Girlbomb Girlbomb

Girlbomb

A Halfway Homeless Memoir

    • 4.2 • 20 Ratings
    • $12.99
    • $12.99

Publisher Description

Just two hours ago, I had been heating up some lentil soup at my mom’s in Brooklyn, thinking I’d eat it and maybe read some Edith Wharton before bed. Now here I was at a runaway shelter, staring at a nun’s mustache and wondering where I was going to spend the rest of my adolescence.

At fifteen, sick of her mom’s spineless reactions to abusive men–and afraid of her stepfather’s unpredictable behavior–Janice Erlbaum walked out of her family’s apartment and never returned. What followed that fateful decision is the heart of this amazing, fascinating, and disturbing memoir.
From her first frightening night at a shelter, trying to sleep in a large room filled with yelling girls, 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. Just like that, she was halfway homeless, always one step away from being sent “upstate to Lockdown.”
As Janice slipped further into street life, she nevertheless continued to attend high school, harbor crushes, even play the lead in the spring production of Guys and Dolls. 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.
Janice Erlbaum paints a wry, mesmerizing portrait of being underprivileged, underage, and underdressed in the 1980s, bouncing from shelters to group homes, from tenement squats to legendary nightclubs. A moving and tremendously entertaining ride through the seediest parts of New York City, Girlbomb provides an unflinching look at street life, survival sex, female friendships, and first loves.

GENRE
Biographies & Memoirs
RELEASED
2006
March 7
LANGUAGE
EN
English
LENGTH
272
Pages
PUBLISHER
Random House Publishing Group
SELLER
Penguin Random House LLC
SIZE
762.9
KB

Customer Reviews

Pink Amy ,

Stunning

This stunning, brave memoir follows Ms. Erlbaum's journey from her dysfunctional mother's home to the streets on NYC through shelters and treatment centers. Told with intelligent sarcasm, the spunky teenage Janice is someone we want to succeed and overcome her circumstances, without making us pity her. She doesn't always make the best choices, but eventually learns from her mistakes.

Renie98 ,

Get this book!

This is a great read! Lots of surprises and 'you won't believe it til you read it' moments. I have not one, but two copies of this book now. I cherish the hardcover as much as I cherish having it on my iPad.

More Books Like This

The Boy Without Love The Boy Without Love
2019
Handbook for an Unpredictable Life Handbook for an Unpredictable Life
2014
Nobody Ever Told Me Anything Nobody Ever Told Me Anything
2022
Someday Now Forever Someday Now Forever
2016
Going Overboard Going Overboard
2005
Goodbye to Ribbons Goodbye to Ribbons
2021

More Books by Janice Erlbaum

I, Liar I, Liar
2015
Have You Found Her Have You Found Her
2008
Lucky Little Things Lucky Little Things
2018
Let Me Fix That for You Let Me Fix That for You
2019
Dix petites chances Dix petites chances
2020

Customers Also Bought

Addict Addict
1997
Hero of the Underground Hero of the Underground
2008
High Achiever High Achiever
2019
Open Book Open Book
2020
The Woman in Me The Woman in Me
2023
I'm Glad My Mom Died I'm Glad My Mom Died
2022