title: Bittersweet: Diary of a Safegirl
author: Norwood, Alexis Cherie
description: Take a trip with Alexis "Cherie" Norwood in her debut novel as she walks you through the life of Marie Aili b.k.a. Bittersweet from Chicago, Illinois. Marie is an honor student in high school with aspirations to go to college. However, she has her own problems with her mentally ill mother, aging grandfather, and a selfish aunt. Her life changes when she meets up with a young hustler named Keshawn who decides Marie is the one person in the world he loves and trusts. Keshawn is a street smart hustler that has his own problems with his mother forcing him into the game, the dangers that he encounters in the streets, and the people around him that he trusts less and less each day. After meeting Marie, he decides he wants to get out of the game so he enlists the help of Marie and her family, and asks Marie to become his safe girl. Although, Marie doesn't know what this entails she agrees to help Keshawn. This decision will flip Marie's reality upside down and catapult her into a life that she is not prepared to enter. Keshawn tries to protect Marie from the consequences of street life, but that is a promise that he can't really keep. Will Keshawn and Marie end up together or will they succumb to the pressures of the game that threaten to tear them apart?