Raspberry Hill is 13 years old, and an established entrepreneur. Selling candy, house cleaning, even skipping lunch — she is willing to try almost anything legal to earn money. Raspberry’s fixation with money is rooted in her desire for financial security. She and her mother share an apartment in the projects, but before that they spent time living on the streets. Raspberry is determined to never be without a home again. Her money-making mania swells to the point of causing rifts between Raspberry and her friends, and with her mother. That tension with her mother reaches its climax in a stunningly dramatic scene of misunderstanding. Accused of being greedy and obsessed, Raspberry is caught between wanting to repair the damaged relationships, and her drive to create a safety net for her life in this gripping portrait of a struggling and determined African American girl. The novel also looks at issues of racial tensions and identity in the character of one of Raspberry’s best friends, who is conflicted about her mixed African American and Korean heritage. (Ages 12–16)

The mesmerizing story of one girl's struggle to break her family's cycle of poverty is reissued with an arresting new cover.

Thirteen-year-old Raspberry Hill is starved for money. She will do just about anything legal to get her hands on the almighty dollar -- wash cars, sell rotten candy, skip lunch, clean houses. She is obsessed. She is driven. She is afraid. Memories of being homeless, sleeping in the streets, and eating handouts keep Raspberry's eye on the only prize that matters to her: cold, hard cash. When the green stuff greases her palm, she gets comfort from feeling its crinkly paper power. And, when money is your best friend, there's more to do than hold it. Raspberry kisses her cash. She smells it. She loves it. But even money can't answer the questions that keep Raspberry awake at night. Will she and Momma ever move out of the projects? What did Ja'nae do with the two hundred bucks Raspberry loaned her? And what's really going on with Momma and that rich doctor? A haunting story of greed and forgiveness by the award-winning author of The Skin I'm In, this unforgettable novel will keep you glued to every page. Bank on it.