Money Hungry

• Genre: Fiction; middle-grade realistic
• Originally Published: 2001
• Reading Level/Interest: Lexile 650L; grades 5-9
• Structure/Length: 28 chapters; approx. 192 pages
• Protagonist and Central Conflict: After experiencing homelessness as a child, 13-year-old Raspberry Hill will do almost anything to earn money; she wants to remain housed and hopefully move to a better neighborhood. In pursuing various odd jobs, she puts stress on her relationships with her friend Ja’nae and with her mother.
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: Homelessness of a child; unit resources include discussion of abuse, domestic violence, poverty

Sharon G. Flake, Author

• Bio: Born 1955 in Philadelphia; graduated from the University of Pittsburgh; worked in family and community services before becoming a published author; writes about the lives and struggles of young people of color; received the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award for New Talent for her debut novel, The Skin I’m In; lives in Pittsburgh; has won many accolades, including multiple Coretta Scott King Honor Awards and an NAACP Image Award Nomination
• Other Works: The Skin I’m In (1998); Begging for Change (2003); Who Am I Without Him? (short stories; 2004); Pinned (2012); The Life I’m In (2021)
• Awards: Coretta Scott King Author Honor (2002); Carolyn W. Field Honor Book

CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Unit: