𝙁𝙧𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙋𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣 is one of those books that just makes me adore the #ReadingWomenChallenge because I don’t think it would have been on my radar at all if not for the challenge. 

𝙁𝙧𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙋𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣 is a collection of short stories by 𝙕𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙖 𝙍𝙚𝙞𝙙-𝘽𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙖 that follows Kara Davis, a second generation Canadian of Jamaican heritage, from girlhood to a young adult. It’s a 𝗯𝗲𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘆𝗮𝗹 of the tensions between mothers and daughters (and grandmothers) as well as between second generation Canadians and the expectations of their first generation parents. 

We watch Kara as she struggles to balance the the typical pressures of being a teenager (school, friends, boys, etc) with those of her mother and grandmother. She desperately wants to fit in and prove herself to her Caribbean friends from her neighborhood who think she isn’t a “𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗲 𝗝𝗮𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗻”. At the same time, she struggles to find common  ground with the kids (mostly white) she goes to school with. Add to that her desire to please her mother and grandmother and her need to live up to their expectations. Her mother, who became pregnant with Kara as a teenager, wants her to do better than she did. She wants Kara to do well in school, 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘆 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗯𝗼𝘆𝘀, and above all else respect her mother and grandmother. Her grandmother wants her to not embarrass her or the family. 

While this is technically a collection of short stories, reading the book as a whole leaves you with what feels like a complete story of Kara’s childhood. I adored this book (I read it in one sitting) and highly recommend it to anyone. Period. 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀.