself. Another drug dealer is born, another hopped-up girlfriend standing beside him with her designer clothes and baubles.
With so many valuable lessons in this book, it’s a tribute to the author that it never once comes off as being preachy. I recommended this book to young and old any race, class or gender...thumbs up! I have re-read it over 10 times, no lie.
My Dream Movie Cast:
Santiaga: Giancarlo Esposito
Winter: Lauren London
Mom: Nia Long
Midnight: Tyrese Gibson alter ego "Black-TY"
Sister Souljah: Herself
Bullet: Nelly
The rest of the cast, I could care less...your turn to decide.
~ "O" The Touring Empress
