Little Lov'n Monday
Check out this meme at Black-Eyed Susan's. Support fellow bloggers and earn a chance to win free books.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
New Crayons
Last week we introduced My New Crayons. Every Sunday, I'll share what books I acquired for the week. Okay, the following are not crayons, but I get just as giddy about new books as I did getting new crayons. Feel free to comment. If you'd like to share your what received for the week, create a post on your blog on Sunday or close to it, and leave us a link in the comment section. Check here to see what others have added to their box of crayolas.
From Zetta Elliott- Strangers in the Family (memoir) Three Plays and A Wish After Midnight (YA novel)
Salaam, Paris by Kavita Dawani- This will be shelved at our library.
A new novel takes a look at young women trying to navigate the world of modeling and balance hot careers with the other priorities in their lives. Beautiful Tanaya Shah leaves her home outside of Mumbai, India, to meet Tariq, the man her grandfather wants her to marry, in Paris. Although Tanaya has always longed to visit Paris, she is reluctant to marry and the engagement is broken off...
Raising Raul by Maria Hinojosa- Adding this to our Prize Bucket.
...A former staff reporter for National Public Radio and currently the urban affairs correspondent for CNN, Hinojosa, a Mexican-American... describes both the highs and lows of reconciling American motherhood with her traditional Mexican upbringing....
For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf
by Ntozake Shange- Will be offered in our Prize Bucket.
....extraordinary "choreopoem"...is a dramatic elegy for black women with an undercurrent message for everyone. Its theme is not sorrow...but courage. Its strength is its passion and its reality....An unforgettable collage of one woman's view of the women of her race, facing everything from rape to unrequited love....Wisdom and naivete go hand in hand. Wounds and dream intermingle; strong passions melt into simple courage.
Celia: My Life by Celia Cruz- Adding it to our library.
Cruz's success derived from her inimitable vocal style, passion for Cuba and its music, and her desire to keep expanding her oeuvre by recording with new artists and embracing all types of Cuban music (rumba, cha-cha, mambo, etc.)—...reason for her eventual status as "a cross-cultural, cross-generational phenomenon,... "
Loose Ends by Electa Rome Parks- Will be shelved at our library.
From Zetta Elliott- Strangers in the Family (memoir) Three Plays and A Wish After Midnight (YA novel)
Salaam, Paris by Kavita Dawani- This will be shelved at our library.A new novel takes a look at young women trying to navigate the world of modeling and balance hot careers with the other priorities in their lives. Beautiful Tanaya Shah leaves her home outside of Mumbai, India, to meet Tariq, the man her grandfather wants her to marry, in Paris. Although Tanaya has always longed to visit Paris, she is reluctant to marry and the engagement is broken off...
Raising Raul by Maria Hinojosa- Adding this to our Prize Bucket.
...A former staff reporter for National Public Radio and currently the urban affairs correspondent for CNN, Hinojosa, a Mexican-American... describes both the highs and lows of reconciling American motherhood with her traditional Mexican upbringing....
For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf
by Ntozake Shange- Will be offered in our Prize Bucket.
....extraordinary "choreopoem"...is a dramatic elegy for black women with an undercurrent message for everyone. Its theme is not sorrow...but courage. Its strength is its passion and its reality....An unforgettable collage of one woman's view of the women of her race, facing everything from rape to unrequited love....Wisdom and naivete go hand in hand. Wounds and dream intermingle; strong passions melt into simple courage.
Celia: My Life by Celia Cruz- Adding it to our library.
Cruz's success derived from her inimitable vocal style, passion for Cuba and its music, and her desire to keep expanding her oeuvre by recording with new artists and embracing all types of Cuban music (rumba, cha-cha, mambo, etc.)—...reason for her eventual status as "a cross-cultural, cross-generational phenomenon,... "
Loose Ends by Electa Rome Parks- Will be shelved at our library.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Friday Fish Fry
At our online discussion forum, every Friday is Friday Fish Fry. It's the day we come together for a posting marathon. Members check out current posts and comment.
To facilate activity and interaction, we've added a query. We hope you'll respond. Today's query is taken from Audre Lorde:
"And where the words of women are crying to be heard, we must each of us recognize our responsibility to seek those words out, to read them and share them and examine them in their pertinence to our lives."
Does this speak to you? How? What do you remain silent about? When you write or speak, do you seek out a community of women? Does your work or views reflect a feminist or political view?
We want Color Online to be a thriving, active community. How are we doing? Have suggestions or requests? Write us at cora_litgroup@yahoo.com.We look forward to hearing from you
To facilate activity and interaction, we've added a query. We hope you'll respond. Today's query is taken from Audre Lorde:
"And where the words of women are crying to be heard, we must each of us recognize our responsibility to seek those words out, to read them and share them and examine them in their pertinence to our lives."Does this speak to you? How? What do you remain silent about? When you write or speak, do you seek out a community of women? Does your work or views reflect a feminist or political view?
We want Color Online to be a thriving, active community. How are we doing? Have suggestions or requests? Write us at cora_litgroup@yahoo.com.We look forward to hearing from you
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Fertile Ground
Portrait
Audre Lorde
Strong women
know the taste
of their own hatred
I must always be
building nests
in a windy place
I want the safety of oblique numbers
that do not include me
a beautiful woman
with ugly moments
secret and patient
as the amused and ponderous elephants
catering to Hannibal's ambition
as they sway on their own way
home
from The Black Unicorn, 1978, W.W. Norton & co.
Audre Lorde
Strong women
know the taste
of their own hatred
I must always be
building nests
in a windy place
I want the safety of oblique numbers
that do not include me
a beautiful woman
with ugly moments
secret and patient
as the amused and ponderous elephants
catering to Hannibal's ambition
as they sway on their own way
home
from The Black Unicorn, 1978, W.W. Norton & co.
Yolanda's Genius
Yolanda’s GeniusCarol Fenner
number of pages: 224 pages
Yolanda’s Genius is actually written on a reading level of nine to twelve years. As a mature woman I thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone at any reading level. The book is written mostly in the third person from the point of view of eleven year old Yolanda. Occasionally the reader gets to experience things from the mind of the other characters; Yolanda’s little brother Andrew, and a skateboarder who likes Andrew’s music.
In writing about Yolanda and her love for her little brother, Carol Fenner teaches us that love can give one the strength to do extraordinary things. She also teaches us that genius comes in more than one form. Fenner presented a concept that was totally new for me called audiation. Audiation is a process where you mentally hear music even when no sound is being made.
Here Andrew is making sounds that are Yolanda to him. From the book:
That night, in his bed, Andrew blew gently into his pipe, muted sounds -- Yolanda's proud head on it's strong, smooth neck. But that needed drums behind it. He thumped with his foot on the bedstead. Better. He played Yolanda's knees and the sway of her body over them. He tried playing Yolanda's smile, sweet and swelling wide open, on his little pipe.
Yolanda is a precocious child who is in ways, overly mature for her age and in other ways backwards. Andrew is in special education in school and yet he is a musical genius. The book teaches that sometimes grown ups are not in touch with what a child actually needs or is capable of doing or becoming and would be well advised to listen more to their children.
There are portions of the book that describe Chicago African American community culture well. All in all, the book is entertaining and enlightening and as stated above, I highly recommend it as a good read for anyone.
Review submitted by Judy Long
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Our BHMW Contest Judges
We'd like to introduce our judges for our first Black History Month Writers' Contest. Each judge is a talented writer, reader and advocate for the literary arts. After you've read their bios, we hope you visit their respective sites. We'll announce the winners early next week.
Carleen Brice’s debut novel, Orange Mint and Honey(One World/Ballantine), was an Essence “Recommended Read” and a Target “Bookmarked Breakout Book.” For this book, she won the 2009 First Novelist Award from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association and the 2008 Break Out Author Award at the African American Literary Awards Show. Her second novel, Children of the Waters (One World/Ballantine), a book about race, love and family, is available for pre-order now and will be in stores on July 7th. You can read an excerpt at her website carleenbrice.com Check out Carleen's blog, White Readers Meet Black Authors.
After attending Emerson College and Brooklyn College, Tisha Brown taught 4th grade and then 6th grade English for ten years in New York City public schools. When she left the classroom, she worked for several years as a staff developer in New York City Public Schools supporting K-8 teachers, literacy coaches and administrators acquire and hone the skills they need to lead effective reading and writing workshops and improve the quality of their literacy programs. Tisha is currently a 6th grade reading and writing workshop facilitator for a private school. Read more at Tisha's blog, Thinking Aloud.
Christine Swint writes poetry, short stories, and personal essays in metro Atlanta, Georgia, where she lives with her husband, two sons, and her dog Duffy. Her poems and stories have recently appeared online in Mirrors, Postal Poetry, qarrtsiluni, Mannequin Envy, and Asphalt Sky. She edits a new poetry and art magazine, ouroboros review, with poet Jo Hemmant. She's also a columinist with readwritepoem.
Entries here:
Reviews
Bio Sketches
Carleen Brice’s debut novel, Orange Mint and Honey(One World/Ballantine), was an Essence “Recommended Read” and a Target “Bookmarked Breakout Book.” For this book, she won the 2009 First Novelist Award from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association and the 2008 Break Out Author Award at the African American Literary Awards Show. Her second novel, Children of the Waters (One World/Ballantine), a book about race, love and family, is available for pre-order now and will be in stores on July 7th. You can read an excerpt at her website carleenbrice.com Check out Carleen's blog, White Readers Meet Black Authors.
After attending Emerson College and Brooklyn College, Tisha Brown taught 4th grade and then 6th grade English for ten years in New York City public schools. When she left the classroom, she worked for several years as a staff developer in New York City Public Schools supporting K-8 teachers, literacy coaches and administrators acquire and hone the skills they need to lead effective reading and writing workshops and improve the quality of their literacy programs. Tisha is currently a 6th grade reading and writing workshop facilitator for a private school. Read more at Tisha's blog, Thinking Aloud.
Christine Swint writes poetry, short stories, and personal essays in metro Atlanta, Georgia, where she lives with her husband, two sons, and her dog Duffy. Her poems and stories have recently appeared online in Mirrors, Postal Poetry, qarrtsiluni, Mannequin Envy, and Asphalt Sky. She edits a new poetry and art magazine, ouroboros review, with poet Jo Hemmant. She's also a columinist with readwritepoem.Entries here:
Reviews
Bio Sketches
Potpourri: Literature & Women's Studies
Answer the quiz and your name will be entered in a monthly drawing. Post your reply to the comment box. Must include your e-mail to be eligible to win. Cool prizes, check out our Prize Bucket.
Quiz #14
a) Women of Brewster Place
b) Bailey's Cafe
c) Linden Hills
Quiz #14
In 1994, which Gloria Naylor novel was adapted for the stage?
a) Women of Brewster Place
b) Bailey's Cafe
c) Linden Hills
Passing
Passing Nella Larsen
Copyright 1929 and 2002
The 2002 edition reviewed here includes an introduction by Thadious Davis, the author’s biographer
If I had to review Passing in only one word, that word would be Wow! It’s a small book of only 160 pages – and that’s with the addition of a lengthy introduction, an excellent list for further reading, and extensive footnotes to the original 1929 text – but Passing has a huge impact.
Its succinct title conveys the main theme of Passing, but the story is multi-layered and the characters are complex. It’s about the nuances of skin color within race, loyalty to race and country, and the willingness of some to give up personal identity to join the haves rather than risk being among the have-nots. In other senses of the word, the title may refer to the willingness to let racist remarks pass to protect a friend, and in the end, it may even refer to a common euphemism for death, passing away
The focus is on two women of African heritage whose pale skin allows them to choose their own racial identity. Clare Kendry Bellew is married to a white banker and lives with him as a white woman in Europe . Clare’s husband is virulently racist and has no idea that Clare is anything but what she appears to be. Irene Westover Redfield is married to a physician and lives in Harlem , where she enjoys playing an active role in the Harlem Renaissance. Her husband’s dark skin would keep Irene from living as a white woman, a life she says she doesn’t want anyway, but when she’s alone and in need of a cab or a cool drink in a nice café, she takes advantage of her pale skin to gain access, no questions asked.
Both Clare and Irene grew up in Chicago , where they were childhood friends, but they have had no contact with each other for more than a decade when the book opens. They have a chance encounter in a landmark Chicago hotel while Irene is in town to visit her father and Clare accompanies her husband on a business trip. Clare asks Irene to join her in her room for tea and invites a third friend from their childhood, Gertrude. Although she also has pale skin and is also married to a white man, Gertrude, unlike Clare, is not living as white. Gertrude’s husband has known her since they were children and is well aware of her race. The conversation those three pale-skinned women have over tea, and the exchange when Clare’s husband joins them, is a pivotal scene in the story.
As the women’s conversation turns to their families, Clare and Gertrude express their fear of pregnancy. When Clare confides, “I nearly died of terror the whole nine months before Margery was born for fear that she might be dark,” it’s understood that a dark child would expose her passing and end the life she’s living, so it’s Gertrude’s fear that is more telling. “Nobody wants a dark child,” Gertrude says, expressing her own aversion to dark skin, even though her white husband has assured her that their children’s skin color doesn’t matter to him. The remarks disturb Irene, whose husband and one of her two sons have dark skin, but her bad day turns to worse when Clare’s husband enters the room and makes his feelings on race clearly known.
Believing that his wife and her two friends are white, Clara’s husband appears to be very congenial, but his words are peppered with racial epithets, and he even playfully addresses Clare as Nig, explaining to her friends that he gave her the pet name for her darkening skin as she ages. The women ignore his remarks to protect Clare.
In the following years, Clare takes greater risks to spend more time with her own race. Irene’s husband is very unhappy and frequently talks of taking his sons and moving to Brazil to escapes the country he says he hates for its racism. Irene, who sees no racism, is only concerned that if she loses her husband she’ll lose her privileges as a doctor’s wife.
Numerous real-life landmarks, both in Chicago and New York , are used fictitiously throughout the novel, along with well-known personalities of the 1920s, and organizations such as The Urban League. The copious footnotes of this edition explain them all.
