Out of the Madness: From the Projects to a Life of Hope

In his debut book, Ladd, age 23, recounts the frustrating and often depressing tale of growing up in the slums of South Dallas. Raised in a housing project by his drug-dependent mother, he observed a procession of dealers and hapless father figures steal his mother's attention and his family's food. He describes his experiences of busing and attending an all-white school; he details gang shootouts, evictions and becoming the father of a daughter who was born out of wedlock. As a book lover, his bolt-hole was the public library, where he spent entire days reading. Ladd's prose conveys the rawness of his upbringing. While his narrative thread is uneven, he writes in a fresh and animated voice, offering a view into a brutal element of American society. Author tour. (July)