Project girl

the long version

Project Girl is the powerful account of a young woman's struggle to realize her dreams while remaining true to who she was and where she came from, before the Ivy League schools and impressive diplomas. It tells of the spectacular failures and unlikely comebacks of a ghetto kid whose academic talent opens doors onto a world of private schools, rich classmates, and plum jobs but who back home confronts a neighborhood of growing poverty, drug abuse, and crime. Project Girl is McDonald's story of her divided life and terrible battle to reconcile opposing worlds. The price she pays is high - police troubles of her own, self-destructive brushes with violence, and an undertow of inner turmoil that threatens to engulf her. Only through brains, willpower, and the support of family and friends is she able repeatedly to rebound from disaster and ultimately regain control of her life.