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Brooklyn Story

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I just finished this book last night and enjoyed it. It's the story of a girl growing up in Bensonhurst who wants to live in Manhattan (or "across the bridge" as they refer to it in the book). The girl likes to write and has a few folks in her life that encourage that. She lives with her mother (not a great role model) and her grandmother. They are Jewish in an Italian mob-run neighborhood. The girl starts dating one of the local boys and her mother is not happy about it. The book is somewhat graphic in discussing their physical relationship and the abusive relationships of those around her.

It's a book about growing up. About growing up in Brooklyn.

I laughed in parts that I probably shouldn't have because I could picture what the character was seeing. And on a small scale I knew what she was going through (who didn't want the cute older guy in high school?!).

I didn't know until the acknowledgments at the end that the book is based on the author's life story.

Overall I enjoyed and would recommend. It's an easy read...but not a lite read.
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