New York: Random House, (1998) dj. Hardcover first edition - In this book, Bray uses her personal history to "defend America's much-maligned welfare system. A smart black girl from the Chicago slums didn't have much chance of going to Yale or becoming an editor at the New York Times Book Review before Aid to Families with Dependent Children helped Rosemary's selfless mother make ends meet and keep Rosemary in school. Bray's account of her progress is both inspiring and despairing, as she criticizes the welfare 'reforms' that closed to others doors that were opened for her." Praise from Alice Walker, James McBride and others. xvii, 282 pp. ISBN: 0-679425551.