Living with Nephew: How I Got Voted the Meanest Parent in the World

Living with Nephew tells the story of a 12-year-old boy from Long Beach, California--home of rappers Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre--moving in with his Yale-educated law professor aunt for a year. It is a double fish-out-of-water story as the aunt adjusts to having a hip-hop generation kid residing in her home and the nephew adapts to a more structured and intellectual environment. As she is raising her nephew, Auntie recalls her own seventh grade year with determination that Nephew’s will be far better.

This story taps into the growing phenomenon of kinship care in U.S. culture, where children live with relatives other than their parents. For example, U.S. Census Bureau statistics indicate that grandparents, approximately 20% of whom are under the age of 45, head 2.4 million families that include grandchildren. Living with Nephew offers a humorous perspective on kinship care.