Driven to Succeed by Dr. Hattie N. Washington

Synopsis: A memoir of helping children succeed through mentorship.

Writing Style: First person, intimate.

Pacing: Engaging, moderate.

Premise: Inspiration to motivate positive care and nurturing of urban communities.

Personal Highlights: What I found most tremendous was Hattie’s outlook; her consistent near endless way of turning negatives into positives. Outside the historical value of reading the underpinning of cases such as the Brown vs. Board of Education, my favorite parts was the way Aunt Hattie approached getting admitted into college…loved that…and the axioms I enjoyed too; as in eating everything from ‘the rooter to the tooter’. But I cried coming upon her mother Teenie’s sobering reply when Hattie asked why she didn’t tell her she wasn’t her real mother.

Overall, Aunt Hattie’s testimony presents empowering messages, and her work steering young black boys to productive careers and lives is beyond commendable.