toni b. lane

“THE GHETTO GIRLS have somehow won a free trip to Marsay, France, to perform our play “Ghetto Girls Rule”. Rose couldn’t come because she is too little. So, it was me and my other sister Evelyn. Our mama said we could go if Robin Ann took responsibility for us. And since our mama hardly ever home, she wouldn’t miss us anyway. Robin Ann said it would be a good chance to get away from her brothers and house responsibilities and them girls up the way.”

When a senseless shooting ends the life of a dear friend in front of their very eyes, the Ghetto Girls struggle to come to terms with the grief—and fear—that remains. They need to get away from it all (by any means necessary), so when the opportunity to go on an all expenses paid trip to Marseilles, France, comes about, the choice is simple for the twelve friends.

And if the invitation wasn’t exactly intended for them, well, no one need be the wiser…

None of them—not gum-poppin’, tough-talkin’ Beretta, not aspiring lawyer Deen, not even Leona with her fur coat and smattering of French—are prepared for what lies ahead. Will the young and hopeful Ghetto Girls return home triumphant, or will everything just continue to fall apart?

By turns funny, tense, and deeply moving, this novel’s grounding in Black inner-city teen culture rings all the more true when the girls find themselves in the strange and picturesque French city, where they will have to depend on each other if they are to survive the adventure of a lifetime.