Full name: Girlbomb: A Halfway Homeless Memoir

Author: Janice Erlbaum Year: 2006 Rank: Rating: Original Rating: Pop Rating: Genres/categories: Memoirs, Non Fiction Purchase/reserch links: LibraryThing Goodreads Amazon ISBNs: 9780812974560 0812974565

At fifteen, sick of her unbearable and increasingly dangerous home life, Janice Erlbaum walked out of her family's Brooklyn apartment and didn't look back. From her first frightening night at a shelter, Janice knew she was in over her head. She was beaten up, shaken down, and nearly stabbed by a pregnant girl. But it was still better than living at home. As Janice slipped further into street life, she nevertheless attended high school, harbored crushes, and even played the lead in the spring musical. She also roamed the streets, clubs, bars, and parks of New York City with her two best girlfriends, on the prowl for hard drugs and boys on skateboards. Together they scored coke at Danceteria, smoked angel dust in East Village squats, commiserated over their crazy mothers, and slept with one another's boyfriends on a regular basis. A wry, mesmerizing portrait of being underprivileged, underage, and underdressed in 1980s New York City, Girlbomb provides an unflinching look at street life, survival sex, female friendships, and first loves. "A fast and engrossing read in the spirit of Girl, Interrupted." -Entertainment Weekly "Gripping . . . a wry, compelling memoir of what it means to stand up for yourself, especially when no one else will." -Bust "How satisfying to watch Erlbaum survive adolescence and produce a smart, engaging book." -The New York Times Book Review "Erlbaum's survival is hard-won, the journey rendered with page-turning intensity." -New York Post "A fast and engrossing read in the spirit of Girl, Interrupted." -Entertainment Weekly "Gritty . . . perversely riveting. You want her to survive." -The Washington Post Book World Similar books: Have You Found Her by Janice Erlbaum Townie by Andre Dubus The Chronology of Water by Lidia Yuknavitch Slow Love by Dominique Browning Born with Teeth by Kate Mulgrew Borrowed Finery by Paula Fox Giving Up the Ghost by Hilary Mantel Sky of Stone by Homer Hickam Lost In Place by Mark Salzman A Match to the Heart by Gretel Ehrlich Fat Girl by Judith Moore The Only Girl in the Car by Kathy Dobie All That Is Bitter & Sweet by Ashley Judd Her Last Death by Susanna Sonnenberg Dancing Fish and Ammonites by Penelope Lively When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom Born a Crime by Trevor Noah Educated by Tara Westover Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls