Daddy Was a Number Runner

This bittersweet and sharply observed masterpiece recounts a year in the life of twelve-year-old France Coffin. It is the summer of 1934, and nowhere are the effects of the Great Depression more apparent than in Harlem. But Harlem is also home to a community's anger, humor, and vitality, the paradoxical cradle of young Francie's innocence and dreams - just like the daily numbers game played for the small glint of hope that it boldly promises but will never fulfill.