Passing was Nella Larson’s second novel. Her first, Quicksand, was published in 1928.
reviewed submitted by Margaret Harney
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Shades of Love
Contrary to popular belief not every parent of a an African American kid gets hip hop. I do get the rough times of being a tween, the challenges of being in foster care and what it means to have friends. Three girls lose some of their innocence of childhood but discover their strengths and the power of friendship. This book introduced me to the hip hop culture, a culture I knew little about. I understand now why so many young people from kids to twenty-somethings identify strongly with this artist. Good read.Shades of Love
Leave a comment or send us a review. If we publish your review, your name will be entered in a monthly drawing to win a book from our Prize Bucket. If you want us to feature a book, send us your recommendation. Send recommendations, reviews and questions to cora_litgroup@yahoo.com
Monday, February 23, 2009
Sunday, February 22, 2009
COLA- Zetta Elliott
Zetta Elliott is a talented writer, educator and friend. I am unabashedly promoting her book, A Wish After Midnight. The video is stunning and do read Edi's review at Crazy Quilts.
My New Crayons (4)
Check out our latest feature, My New Crayons. Every Sunday, I'll share what books I acquired for the week. When I was little, I loved getting new crayons. Loved all the different colors. I was obsessed with the different shades of colors. Today, my obsession is books, and I love books full of color. I read primarily books by women, women of color, multicultural literature and books that explore issues of diversity. I get a lot of books from trading sites like paperbackswap and frugal reader, the library, contests and even a few for review. Since I can't review every book I receive or already have on my bookshelf, I'm going to share my new crayons with you here.
Feel free to comment. If you'd like to share your what received for the week, create a post on your blog on Sunday or close to it, and leave us a link in the comment section. Check here to see what others have added to their box of crayolas.
This week I didn't get anything in the mail but I did receive a gift card for my birthday and a 40% off coupon from Borders. I was one happy sister when I walked into the bookstore. I picked up:
Battle of Jericho by Sharon Draper
We're currently giving away a copy of November Blues by Ms. Draper for readers who linked to our contest or became followers here. Battle is the prequel. Adding this to our Prize Bucket.
The Warriors of Distinction has been the school's most exclusive club for 50 years, so when 16-year-old Jericho is asked to pledge, he's excited--and intimidated. He is also disappointed after he realizes that he'll have to give up a music competition because he can't miss a night of the initiation week. When the ceremony turns cruel--with the one girl pledge being singled out for abuse--Jericho begins to have second thoughts. Then the affair turns deadly.
Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
I picked up this 2009 Printz winner because of Doret's review at The Happy Nappy Bookseller. Haven't decided if this will go in our Prize Bucket or on our library shelf.
Treat yourself to a mini Melina Marchetta marathon. Then you'll understand why I love her writing so much. Marchetta's first two novels have a Laurie Hale Anderson/Sarah Dessen feel to them.
Red River by Lalita Tademy
We received a review for our Black History Month Writers' Contest. Adding this to our Prize Bucket.
In 1873 in the small southern town of Colfax, Louisiana, history tells us there was a riot. The Tademy family knows different. "1873. Wasn't no riot like they say. It was a massacre..." The blacks are newly free, just beginning life under Reconstruction, with all its promises of equity, the right to vote, to own property and, most importantly, to decide their own future as individuals. Federal Government troops are supposed to arrive to protect the rights of the colored people--but they are not yet on the scene.
Kushiel’s Scion by Jacqueline Carey
This is going in our Prize Bucket . A friend of mine read the first book in this series and spoke very highly of it. It's adult fantasy. Some content.
The magnificent fourth book in Carey's Kushiel's Legacy series marks the start of a new trilogy set in Terre d'Ange, the author's reimagined Renaissance world… Traitorous parents, the curse of Kushiel's blood in his veins, and the unspeakable crimes he endured while a child slave severely damaged Imriel. Feeling tainted and incapable of goodness, he fears he will misuse Kushiel's gift.
Feel free to comment. If you'd like to share your what received for the week, create a post on your blog on Sunday or close to it, and leave us a link in the comment section. Check here to see what others have added to their box of crayolas.
This week I didn't get anything in the mail but I did receive a gift card for my birthday and a 40% off coupon from Borders. I was one happy sister when I walked into the bookstore. I picked up:
Battle of Jericho by Sharon DraperWe're currently giving away a copy of November Blues by Ms. Draper for readers who linked to our contest or became followers here. Battle is the prequel. Adding this to our Prize Bucket.
The Warriors of Distinction has been the school's most exclusive club for 50 years, so when 16-year-old Jericho is asked to pledge, he's excited--and intimidated. He is also disappointed after he realizes that he'll have to give up a music competition because he can't miss a night of the initiation week. When the ceremony turns cruel--with the one girl pledge being singled out for abuse--Jericho begins to have second thoughts. Then the affair turns deadly.
Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
I picked up this 2009 Printz winner because of Doret's review at The Happy Nappy Bookseller. Haven't decided if this will go in our Prize Bucket or on our library shelf.
Treat yourself to a mini Melina Marchetta marathon. Then you'll understand why I love her writing so much. Marchetta's first two novels have a Laurie Hale Anderson/Sarah Dessen feel to them.
Red River by Lalita Tademy
We received a review for our Black History Month Writers' Contest. Adding this to our Prize Bucket.
