JUJU: Life on the East Side

By Tamario Pettigrew

In his debut novel, Pettigrew speaks with an authentic, compelling voice... Pettigrew persuasively makes his case about the array of forces trapping blacks in poverty and crime... Vivid and poignant... Kirkus Reviews Thirteen-year-old JuJu reluctantly moves into a shack with his mother and siblings. The move is a downgrade from the more welcoming working-class neighborhood he grew accustomed to before his mother lost her night job in the recession. Set on the East Side of Buffalo, NY, JuJu provides a window into the poverty stricken, segregated, urban childhood. Years of reading classic novels with his often-hospitalized younger sister gives JuJu a dream of writing his own stories about what it's actually like to live in the ghetto. His escape into novels can't prevent his reality on the primarily black East Side, which is filled with murder, drugs, incarceration, and blatant and continual police brutality. On the East Side, JuJu struggle to protect himself, his mother, and his sisters as they navigate his openly hostile, racially-divided city.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 109094778X
• ISBN13: 9781090947789
• Release Date: April 2019
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 246 Pages
• Weight: 0.76 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.5" x 8.5"
• Age Range: 14 to 17 years
• Grade Range: Grades 9 to 12