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SMART GIRL : A FIRST-GEN ORIGIN STORY - La'Tonya Rease Miles

SMART GIRL

A FIRST-GEN ORIGIN STORY

By: La'Tonya Rease Miles

Paperback | 25 February 2025

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Smart Girl: A First-Gen Origin Story is an award-winning, accessible memoir about what it really means to be "the smart one" in a working-class Black family coming of age in the late-80s and 90s-squarely in the heart of Gen X. Raised to believe she was destined for college, Dr. La'Tonya Rease Miles traces a winding road through nine public schools, a PWI, an HBCU, food insecurity, racism, graduate school at UCLA, and the quiet weight of upward mobility. With cultural touchstones ranging from Prince to college basketball to 90s hip hop, she blends sharp analysis with emotional honesty, showing how fandom, family, and resilience become survival tools.

*2025 IngramSpark Top Indie Pick

*2025 Catalyst Awards winner - Best Memoir

Industry Reviews

"There are few people who have a broader perspective on the first gen community than LT. Her work as an educator, leader, and founder speaks for itself. Yet in Smart Girl, LT pulls back the curtain to deliver her most powerful perspective yet - her own as a first gen student. Smart Girl is a moving, intimate, and inclusive portrait of the first gen experience by one of its fiercest advocates."

Alejandra Campoverdi, national bestselling author of FIRST GEN

"[Smart Girl] includes details that help to show what college life is really like and how seemingly small hiccups can derail a student. I think those can resonate with current students who are working really hard to make it to that graduation stage."

Prof. Shantal Marshall, Nevada State University

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