In 1873 in the small southern town of Colfax, Louisiana, history tells us there was a riot. The Tademy family knows different. "1873. Wasn't no riot like they say. It was a massacre..." The blacks are newly free, just beginning life under Reconstruction, with all its promises of equity, the right to vote, to own property and, most importantly, to decide their own future as individuals. Federal Government troops are supposed to arrive to protect the rights of the colored people--but they are not yet on the scene.
Kushiel’s Scion by Jacqueline Carey
This is going in our Prize Bucket . A friend of mine read the first book in this series and spoke very highly of it. It's adult fantasy. Some content.
The magnificent fourth book in Carey's Kushiel's Legacy series marks the start of a new trilogy set in Terre d'Ange, the author's reimagined Renaissance world… Traitorous parents, the curse of Kushiel's blood in his veins, and the unspeakable crimes he endured while a child slave severely damaged Imriel. Feeling tainted and incapable of goodness, he fears he will misuse Kushiel's gift.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Women of the World Poetry Slam
Fundraiser w/Blair & the Boyfriends Saturday, Feb. 21
1515 Broadway Theatre
Detroit
Doors open at 7:30 PM
Show begins promptly at 8 PM.
Come out and support these Detroit sisters (and the fellas, too). Support the arts.
Women of the World Poetry Slam
February 23rd @ 8:30pm - ByteThis WOWps qualifier @ Cliff Bells
February 24th @ 5:30pm - Fundraiser w/Oakland Community College – Auburn Hills
For additional information contact LaShaun Phoenix Moore, chairwoman
Friday, February 20, 2009
Friday Fish Fry
At our online discussion forum, every Friday is Friday Fish Fry. It's the day we come together for a posting marathon. Members check out current posts and comment.
Beginning this week on our blog, we're going to add another element. We'll post a query to initiate interaction. Today's Query: What do you think about the New York Post controversy? Are you supporting the protests? Have you written the paper or responded to any article? Do you think the outrage is an overreaction?
We look forward to hearing from you.
We want Color Online to be a thriving, active community. How are we doing? Have suggestions or requests? Write us at cora_litgroup@yahoo.com.We look forward to hearing from you.
Beginning this week on our blog, we're going to add another element. We'll post a query to initiate interaction. Today's Query: What do you think about the New York Post controversy? Are you supporting the protests? Have you written the paper or responded to any article? Do you think the outrage is an overreaction?
We look forward to hearing from you.
We want Color Online to be a thriving, active community. How are we doing? Have suggestions or requests? Write us at cora_litgroup@yahoo.com.We look forward to hearing from you.
Their Eyes Were Watching God
Their Eyes Were Watching GodZora Neale Hurston
1937
How did I live to be thirty and not have ever heard of Zora Neale Hurston? She should have been in my college course about women in literature when I was in college. She should have been in my history books when I was studying American History in high school. However, even before she died in 1960, Ms Hurston had been all but forgotten. Thank goodness for Alice Walker and others who have rediscovered Hurston for the benefit of us all.
When I moved to Virginia about twenty-five years ago, my book group decided to read Their Eyes Were Watching God. So finally I encountered Janie Crawford and her story. Hurston tells the tale of a woman who learns her own mind and her own dreams. After learning what she wants, Janie lives her dream.
This does not mean that all works out in the end. One of the strengths of this book is that Hurston knows that life is no fairy tale. She makes Janie real and while I was reading this book, I kept thinking about her as a real person. Even though her life is not ideal in Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie is a good role model. The development of her character can help the reader think about her dreams.
I had the opportunity to re-read this book now that I am in my fifties. I am a different person, but Janie is still a significant voice for me. As an older woman, I saw a different side of Janie’s life. Her struggle and success is even more important to me. I would like to meet Janie now and see where her life went as she got older.
This time round, I listened to Janie’s story. Hurston’s words are good on paper, but getting to hear Ruby Dee read them to me – well, the words are great. This was so much better for me as an audio book. The book is written in dialect which I can read, but I really did not hear until it was read to me. I was blown away. Janie's story is the story of one of the most wonderful women I have ever read about.
Everyone should read this book. Thanks for the opportunity to think and write about this book. I am amazed at what Zora Neale Hurston accomplished in her life.
submitted by Patty Franz
Zora Is My Name
Zora is My NameFebruary 20 – March 1, 2009
$15, $12 per person
Bonstelle Theater at Wayne State
Detroit
Good friend of mine wrote me to tell me her daughter is performing in a production of Zora is My Name at Wayne State University's Bonstelle Theater. Adapted by Ruby Dee. The director is Aku.
Purchase tickets online or call the box office at (313) 577-2960.
I saw this talented young actress perform the lead role of Angel in Pearl Cleage's play, Blues For An Alamba Sky. She gave an impressive performance.
Check out Erika Fuller. Support the arts. Hope to see you there.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Bio Sketch
We asked our readers to write biography sketches of African American writers. These are their words. We encourage you to comment.
