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Rating: 
Summary: Choking and brutal...
Review: 8 Ball Chicks is a book that i can't but down, I read Do or Die and it's nothing compared to that. I was chocked to learn about what gang girls go through and what's so disturbing, is that they feel like they don't have a way out, no education, money, they have kids at 15 years old from gang rape and they don't even report it. Reading this book just made me want to continue in that field and maybe be able to help because even if you don't know them, you read about there lives and at some parts, i was frustrated and at others, i just wanted to cry because it's so real and powerful. Gini did a good job and i give her great apprciation for writing a book so real about what people try so hard to hide. Read it...
Rating: 
Summary: Even in the gang culture women are treated with no respect..
Review: A lot of people ask me about women in gangs. After reading Sikes book, I am able to fill in a lot of the blanks concerning women as "gang-bangers." It was tough to read about how some of these beautiful young girls were treated. You have to get back out there and write a sequel, please. Thank you Ms. Sikes, good job.
Rating: 
Summary: My Opinion
Review: Author had some good insights but the dialog attributed to these people often just didn't ring true. Sikes also managed to inject her liberal bias into the narrative ("Reagan illusion of prosperity", "Anita Hill's hazing by Congress", etc.) which damaged her journalistic "objectivity". I was somewhat disappointed with this book - perhaps I will read another gang book for comparison.
Rating:
Summary: Bad A** Chicks
Review: I have worked with children and teenagers who are either street children or who come from impoverished neighborhoods. I have heard stories similar to the ones Gini Sikes has written in her book. What struck me most in the accounts, as well as in my experiences, was the lack of hope that poverty beats into the girls. The majority of them do not see a world beyond their radius of violence. While some lucky ones do make it out, their are so many more who end up continuing the cycle with their children. More work should be done on the subject of girl gangs and how poverty effects the lives of girls. I had a hard time putting the book down.
Rating:
Summary: Through the eyes of female gangs!
Review: Originally I was reading the book because in a play at my University, (the play was on female gangs), and needed to do a little research, but when I picked up the book and began to read, I found many more reasons not to put it down. What captured me the most about the book was the way Gini Sikes was able to give the most vivid image of gang life through that book, I have ever read. I felt like I was on those L.A. streets and in those San Antonio neighborhoods.
I believe Gini Sikes not only captured the violent side of gang life but the human side. I was able to see these people, she wrote about, as more than "gang bangers", these people had lives and were living like any other person. Overall, this book is like a documentary written down. "Cocoa" and "Alicia" were having some normal troubles in their life and in some way or another, I could relate to that. It was things like man trouble, parent trouble, and school trouble, any usual young adult will go through those things (maybe not to the extreme. In my imagination, I visualized every part of the book as if it were a film.
Last, I believe Gini Sikes was very brave for going into each neighborhood personally and seeing for herself "the life". I think this made the book a lot better and it put more feeling into the book. I don't think she would have been able to write a very affective book if she had not actually stepped into the world of gangs for a minute. In conclusion, Gini Sikes did her job in dissecting the life of female gangs through a book!
Rating:
Summary: GANGSTER GIRLS
Review: The 5 Stars are for the excellent research and writing. The subject was depressing and the activity discussed is an ugly rip on the fabric that is America. 8 BALL CHICKS is a disturbing glimpse into the lives and practices of female gangs and of females who choose to hang out with male gang members. This is a carefully documented study of what's really involved in gang banging. Nothing is overlooked and no subject is taboo. Domestic abuse, drug use, robbery, beatings, shooting, stabbing, and murder are thoroughly discussed. It's a wake up call to the reader that too many young women have gotten off track. It's also an invitation to help do something about it.
Rating:
Summary: Plodding and vague, but overall OK.
Review: This book was recommended to me by a friend. I began reading anxiously, hoping to get a peek into the world of girl gangsters. I was disappointed, for Gini Sikes' style was more like a he-said-she-said description of teen gangs. The writing was often confusing and vague, leaving much to be described about the situations the author encountered. There were way too many interviews and jumps without warning, leaving you to believe that Shygirl's testimony was actually made by Sadgirl, or whoever. Had it been a bit less rushed and hurried, and been edited a little more, this book would have been much better.
Rating:
Summary: Utterly haunting
Review: This is the best book I've read in a long time. I couldn't put it down. It was both fascinating and frightening to look into the world of girls in gangs. It's very sad how most of the time neither male gang members nor police officers see any value in the girls, most of whom are depicted as being intensely intellignet and insightful. They're a group of people who slip through the cracks, so to speak; they're neglected by social workers, police think they're worthless, and male gang members think there's nothing wrong with beating a girl, even if she's pregnant. This book shocked me.
Rating:
Summary: Girl Gangs
Review: We hear so much about boy gangs, that sometime we forget that females, are just as involved in the gang life as guys. If you would like to see what's its like for girl gang members, you don't want to miss this book. In reading 8ball chicks you will find out that girl gangs can be just as dangerous as the guys. The book is very informative, about female and their role in gangs.
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