The Coldest Winter Ever

infobox Book |
name = The Coldest Winter Ever
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption =
author = Sister Souljah
illustrator =
cover_artist = Michael Legrou, MPG
country = United States
language = English
series =
genre = Literary fiction
publisher = Simon & Schuster (hardcover)
Pocket Books (mass-market paperback)
Washington Square Press (trade paperback)
release_date = April 1999
english_release_date =
media_type = Print
pages = 337 pp. (hardcover)
544 pp. (mass-market paperback)
368 pp. (trade paperback)
isbn = ISBN 0-671-02578-3 (hardcover)
ISBN 1-4165-2169-0 (mass-market paperback)
ISBN 0-7432-7010-X (trade paperback)
preceded_by =
followed_by = " (2008)

"The Coldest Winter Ever" is a best-selling 1999 novel written by emcee and activist Sister Souljah.

Plot summary

Set in the projects of Brooklyn, New York, "The Coldest Winter Ever" is the story of Winter Santiaga (aptly named because she was born during one of New York's worst snowstorms), the rebellious, pampered teenage daughter of a notorious drug dealer. Ricky Santiaga, Winter's father, has attained substantial wealth through his drug empire and lavishes his wife, Winter, and Winter's three younger sisters, Porsche, Lexus, and Mercedes, with the best things money can (and cannot) buy. Unknown to her father, Winter has picked up on all of his hustling tricks and does whatever is necessary to get what she wants. Winter's world is turned upside down, however, on her 16th birthday, when her father suddenly decides to relocate his family and his growing business to Long Island, but she is determined not to sever ties with the old neighborhood.

The downward spiral in Winter's young life begins when her mother is shot in the face by foes of her father. Shortly afterward, the FBI arrives at the Santiaga mansion, seizes all of his and the family's possessions, and the drug lord is sent to prison, which happens while Winter is at a party. It is at this juncture that Winter's sisters are placed in the custody of the Bureau of Child Welfare. However, her sisters are not placed in their mother's custody because she is unemployed. Winter escapes by pretending to not be her parents’ daughter. Winter stays with a man just for his money for a while, but when his girlfriend comes back, Winter goes to live with an aunt. While with the Aunt, Winter's location is revealed to officials and she is turned over to the Bureau of Child Welfare. Winter's location was probably divulged by Natalie, a former friend of Winter's, who suspected Winter of trying to date her boyfriend. While visiting her father in jail, she finds out that he had a infant son and was cheating on her mother, which tears her apart. Also, her father murdered someone while in jail.

After being taken out of her aunt’s home, Winter starts living at the House of Success, a group home for teenage girls. Her new surroundings do not stop her from hustling: she makes money by selling her housemates’ clothes and cigarettes, and doing their hair. Winter obtains the clothes and goods she sells from her pregnant friend Simone, who is a booster who steals designer clothes for her. Winter continues making money this way until Simone is arrested. Winter does not put up the money to bail out Simone, who is now pregnant, so Simone gets out some other way. Upon her release, Simone gathers some friends to wait and beat up Winter when she returns from one of her outings from the House of Success. Winter escapes the beating by running and never returns. Then Simone falls and has a miscarriage. Rashida, one of Winter's House of Success housemates, thinks that Winter is in need of help and persuades Winter to go to a friend's house with her. Little does Winter know that the friend is Sister Souljah, whom Winter boldly stated she never liked in the book's introduction. While under Souljah's tutelage, Winter volunteers at a benefit for people with HIV/AIDS, but Souljah's efforts are useless because Winter is still caught in a materialistic lifestyle and does whatever she can, legal, illegal, or immoral, to get money.

Winter finally hooks up with an old boyfriend named Bullet, who has enough money to keep her in the lifestyle her former drug lord father did. She finds out that she is pregnant with this man’s baby, with whom she slept, and whom she thought was the famous hip-hop emcee named GS, but it was not him, and she did not know that because he tricked her by convincing her that the light was off. Months later, Winter's world comes crashing down around her when she is attacked in a car by Simone with a bottle while waiting for Bullet. A crowd gathers to watch the fight, and Winter loses focus when she sees Bullet cause the crowd to disperse by waving a gun in the air. Once Winter looks away, Simone slashes her across the face with a broken bottle. Winter is led back to the car by Bullet and, shortly afterward, the police arrive. Bullet leaves Winter to take the fall for him, and she is given a mandatory 15-year prison sentence after being arrested and convicted of transporting drugs in his rental car.

Winter ends up in jail. Soon, her old friends Natalie and Simone join her, and little sister ends up becoming just like her. The last chapter comes to a surprising ending: after her father was jailed, Winter talks about being let out of prison to attend her mother’s funeral, and she learns that her mother became addicted to crack after learning of her husband's affair and fathering a child with another woman.

A sequel, titled "", originally scheduled for October 14th, 2008, will be published November 4, 2008, by Atria/Simon & Schuster.

According to the May 2008 issue of "Vibe Magazine", Jada Pinkett Smith is developing a film based on the book and will serve as its executive producer. Smith and Souljah have been trying to bring the novel to the screen since 2005. At one time, they had a deal with HBO Pictures, but it fell through. According to Souljah’s Web site, the rights of the novel are still available for purchase—with Smith’s stipulation.