The Coldest Winter Ever
by Sister Souljah
★ Top 10 book of 1999 · #6 on Best Books of 1999
Winter, the quick-witted, business-minded daughter of a prominent Brooklyn drug-dealing family, knows the streets of New York intimately. When her life turns in an unwanted direction, her street smarts and seductive skills are tested, and she refuses to lose.
Best for: Readers who want a gritty New York street story with a determined heroine
The Coldest Winter Ever is #6 on BookWard's Best Books of 1999, out of 52 1999 books that cleared our data bar.
What The Coldest Winter Ever is about
Winter Santiaga is a teenager in Brooklyn and the daughter of a drug kingpin. She is brash, sure of her own importance, and convinced she deserves the best of everything. Her father's reputation makes her well known in the neighborhood, and she is happy to use it. Then her father is arrested for drug trafficking, and Winter lands in a girls' home, where she draws on what he taught her to keep her lifestyle going. Sister Souljah's first novel is narrated by Winter herself in slang shaped by hip-hop culture, so the voice carries much of the story. It looks at street life, status and money, and what a family's choices cost the people in it. It has a prequel and a sequel for readers who want more.
The Coldest Winter Ever on the Best Books of 1999
The Coldest Winter Ever came out in 1999. Of the 52 books first published in 1999 that met BookWard's data bar, it ranks #6 on our Best Books of 1999 list.
Why it made the list: 1,029 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.2 out of 5 (26 ratings); 42 are reading it right now. The list ranks each year’s books on how many readers have picked them up, how highly readers rate them, and how many are reading them right now.
Nearby on the 1999 list
- On Writing Stephen King, #4
- The Bad Beginning Lemony Snicket, #5
- The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari Robin S. Sharma, #7
- Speak Laurie Halse Anderson, #8
See all Best Books of 1999 Best books by year
More years: Best Books of 1998 Best Books of 2000.
The numbers behind it
- Readers: 941 want to read it, 42 are reading it now and 46 have read it, according to Open Library.
- Ratings: 4.2 out of 5 from 26 Open Library ratings.
| Signal | This book (0 to 100) | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Reach | 90 | 55% |
| Reader love | 81 | 25% |
| Being read right now | 87 | 20% |
Questions about The Coldest Winter Ever
When was The Coldest Winter Ever published?
The Coldest Winter Ever by Sister Souljah was first published in 1999.
Was The Coldest Winter Ever one of the best books of 1999?
The Coldest Winter Ever is #6 on BookWard's Best Books of 1999, out of 52 1999 books that cleared our data bar. 1,029 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.2 out of 5 (26 ratings); 42 are reading it right now.
Why is The Coldest Winter Ever on the Best Books of 1999 list?
1,029 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.2 out of 5 (26 ratings); 42 are reading it right now.
More of the best books of 1999
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban J. K. Rowling, #1
- The Perks of Being a Wallflower Stephen Chbosky, #2
- Wings of Fire A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, #3
- On Writing Stephen King, #4
- The Bad Beginning Lemony Snicket, #5
- The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari Robin S. Sharma, #7
See the full Best Books of 1999, the Top 100, or new books on Rising.
How we know
This page uses public data: Open Library reader counts and ratings, and Wikipedia page views for recent years. The description is paraphrased from real source text. Rankings reflect reading interest, not quality or sales, and can be affected by data gaps. Lists update monthly.
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