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The Coldest Winter Ever is a great debut novel for Sista Souljah. The story revolves around the life of a fifteen year old Winter Santiaga, the beautiful,
spoiled daughter of a powerful Brooklyn drug lord. Her world of designer clothes,
ghetto respect, and bling-bling bankrolls comes to an end when her father gets caught in a neighborhood sting. We then watch the supposedly street-wise Winter plot, scheme, and lie in an effort to save herself and
her family. Her driving purpose is to return her family to the top of the drug-infested
empire.
The book has a wonderful cast of supporting characters that symbolically represent
the good, the bad, and the lost. Sister Souljah's writing style is straightforward,
somewhat raw and honest; the story flows very well (it is a page turner indeed).
The NCBC was somewhat disappointed at the
conclusion of the novel. Some members of the book club are parents and educators
and were looking for answers or at least suggestions on how to reach and teach the Winter Santiagos of the world. The ending is somewhat bleak in fact there is no happy ending perhaps that is the point of the story. We concluded that maybe Sister Souljah's purpose in writing this book was not
to reach or teach the parents, but to directly confront the Winter Santiagos by holding a mirror up to their faces to show
them the ugliness, shallowness, and stupidity of such a lifestyle. If this was
her intent then she has succeeded.
The Nubian Circle Book
Club rating for The Coldest Winter Ever is 4.5 Stars.
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