Toni Morrison
February 18, 1931
Lorain, OH
"Once upon a time there was an old woman. Blind but wise." Or was it an old man? A guru, perhaps. Or a griot soothing restless children. I have heard this story, or one exactly like it, in the lore of several cultures.
So begins the lecture of Toni Morrison as one of the 1993 Nobel Laureates , she would go on to gain the distinction of becoming the first black woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Morrison (Chloe Anthony Wofford) was born in Ohio in 1931, the second of four children to George Wofford, a shipyard welder and Ramah Willis Wofford. Always an avid reader, Morrison was influenced by southern folklore and the tales of the supernatural that were told regularly in her home. Early favorites included Tolstoy, Flaubert, and Jane Austen and Morrison would go on to graduate from high school with honors. She later attended Howard University in Washington D.C. where she recieved a bachelors in English, before moving on to Cornell university where she obtained her masters. It was while at Howard that Toni changed her name from Chloe as many couldn't pronounce it correctly. She rejects this name change in 1992, stating, "I am really Chloe Anthony Wofford. That's who I am. I have been writing under this other person's name. I write some things now as Chloe Wofford, private things. I regret having called myself Toni Morrison when I published my first novel, The Bluest Eye. After Cornell ,Toni became an English teacher at Texas Southern. In 1957 she returned to Howard as a member of the faculty, where she became friendly with many that were active in the Civil Rights Movement.
She married Harold Morrison in 1958, and it was during this time that she began attending a writers group. One week she submitted a quickly written story about a little girl who prayed for blue eyes. The story was loosely based on a girl she had known in childhood and would become the basis for the novel that is titled The Bluest Eye. It was only after her divorce , while working for a subsidiary of Random House, that she took out the old story and worked on it at night while her children were sleeping. The Bluest Eye would be published in 1970 and was received with much critical acclaim, followed by Sula in 1973. It was after writing Song of Solomon in 1977 and Tar Baby in 1981, that she wrote her first play, "Dreaming Emmett." This was followed by the book that would win her the Pulitzer Prize in 1988, Beloved. Beloved was influenced by the published story about a slave who made her escape from her master in Kentucky, taking her children with her to Ohio. Before she could be recaptured , the escaped slave, Margaret Garner , tried to kill her children rather then let them be taken back. Margaret only succeeded in killing one of the children and was imprisoned. Margaret refused to show remorse for her actions, saying that she was unwilling to have her children suffer as she had.
Morrison has gone on to write several more books since then as well as some non-fiction and some chapter books based on Aesop's Fables.
Following is an excerpt of the remarks of Secretary-General Kofi Annan introducing Toni Morrison as the first lecturer in the Secretary-General’s Lecture series:
The speakers will be eminent individuals from a wide range of disciplines and regions. But I doubt if any will be more eminent than Toni Morrison. As you know, she won the Nobel Prize for Literature. A British general once said, on reading a beautiful poem the night before a decisive battle, that he “would rather have written this than beat the French tomorrow.
In slightly the same spirit I could say that, if there is one Nobel Prize that all other prize winners should envy, it is that Prize for Literature. Literature has the power to transform us in ways that politics never can. And few writers have demonstrated that power more magically than Toni Morrison, in her wonderful novels. She is, perhaps, the greatest living African American writer, but really she belongs not just to America, or to Africa, but to the world.
I can’t think of anyone more fitting to begin this series of lectures at the United Nations. I am deeply honored and grateful to her for coming. And I feel quite sure she is going to surprise us all.
Toni, the floor is yours.
link
submitted by Annette Bell
Toni MorrisonFebruary 18, 1931
Lorain, OH
"Once upon a time there was an old woman. Blind but wise." Or was it an old man? A guru, perhaps. Or a griot soothing restless children. I have heard this story, or one exactly like it, in the lore of several cultures.
So begins the lecture of Toni Morrison as one of the 1993 Nobel Laureates , she would go on to gain the distinction of becoming the first black woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Morrison (Chloe Anthony Wofford) was born in Ohio in 1931, the second of four children to George Wofford, a shipyard welder and Ramah Willis Wofford. Always an avid reader, Morrison was influenced by southern folklore and the tales of the supernatural that were told regularly in her home. Early favorites included Tolstoy, Flaubert, and Jane Austen and Morrison would go on to graduate from high school with honors. She later attended Howard University in Washington D.C. where she recieved a bachelors in English, before moving on to Cornell university where she obtained her masters. It was while at Howard that Toni changed her name from Chloe as many couldn't pronounce it correctly. She rejects this name change in 1992, stating, "I am really Chloe Anthony Wofford. That's who I am. I have been writing under this other person's name. I write some things now as Chloe Wofford, private things. I regret having called myself Toni Morrison when I published my first novel, The Bluest Eye. After Cornell ,Toni became an English teacher at Texas Southern. In 1957 she returned to Howard as a member of the faculty, where she became friendly with many that were active in the Civil Rights Movement.
