Anita grew up in the 3rd story apartment above her family's Bohemian restaurant on Madison Street in Chicago's west side in the 50's and 60's. The daughter of a fireman and a housewife/frustrated writer, she befriended a ragtag brigade of children of immigrants and migrants. Together, they found both themselves and the world-at-large on their neighborhood's streets. Beautifully written, West Side Girl chronicles the colorful and oftentimes unpredictably eccentric characters and events of the area and time. Themes include social change, girls empowerment and the benefits of growing up in a diverse neighborhood. Seen through of the eyes of a child coming of age in the 1950's and 1960's, these true stories of the quest for equality and social justice are outrageous, insightful, funny, touching, inspiring and reflective. Profits from the sale of this book are donated to Off the Street Club, www.otsc.org.

This series of contemporary plays includes structured GCSE assignments for use by individuals or groups. These include questions which involve close reading, writing and discussion. This play places the "Romeo and Juliet" story in a New York gang-warfare context.

In South Side Girls Marcia Chatelain recasts Chicago's Great Migration through the lens of black girls. Focusing on the years between 1910 and 1940, when Chicago's black population quintupled, Chatelain describes how Chicago's black social scientists, urban reformers, journalists and activists formulated a vulnerable image of urban black girlhood that needed protecting. She argues that the construction and meaning of black girlhood shifted in response to major economic, social, and cultural changes and crises, and that it reflected parents' and community leaders' anxieties about urbanization and its meaning for racial progress. Girls shouldered much of the burden of black aspiration, as adults often scrutinized their choices and behavior, and their well-being symbolized the community's moral health. Yet these adults were not alone in thinking about the Great Migration, as girls expressed their views as well. Referencing girls' letters and interviews, Chatelain uses their powerful stories of hope, anticipation and disappointment to highlight their feelings and thoughts, and in so doing, she helps restore the experiences of an understudied population to the Great Migration's complex narrative.

Provides a comprehensive survey of Israeli films and filmmakers, establishing itself as the only book of its kind in English.

Ryan Conor King, an Irish immigrant, is determined to move his family out of the tenements of Hells Kitchen, a section of Manhattan infamous for poverty and gang-related crime, to a more peaceful, enriched surrounding. As 1930 arrives, Ryan finds himself working for Mob Boss Arthur Flegenheimer, aka Dutch Schultz, and associating with the likes of Vincent Mad Dog Coll, Joe The Boss Masseria, and Lucky Luciano. Along with his boyhood friends, Ryan does what he has to do to survive on the streets of New York City and in order to put food on his familys table. With the troubled economy precipitated by the Great Depression, Ryan and his young friends must accomplish all duties given to them by their Bosses, including murder, bootlegging, and other illegal actions undertaken by Organized Crime, despite ongoing threats from his nemesis, a corrupt New York detective with ties to the underworld. Whether Irish, Italian, or Jewish, the common goal was survivalno matter the cost. And to survive on the streets of New York City during these violent times, Ryan King is called upon to battle rival gangs and organize one of the largest and ultimately most successful alcohol smuggling operations in New York. At the same time, he must protect his family while balancing his love interests with the loyal Irish/Italian lass Nina and the rich and sexy East Side girl, Melanie. In Kings of the West Side, author Cliff Bond has created a dynamic thriller and a compelling look at the criminal subculture in Prohibition-era New York. Intriguing in its originality and historical detail, his genuinely gripping debut novel is entertaining, fast-paced, and suspenseful throughout.

An acclaimed author explores the dreams and realities of seven young men trying to make it in South-central Los Angeles, the world capital of gangsta rap and West Coast hip hop.

On the roof of Gusta Katz's tower on Manhattan's Upper West Side the tenants are gathered for a holiday meal. It is autumn 1993. Each has a story to tell. Calev 'Charlie' Levine cannot go home. What caused Martin Sommers' engagement to implode? Will Toby Kassman give in to forbidden passion? What will Sam Geffen learn from his guest from hell? What long-held secret will Leslie Aronowitz's mother reveal...after her death? Tales of conflict and love; of family discovery, dating, marriage, dysfunctional relationships, escape from and return to religion. From a shocking holocaust revelation to a tale of revenge, someone will still be affected by the residue of long past mistakes. Someone from mistakes made just yesterday. In West Side Stories Michael Lieberman delves deep into the heart of modern Orthodox Jewish New York in a work that overflows with hilarity, heartache, and beauty.