Top Girl

Product Information

Top Girl is relatable for all readers, of all ages, with its modern and relevant tone it will appeal to YA readers, as well as those who love true crime reads.

Through him she meets others and gradually becomes embroiled into a normality involving drugs and ganglife. The Chalke History Festival announces a new name, new look, and tons for history buffs to get their teeth into! Danielle is currently in witness protection since she has turned her life around with the help and support of probation services. By 15, she has been involved in gang violence -including seeing a girl set on fire-, been brutally sexually assaulted, beaten, and yet, somehow, passed all her GCSE's.

Betrayed by the police after a brutal gang rape, she finds protection under the wing of organized criminals and falls in love with the local ‘top boy’. I finished this book in tears, and in awe, wanting to applaud this woman for her strength and the way that she continues to use her experiences to contribute to a justice system which is deeply flawed and not fit for purpose. The fact that she led the lifestyle she did and came out the other side while carrying all that emotional baggage shows an incredibly strong woman, a real survivor.

Top Girl is Danielle (“D”) Marin’s first-hand and frankly harrowing account of her journey from twelve year old schoolgirl to county lines drug dealer and her eventual decision, at the age of twenty-five, to turn her back on the only world she knew. But her bright future fades when, betrayed by the police after a brutal assault, she finds the protection she needs under the wing of organised criminals. Red flags abound to her, now, as an adult and as a parent, but, as a child, those you turn to for advice, or those who could have, and should have seen warning signs of grooming, abuse, sexual assault and violence encroaching on this young, very young, girl and acted accordingly. She has since advocated for women in the criminal justice system, speaking to judges and law enforcement about the role of women in gangs. I would recommend children and young adults read this book as they will learn about how easy you can find yourself in some hard and upsetting situations.

I wonder that she didn’t think to save a big wedge to get herself a good lawyer and fight for her parental rights. Instead of trying to straighten out and get him back ASAP, she continued with the life of crime which would likely mean she’d never see him again……. Manipulated and groomed at the age of twelve Danielle is soon drawn into the seedy underworld of drugs. I think that makes it even more raw and intense as you quickly realise that the Danielle's coping mechanism is to shut off from her emotions and feelings. We have , in effect, been ghettoised and isolated to areas which others-read middles class people and above-see as ‘no go’ places to visit.

Beginning with a brilliantly constructed sequence, a bait and switch which challenges commonly held misconceptions of children in council flats, run down estates and such, it quickly changes pace to her becoming more socially aware and starting to kick back against authority figures. Her resilience is something which is unbelievable, and her will to keep going in spite of this, as a teen mum, as someone who is now letting her kitchen out to local drug dealers to cook crack(and in the process, learning how to do it herself) all of this seems completely normal to her. Betrayed by the police after a brutal gang rape, she finds protection under the wing of organised criminals and falls in love with the local ‘top boy’.

Her mother was a first generation immigrant so this might have been a kick back against what is seen as Western indulgence -apologies if I have read this incorrectly-and therefore she comes across as distant, even though she is home for most of Danielle’s childhood. She has been treated appallingly by everyone who was ever supposed to look out for her and she can only rely on herself. Groomed and manipulated from the age of 12, Danielle tells her story with startling candour and extremely graphic detail.

On reflecting back on it I do think that we don’t get a full account if what it’s like for those doing this, I think we get a more glamorised look at the country lines, still seems awful but I’ve read worse accounts of it recently. Her step-father and mother live with her and her half brother in a flat, where she was not often hugged, told that she was loved, or felt valued. Before she knows it, she has a boyfriend who, whilst not yet 20, is way too old to be bothering with a 13 year old. years and up should be offered this book to read as it can show how easily they can be pulled into this world by a few kind words and treats. A solid family background and a prized place at a grammar school should have been an opportunity for Danielle to escape the poverty and violence surrounding her on a West London estate but instead it’s just the backdrop to her descent into a very different world.It isn’t a glamorous story, in fact it’s an ugly one, but it’s also an important one, as it shows how bad choices, mixing with the wrong crowd can lead someone down a dark and dangerous path where violence is the everyday norm.