memoir.

There have been many books written about growing up black in a white community. None of them compare to the true life story of Jennifer Baszile in her memoir "The Black Girl Next Door." Growing up the minority in the 70's and 80's was extremely difficult for all African Americans, especially this author.

Baszile's parents pushed her and her sister to believe in and to live the American dream. America is not one color, or one dream. It is whatever you make of it. Her story made me stop and think about my own life, so carefree and easy. Would I have been as strong as she had been? This incredible woman became the first black female History professor at Yale.

This story is not solely based on the challenges of being one of the few black children in an all white school, it is based on her life as that child living under the roof with strict parents, always pushing her. It's candid and inspiring.