Margins
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Hood Rat
Series · 8 books · 2006-2015

Books in series

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#1

Hood Rat

2006

Hood Rat (n.): A woman of questionable repute, one who has been known to "get around" in the 'hood. Yoshi is young, fine, and larcenous. She lives her life playing on men's hearts as well as their pockets. She learns the hard way that all that glitters isn't gold. Billy, a former high school basketball star, is at the end of her rope with the opposite sex. To her, all men are dogs, so she secretly seeks comfort in the arms of women, until she meets a man who makes her reevaluate her feelings. Reese is an around-the-way chick, trying to keep up with the Joneses. There's a revolving door on her bedroom as she tries to find the love she always felt was missing. Her promiscuity leaves her pregnant from a one-night stand and Reese is faced with the task of breaking an age-old cycle, passed down from mother to daughter in her family, and standing on her own. Rhonda is twenty-something with three kids, by three men, and riding the system all the way to the bank. To her, work is a dirty word; between the multiple checks she gets from the government, and the games she plays with men, she's living the life of a ghetto superstar. The game soon turns ugly when one of her "sponsors" snaps and decides to get some payback. Harlem has never seen four friends as scandalous as these. The neighborhood will never be the same again.
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#2

Still Hood

2007

Only the strong survie on the streets of Brooklyn. And while Dena Jones definitely has what it takes not only to survive but to succeed, she wants out. And she's determined to make it out of Crooklyn. She's determined to make it out of Crooklyn by any means necessary and doesn't have a problem manipulating men to get what she wants. Just ask her boyfriend Lance, or his girlfriend Michelle. True has finally made it. His debut album has the streets going crazy and is threatening to spill over into the mainstream. After the murder of his group, his jump off and almost his dreams, True's life is finally starting to look up, until karma catches up with him. Somebody wants him dead and he doesn't know why, or does he? Jah and Yoshi's was supposed to be a romance straight out of a story but there are no such things as fairy tails in the ghetto. Her position as a stylist keeps her in the mix and in the company of some industry heavyweights. Jah tries to be understanding but he can't help but to wonder just how much he can trust his girlfriend. He had promised to love her regardless of her past but in addition to wondering whether his girlfriend is creeping with her clients Jah has got a bigger problem. Someone is trying to kill True and its his job to make sure that doesn't happen.
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#3

Section 8

2009

Since she was a little girl, Tionna's on and off addicted mother taught her to get hers by any means necessary. Tionna's heart is as cold as a December chill, but she holds a warm place in it for Duhan, the father of her two sons, and her on-again-off-again boyfriend since they were teenagers. Duhan becomes her knight in shining armor until the government turns their dream into a nightmare. With Duhan behind bars and everything she loves seized she finds herself starting over in the same neighborhood she swore she'd never come back to. With two kids, a man in prison and no back up plan, Tionna is once again living by her wits in order to maintain the lifestyle she'd become so accustomed to. Back in the thick of things with her best friends Gucci, Boots and Tracy, she finds herself rediscovering her old life and suddenly begins to wonder if she's really cut out to be a prisoner's wife.
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#3.5

The Leak

2010

The Leak is a complimentary short prequel story that leads into K'wan's hit novel, Welfare Wifeys . Learn how Animal got his start as a child of the streets, raised up by a man named Tech. Animal proves to be a quick study learning the game, but he's about to face the greatest test of all....
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#4

Welfare Wifeys

2010

After the deaths and arrests of his entire crew and an informant-fueled investigation into his past, the man known on the streets as Animal relocates to Texas and finds fame and stardom as the newest act signed to the notorious Big Dawg Entertainment. His girlfriend, Gucci, is thrilled when she gets the news that he's coming back to New York on a promotional tour, but when she discovers the hidden agenda behind his homecoming nothing can prepare her for the life-altering consequences that will come of it. There goes the neighborhood . . . again.
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#5

Eviction Notice

2011

When three young friends, Porsha, Frankie and Sahara, decide to sublease an apartment from a mutual acquaintance, life becomes one big party for the girls. But the party comes to an abrupt end when they find out they've been fleeced for their money and an eviction notice is taped to their door. They have seventy-two hours to come up with the money or be tossed into the streets by the city marshals. Armed with various schemes, they set out to try and stop the eviction and find themselves caught in the crossfire of a bloody war between the Notorious Clark family and a new player in the game. Meanwhile the police are still searching for the killer known only as The Animal, while his former lover Gucci tries to put the pieces of her life back together. When all is said and done, all parties involved will discover something about Animal and his abduction that no one was prepared for. There goes the neighborhood, again! One of Library Journal's Best Street Lit Books of 2011
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#5.5

The First & Fifteenth

2014

An introduction to the next installment of K'wan's widely popular Hood Rat series.
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#6

No Shade

2015

No Shade: No offense (as defined by the Urban Dictionary). Ex: “Don’t tell her I told you, but your little cousin is a ho, no Shade.” Every little girl dreams of a happy ending to their stories; a home, children and a man who loves her enough to share his life and last name. When Billy’s longtime boyfriend Marcus finally pops the question, it’s one of the happiest moments of her life. To stand with her on her special day, Billy calls on her childhood friends Reese and Yoshi. Several years passing since they’d last all come together, and some unresolved issues have driven a wedge between the girls, but they agree to put their difference aside for the sake of Billy’s wedding. The truce is a short one when Billy has to decide on a Maid of Honor and both her friends expect the position to fall to them. Just when things seem to be coming together they quickly begin to fall apart, and at a time when Billy is supposed to be basking in the sunshine of her approaching wedding she finds herself the target of shade being thrown from the most unlikely places. While Billy is going through her drama, Marcus is dealing with issues of his own. An old crime partner of his blows into town unexpectedly and his presence threatens to destroy the legitimate life Marcus has worked so hard to build. Even with the universe seemingly working against them, Billy and Marcus are determined to have their dream wedding, but first they have to survive the nightmare of planning it. There goes the neighborhood...again.

Author

K'wan
K'wan
Author · 47 books

In 2002 K'wan hit the scene with his debut novel Gangsta, under Triple Crown Publications. It was the first novel released by the budding house and would eventually become the building block for what is now a multimillion dollar company. What started as a therapeutic release went on to become a part of urban-lit history and an Essence bestseller, as well as drawing rave reviews overseas. After penning his second novel, Road Dawgz (2003), K'wan drew the attention of St. Martins press. The literary powerhouse quickly signed K'wan to a multi-book deal, the first of which being Street Dreams (2004). In 2008 he received the Black Author of the year award from Black Press Radio for the novella Blow. Since his insertion into the publishing world K'wan has been featured in Vibe, Pages, King, Felon, Big News, The Library Journal, Entertainment Weekly, The New York Press, Clutch and most notably Time Magazine, to name a few. He was also interviewed by MTV News for a feature on Hip-Hop fiction, and a guest on Power 105s morning show as well as NPR (national public radio). In addition to being an accomplished author, K'wan is also a motivational speaker, mentor to at risk children and the C.E.O of Black Dawn, Inc. K'wan currently resides in New Jersey where he is working on his next novel. http://us.macmillan.com/author/kwan

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