She married Harold Morrison in 1958, and it was during this time that she began attending a writers group. One week she submitted a quickly written story about a little girl who prayed for blue eyes. The story was loosely based on a girl she had known in childhood and would become the basis for the novel that is titled The Bluest Eye. It was only after her divorce , while working for a subsidiary of Random House, that she took out the old story and worked on it at night while her children were sleeping. The Bluest Eye would be published in 1970 and was received with much critical acclaim, followed by Sula in 1973. It was after writing Song of Solomon in 1977 and Tar Baby in 1981, that she wrote her first play, "Dreaming Emmett." This was followed by the book that would win her the Pulitzer Prize in 1988, Beloved. Beloved was influenced by the published story about a slave who made her escape from her master in Kentucky, taking her children with her to Ohio. Before she could be recaptured , the escaped slave, Margaret Garner , tried to kill her children rather then let them be taken back. Margaret only succeeded in killing one of the children and was imprisoned. Margaret refused to show remorse for her actions, saying that she was unwilling to have her children suffer as she had.
Morrison has gone on to write several more books since then as well as some non-fiction and some chapter books based on Aesop's Fables.
Following is an excerpt of the remarks of Secretary-General Kofi Annan introducing Toni Morrison as the first lecturer in the Secretary-General’s Lecture series:
The speakers will be eminent individuals from a wide range of disciplines and regions. But I doubt if any will be more eminent than Toni Morrison. As you know, she won the Nobel Prize for Literature. A British general once said, on reading a beautiful poem the night before a decisive battle, that he “would rather have written this than beat the French tomorrow.
In slightly the same spirit I could say that, if there is one Nobel Prize that all other prize winners should envy, it is that Prize for Literature. Literature has the power to transform us in ways that politics never can. And few writers have demonstrated that power more magically than Toni Morrison, in her wonderful novels. She is, perhaps, the greatest living African American writer, but really she belongs not just to America, or to Africa, but to the world.
I can’t think of anyone more fitting to begin this series of lectures at the United Nations. I am deeply honored and grateful to her for coming. And I feel quite sure she is going to surprise us all.
Toni, the floor is yours.
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submitted by Annette Bell
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Shades of Love
Out of BoundsBeverely Naidoo
Harper Collins 2003
Reading level: Ages 9-12
The collection contains seven stories arranged chronologically beginning in the 1940s to the abolition of apartheid, the election of Mandela up to 2000. Each story is told from the point of view of a young person. This is apartheid up close and personal. In “The Dare,” Veronica has to complete a dare of crossing a notoriously evil neighbor’s yard in order to be allowed to play with neighboring children. She witnesses a child beaten for being accused of stealing an orange while she is the welcomed ‘intruder’ sent to steal evidence of her crossing the boundaries. In “The Noose,” a young colored boy learns what it means to registered and classified. When he father is ordered to report for registration and is classified ‘black’ instead of ‘colored’ the identity his family has lived as, their livelihood is threatened. “The Playground” is akin to Little Rock story in the U.S. Rosa is among the first black children to attend a previously all white school.
Each story is an intimate view of how young people reacted to the events that directly affected their lives. This wasn’t someone else somewhere else. This was them living during a volatile, oppressive period that shaped their lives.
Leave a comment or send us a review.Your name will be entered in a monthly
drawing to win a book from our Prize Bucket.
Shades of Love
Shades of Love- a new feature created to promote books we want to share with you.These are not reviews but profiles. Leave a comment or send us a review. If we publish your review, your name will be entered in a monthly drawing to win a book from our Prize Bucket.
Shades of Love will focus on multicultural literature for children and young adults.
If you want us to feature a book, send us your recommendation. Send recommendations, reviews and questions to cora_litgroup@yahoo.com
Submission Call: Protestpoems.org
My friend Rethabile at Poefrika is calling for submissions. All you poets and poetry readers, check out protestpoems.org.
Please submit your poems for the next issue, and get friends to do the same. Submissions to write@protestpoems.org.
Look forward to hearing from you.
Peace,
R
Please submit your poems for the next issue, and get friends to do the same. Submissions to write@protestpoems.org.
Look forward to hearing from you.
Peace,
R
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Potpourri: Literature & Women's Studies
Answer the quiz and your name will be entered in a monthly drawing. Post your reply to the comment box. Must include your e-mail to be eligible to win. Cool prizes, check out our Prize Bucket.
Quiz #13
Her first play, "Nothing but a Woman", was a finalist in the Chicago Dramatists’ Many Voices Project, and was staged in the city of Chicago in July 2006. "Nothing but a Woman" chronicles the relationship between two sisters, Geneva and Grace. Bound together by the premature death of their parents, the two women's devotion is tested when they begin to compete for the same man."
Most recently the black feminist writer and cultural critic published her first children's book. Who is she?
