Money Hungry by Sharon G. Flake  

A Reading Response by Taitu Fedenko 812

This summer one of the three books I read was Money Hungry by Sharon G. Flake. The main character Raspberry Hill does whatever she can to make money. This all started after her dad began using drugs. Slowly, he began to sell Raspberries things and her mother's things for drug use.One day, after the drugs made her father so crazy her father beat her mother. It was so serious that she was sent to the hospital. At one point Raspberry’s mother got so fed up that she left her father. Raspberry and her mother lived at a friends house then went on to a motel when her mother got laid off and they lost all of their money. Finally, Raspberry and her mother were living on the streets. within the time span that the book covers, Raspberry and her mother are living in an apartment.

As mentioned earlier, Raspberry does whatever it takes to make money. From  selling holiday pencils, to old chocolate bars Raspberry is willing to get herself nearly suspended from school to make sure she has money. My theory as to why Raspberry might be so money hungry is that the experience of being desperate for money and a real home was so traumatizing she’ll do whatever it takes to avoid that same hopelessness she once felt.

For example, Raspberry even says “Momma thinks I just got a little pocket change here and there. But nickels don’t keep you off the street. That’s why I got six-hundred dollars stashed all over my room.” This shows me how determined Raspberry really is to stay off of the streets. She saves all of her money to make sure that she never has to deal with what she once did when she was homeless.  I think that  Raspberry really believes that money can make you untouchable. She thinks that when you have money  nobody can  take your home or your family away from you. In Raspberry’s eyes, when you have money you have real happiness.

Another example of how desperate Raspberry was is that she couldn't even go to a shelter because her mom was once sexually abused as a child growing up in a shelter. As a result of this Raspberry had to go to sleep hoping nobody would steal the little money they had. I think that Raspberry never wanted to be in that dark place in her life again. It seems to me like Raspberry is so scared of being back on the streets struggling for money that she feels the need to make money to support her mom.

Raspberry lives her life believing that money will buy her happiness so she does whatever it takes to get money. Raspberry has to realize she can be happy without money and that just because you have money doesn't mean that nobody can hurt you.