Reporters and sociologists occasionally make headlines by going "undercover" in the working class economy, taking low-paying jobs and "trying to survive." The results are almost always (unintentionally) laughable. Kaleita doesn't need to go undercover to report from the front lines, though. She's been living there her entire life. There's a raw authenticity to her voice. Her writing is unpretentious yet inventive, riddled with a healthy dose of black humor...If I were her manager, I would fire her on the spot after reading this book. Not because she's a lawsuit waiting to happen--she might be--but because This Book Is Brought To You By My Student Loans makes it clear the job she's most qualified for is being a writer.

-- Andrew Shaffer, author of Hope Never Dies: An Obama Biden Mystery