Publisher's Synopsis
Poverty's Phoenix is the searing account of one child's struggle and how she summoned the courage to break the generational cycle of life in poverty. In this gripping memoir, author Shanequa Levin offers us an insider's look at the plight of a teen mother and how that child's child perceived the world. Through young Shanequa's eyes, we see what it's like growing up with drug-addicted parents; we experience the trauma of having a father who was incarcerated for much of her life and a teen mother who is a product of her environment; and we feel Shanequa's pain as she learns that she is poor and what that means for her family. Levin gives a voice to children who were born into poverty and face its wrath on a daily basis. Each chapter depicts a jarring experience that helped shaped this present-day community leader's life. This memoir is a testament to a mother's love, survival, and what it's like to be black and poor living on the Gold Coast of Long Island, New York, in the 1980s.
