"All in the game yo, all in the game"

So says Omar from The Wire.

Street lit is an interesting genre and it's gaining a stronger presence in libraries. I'm having trouble getting into True to the Game but I can see its popularity. Teens like books that are "real" and "true" and street lit offers that. There's a chaotic rawness to these books and there's no sugarcoating going on.

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I can't make it through True to the Gameright now...too many other things going on. Prior to this class I hadn't read any street lit but now I've discovered
Around the Way Girls which I liked a lot better than True to the Game. While these girls are involved in all kinds of crazy drama involving men, drugs, guns, clubs, and just about everything else, there's also internal reflection. We get to know what these girls are thinking and feeling. (On a totally random note: the character of Frido? All I kept picturing was a gangsta-hobbit.)

I loved Tyrell and will definitely read the upcoming sequel. I know it's a much more emotional read than street lit but I still think it's a good recommendation. I'd want to talk to the patron to see which reading direction they wanted to go in.