Streets of Melted Gold (extra book)

I take recommendations for books when I am all caught up with RA Favorite Reads and just finished one today.  This was a special book as it is written by an incoming NYU student, Brittany DuBois, who will be one of my AnBryce scholars.  An amazing task to write a book, but how about at the age of 17?  Brittany presents an “arguably fictional memoir” in Streets of Melted Gold.  A well-crafted tale Ronnelle Khan who immigrates to the US after her parents lose a home to fire and are eventually kicked out of their parent’s home, with a  new baby brother for Ronnelle in tow.   They move to a suburb of Philadelphia, not knowing the language, having a tiny basement apartment to live in, and fighting to get “papers” to become US citizens.  Poverty, lack of language, limited connections, and eating only fast-food, are some of the many barriers facing the Khans.  For Ronnelle, she also is subjected to bullying as she enters the fifth grade.  Her clothes don’t fit, her accent and appearance are both joked on by her peers, and she has limited access to the tools needed to be successful at school.  Through it all Ronnelle survives and along the way she learns valuable lessons about being nice to others, and herself.  Ronnelle befriends the landlord of the home they are living, a solidary middle-aged waitress, whom the neighborhood kids constantly mock.  Ronnelle’s story will warm your heart.  The book captures the various aspects and challenges of being an immigrant and how hard it is to make it in the US.  Very nicely written book by Brittany!