The Coldest Winter Ever

The Coldest Winter Ever
By Sister Souljah
Publisher: Pocket Star (January 31, 2006)
(Originally published in 1999)
ISBN-10: 1416521690
Pages: 544
Genre: Street Lit

This is the story of Winter Santiaga. Born into the harshness of New York winter snowstorm in 1978, her name and the circumstances of her birth are a foundation for the cold life that she will lead. Her father is a drug dealer and her mother birthed her when she was fourteen. We do not know the mother’s name, she is called Mrs. Santiaga. Winter has three younger sisters: Porsche, Mercedes and Lexus (twins). They lived in the Brooklyn projects. Needless to say, Winter is not a good older sister or role model.

Winter does not waste her time with school (“my policy was to go to school just enough so authorities wouldn’t kick me out”) or building lasting friendships; people are to be manipulated and used. Winter is absorbed in the fast life and longs for bling and bucks. A lot of the characters, but not all, in this book are into the superficial things in life.

Her father goes to jail and the life of luxury reduced to basically nothing but she will do anything to get it back. In the end, her mom becomes a drug addict, the sisters are taken by the state and Winter ends up in jail. Along the way, there are important major characters and numerous subplots.

Although, this story is not for everyone, this book definitely has a following of readers with a desire for more of these characters lives. Many are awaiting a planned movie. This graphic and rough story appeals to some readers because it represents some aspect of their lives; this is someone’s real story. Souljah comments in the “Ask the Author” section that “my novel is not based on a true story. However, it is based on real events that happen every day. That’s why it feels so real” (435).There is so much truth in this book that it is scary.

The characters are intense and the reader is drawn into their lives. Winter is complex, flawed, weak and vulnerable.

The author is intriguing; Sister Souljah is a community activist. She has a degree in American History and African Studies from Rutgers. Her books include No Disrespect 1996 (memoir) and Midnight: A Gangster Love Story 2009.

She includes herself in the story; during the class discussion, I was asked about her life. Sister Souljah lived in the projects for six years in her very early childhood. She comments in “Ask the Author” section, “In the slim corridors of my Bronx, New York, project building, my brown eyes captured a lot” (431). She moved from this neighborhood at age ten. Souljah “buried [herself] in books. I separated myself from people who I deemed were not in their right minds” (435).

She is now part of the political lexicon:
In United States politics, a Sister Souljah moment is a politician's public repudiation of an allegedly extremist person or group, statement, or position perceived to have some association with the politician or their party. Such an act of repudiation is designed to signal to centrist voters that the politician is not beholden to traditional, and sometimes unpopular, interest groups associated with the party.
(http://www.riehlworldview.com/carnivorous_conservative/2008/01/obamas-sister-s.html)

This book could serve as a guide of how not to live your life; “those streets don’t love you” (Ricky Santiaga, 35). Sister Souljah writes on her website, "this is a cautionary tale which chronicles the decline of an empire and the maneuvers of Winter Santiaga as she hustles to remain on top" (http://www.sistersouljah.com/aboutwintertcwe.html).

Coldest Winter Ever fits the genre as based on David Wright’s Collection Development “Urban Fiction”: Streetwise Urban Fiction and Rollie Welch, The Word on Street Lit No.1 as it has crime, drugs, explicit sex, harsh lessons learned, Hip Hop music and culture, and violence. I would recommend this book to those who like urban fiction/street lit.

Sister Souljah gives the reader an instant classic.