Author Oronde Ash Adds To The Legacy of Richard Wright and Mark Mathabane’s Black Boy Stories

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) August 15, 2009 -- Raleigh, NC, Aug., 15, 2009 – In his debut novel 17 to Life: A Black Boy Memoir, Oronde Ash examines the American dream through the eyes of an adolescent immigrant boy and his experiences from age nine through seventeen.

Told through anecdotes and poignant accounts of his years in the suburb, his family’s move to New York City, life on food stamps, in roach and rat infested apartments, family dysfunction, struggles through school, adolescent fear, confusion, angst and doubt, 17 to Life takes the reader from loneliness, isolation and the coolness of first encounters, to understanding, acceptance and the resolve to adapt and change one’s situation to manifest a destiny.

Reviewer Diepiriye Kuku of Litgriot.com writes, “Conceivably, it is these experiences of new Americans that teach us old ones the most about where we stand despite, and in spite of the grand values espoused in our rhetoric.”

17 to Life: A Black Boy Memoir is a dense detail of American life from childhood to young adulthood --a coming of age and being of-the-ages story of knowing, feeling and engaging the world, all the while sensing its inefficacy and the pitfalls of its promise. These are the contradictions with which we live and learn in times of plenty and in these days of sacrifice and economic hardship.

A must read for anyone engaged in the task of getting more from life; for young boys and the mothers who wonder what’s going on in their heads; for immigrants and natives alike asking if the country will ever have a place for them; for those who want to be reminded of what it is to live as an American, visit www.lulu.com/orondeash and purchase 17 to Life: A Black Boy Memoir by oronde ash.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Oronde Ash was born in St. Vincent and the Grenadines but grew up n Brooklyn, NY. He lives in Raleigh, NC with his wife and son. Ash coaches, does public speaking and started an organization to develop grassroots youth soccer in St. Vincent.

ABOUT THE PUBLISHER
Founded in 2002, Lulu is the world’s fastest-growing provider of print-on-demand books for digital do-it-yourselfers. Please see www.lulu.com for more information.
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