'Visitation Street' is Kerri's book pick

Kerri's book Pick of the Week is "Visitation Street" by Ivy Pochoda.

Pochoda's novel, set in Red Hook, Brooklyn, follows the aftermath of two 15-year-old girls taking a raft into the bay. Only one of the girls survives the ordeal and Pochoda tells the story through Red Hook residents touched by the tragedy.

"Where some might see hopelessness and ingrained, transgenerational poverty, Pochoda sees human drama constantly unfolding as her characters seek to craft better lives despite woefully limited prospects," writes Chuck Leddy in The Boston Globe. "Pochoda evokes a certain grim lyricism for a place she once lived and where residents make do with what they have: 'makeshift shelters, concrete foundations with tarps as roofs, shipping containers with laundry lines strung across their short ends, and shopping carts for storage. Battered chairs . . . Trash rolls like tumbleweed.' Shangri-La this isn't."

Stephanie also recommended "O My America!" by Sara Wheeler.

Pachoda's tour of Red Hook:

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