''Myth Of The Welfare Queen''

----------------------------------------------------------------- "Myth of the Welfare Queen" by David Zucchino Scribner, $25 -----------------------------------------------------------------

As the welfare reform act advanced through Congress, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Zucchino set out to answer the question on countless taxpaying minds: What does a welfare mother do all day, anyway? And why isn't she working like the rest of us?

Zucchino reveals his findings in "Myth of the Welfare Queen," a compelling first book that details the lives of two very different welfare mothers living in one of the nation's worst ghettos: North Philadelphia. For six months, he watched the women survive amidst drugs, crime and bureaucratic red tape. Welfare and drugs, Zucchino notes, "were the two largest sources of income in North Philadelphia."

Readers meet Odessa Williams - a 56-year-old great-grandmother supporting eight grandkids on paltry welfare checks and "trash picking" - and Cheri Honkala, a thirtysomething activist not above topless dancing to pay a $250 fine for leading a homeless camp-out in Independence Park. Zucchino does find people milking the system, but these two women arguably work harder than most Americans as they hunt for housing, food and clothes for themselves and others.

Writing with clarity and respect, Zucchino shows Odessa's and Cheri's courage, resourcefulness and, at times, foolishness. In the end, readers will probably admire them as much as he obviously did.