Urban Grit: A Guide to Street Lit

Megan Honig

ISBN-13: 9781591588573

251 pages • 7 x 10
 2010

Street lit is also known to its enthusiastic readers as "urban fiction," "ghetto lit," "hip-hop lit," and "gangsta lit." No matter what it's called, it remains one of the most significant and increasingly popular forms of modern literature.

This text provides a much-needed resource guide to this vibrant genre. In this title, more than 400 entries appear in eleven chapters, each focusing on a different subgenre of street lit. The author has organized titles by popular subgenres and themes, such as prison life and urban erotica, to help librarians more easily identify read-alikes. Urban Grit: A Guide to Street Lit also contains practical tips on integrating these books into an existing collection or library program and meeting challenges that may arise in the process.

This guide to more than 44 street-lit titles aids readers' advisors and other librarians to better understand the genre and collect and recommend titles ranging from romance and coming-of-age stories to action stories and erotica.

Gritty, raw, and controversial, "street lit" has exploded in popularity in recent years. However, it is still little understood by mainstream review media and librarians. Where can you find it? How do you connect with fans of this genre? Can it be used successfully in library programs, and what about censorship issues?