How to Be Poor

Hey, guys!

I'm gonna tell you a little story about when I was in high school.

Ahem. Once upon a time, there was a junior in high school named Sarah, who decided to take AP English Composition. Little did she know that the class would be unexciting and that she would get a 3 on the AP exam, which would not help at all at the college she would end up going to. The End.

Well, whatever. At least I got to read The Catcher in the Rye and The Time Traveler's Wife. I actually forgot about that. I may write reviews for those books. Mentally noted.

Anyway, one of the books I had to read for this class was Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America by Barbara Ehrenreich. I'm going to say right off the bat that it's not all that exciting, but it is extremely interesting.

I've never read The Help, but I've seen the movie and this book is kind of like a modern version of that.

So, this is a work of nonfiction written by a journalist who often wrote articles about the middle class and poverty for the magazine Harper's. She then kind of unintentionally volunteers herself to go undercover as a middle class worker to see if she can manage to get by on just the minimum wage. And by that, I mean the minimum wage for before 2001.

And thus, she joins the labor force as an unskilled worker. She fudges her resume, leaving out certain otherwise impressive references and details. She then works various jobs (not at the same time) over the course of several months as waitress, hotel maid, home cleaner, nursing-home aide, and Wal-Mart employee.

Not only was it difficult to get by and to pay monthly rent for her various accommodations for the occasion, but she experienced the monotonous, disheartening, and sometimes gross conditions that go with a minimum wage job that does not require any skill.

As I said, it is not action adventure fantasy horror romance, but it is an interesting read that demands the reader's attention. I would definitely recommend this book for people of all ages from high school and beyond. It's an important book academically because it could give people a better view of poverty.

Plus, if any of you parents decide to give this book to your child who is currently in high school, it might just scare them into going to college . . . I'm kidding of course. I'm sure that many of you know that increasing student loan debt could cause poverty just as much as no college education.

Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed the review and that you'll check back for more. Also, it just occurred to me that when I asked you guys to follow me on Twitter, I didn't give you my screen name. Whoops. I guess that sshea777 got a little too excited about her new acquaintances with technology.

Oh, and by the way, my Facebook page is at www.facebook.com/writebooknerd. So now you know. Oh, and uh, please follow me on Twitter and like my Facebook page. Greatly appreciated. :)

Until next time.

Happy reading!!