You Know Better. (fiction reviews).

You Know Better by Tina McElroy Ansa William Morrow & Co., April 2002, $24.95 ISBN-0-060-19779-X

Tina McElroy Ansa, author of The Hand I Fan With and Baby of the Family, once again plumbs the spirit world to solve the problems of a few earthly souls. You Know Better focuses on 18-year-old LaShawndra Pines, a dim-witted, self-described ho whose highest ambition is to become a booty-shaker in a music video. Her grandmother, Lily, and her mother, Sandra, don't think much of their 'round-the-way girl. But when LaShawndra disappears, it becomes the catalyst that eventually brings the family together.

Ansa's humorous yet disturbing novel, set in a small town in Georgia, illuminates a multigenerational relationship between three women who have little in common. As the characters struggle to understand each other and overcome a bevy of personal problems, salvation comes in the form of three feisty spirits whose common-sense advice guides the women toward more hopeful, fulfilling relationships.

You Know Better is poignant for its searing views on the debilitating state of black families, teens that have grown up on a diet of misogynist and violent imagery, and the rampant materialism of today's society.

The author has a gift for writing engaging, colorful dialogue, as each character narrates a chapter and expresses her unique point of view. While Ansa is clearly interested in a debate on how parents can prevent their kids from becoming ghetto stereotypes, she doesn't have any answers. And neither does LaShawndra's spiritual guide, who suggests she brush up on her vocabulary, stop calling herself a hoochie mama, and work on her self-esteem issues. If only it were that easy.

--Lynda Jones is an editor and author of Great Black Heroes: Five Great Black Writers.