Quiz #13
Her first play, "Nothing but a Woman", was a finalist in the Chicago Dramatists’ Many Voices Project, and was staged in the city of Chicago in July 2006. "Nothing but a Woman" chronicles the relationship between two sisters, Geneva and Grace. Bound together by the premature death of their parents, the two women's devotion is tested when they begin to compete for the same man."
Most recently the black feminist writer and cultural critic published her first children's book. Who is she?
Monday, February 16, 2009
Bio Sketch
We asked our readers to write biography sketches of African American writers. These are their words. We encourage you to comment.
Terry McMillan
October 18, 1951
Port Huron, MI
Terry McMillan, a very prominent African American author, has the vein of every strong woman’s existence in her books. She knows women, knows what they want and knows how to write about them. No matter what type of woman you are, no matter what race or religion, Terry McMillan crosses boundaries with her books that make her appeal to every woman, providing strength and showing us that we are resilient and will survive anything that comes our way.
McMillan has had a very successful career in writing, but like many authors she had to start at the bottom and fight to be heard. Her first novel, Mama, was published in 1987 and was self-promoted. It wasn’t until her third novel, Waiting to Exhale, that she had received national attention. In 1995, Waiting to Exhale was made into a movie staring Angela Bassett and Whitney Houston, and directed by Forrest Whitaker.The movie soundtrack was made by acclaimed music maker, Babyface.
It was clear at this point that Terry McMillan was something very special. In 1996 McMillan published the best selling book, How Stella Got Her Groove Back which was made into a movie in 1998. The movie had such actors as Taye Diggs and Angela Bassett. How Stella Got Her Groove Back spoke to women about heartache, love and survival and McMillan was making a name known by readers and movie watchers alike. In 2000, McMillan published the New York Times best-seller, Disappearing Acts, which was made into a cable movie that same year. The movie starred Wesley Snipes and Sanaa Lathan, proving yet again that McMillan is an author that people want to read and see in film and prominent actors want to be in her films. McMillan has gone on to write two more successful novels: In 2001, A Day Late and a Dollar Short was released and in 2005, The Interruption of Everything was published. In 2006, It’s OK if You are Clueless was published, which is meant to help college bound children and their families along their path to college.
McMillan’s real life story shows that she has experienced the heartache and pain that the women in her novels has felt, although anyone who reads her novels would know that only a person experiencing this pain and joy could write like she does. Born on October 18, 1951 in Port Huron, Michigan, McMillan began becoming interested in books while working at the library at age sixteen.
In 1986, she graduated from the University of California, Berkley with a BA in journalism. Her parents divorced when she was thirteen and her father died a few years later. She was raised by her mother alone, who worked nights at a factory. In 1998, she married Jonathan Plummer a younger man by at least 20 years. Plummer was the inspiration for the love interest in How Stella Got Her Groove Back. Her life turned the way of one of her novels when Plummer told McMillan that he was gay and they were soon divorced. Just like what her books strong female characters would do, McMillan sued Plummer and his lawyer for $40 million for attempting to embarrass and humiliate her during the divorce proceedings. McMillan has one child, named Solomon. McMillan is a strong vivacious woman and has been an inspiration for many woman over the years and she is certainly an inspiration to me. How Stella Got Her Groove Back is a book that I consider a favorite and helps me when life and love has gotten the very best of me.
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submitted by Faith Mauro
Terry McMillanOctober 18, 1951
Port Huron, MI
Terry McMillan, a very prominent African American author, has the vein of every strong woman’s existence in her books. She knows women, knows what they want and knows how to write about them. No matter what type of woman you are, no matter what race or religion, Terry McMillan crosses boundaries with her books that make her appeal to every woman, providing strength and showing us that we are resilient and will survive anything that comes our way.
McMillan has had a very successful career in writing, but like many authors she had to start at the bottom and fight to be heard. Her first novel, Mama, was published in 1987 and was self-promoted. It wasn’t until her third novel, Waiting to Exhale, that she had received national attention. In 1995, Waiting to Exhale was made into a movie staring Angela Bassett and Whitney Houston, and directed by Forrest Whitaker.The movie soundtrack was made by acclaimed music maker, Babyface.
It was clear at this point that Terry McMillan was something very special. In 1996 McMillan published the best selling book, How Stella Got Her Groove Back which was made into a movie in 1998. The movie had such actors as Taye Diggs and Angela Bassett. How Stella Got Her Groove Back spoke to women about heartache, love and survival and McMillan was making a name known by readers and movie watchers alike. In 2000, McMillan published the New York Times best-seller, Disappearing Acts, which was made into a cable movie that same year. The movie starred Wesley Snipes and Sanaa Lathan, proving yet again that McMillan is an author that people want to read and see in film and prominent actors want to be in her films. McMillan has gone on to write two more successful novels: In 2001, A Day Late and a Dollar Short was released and in 2005, The Interruption of Everything was published. In 2006, It’s OK if You are Clueless was published, which is meant to help college bound children and their families along their path to college.
McMillan’s real life story shows that she has experienced the heartache and pain that the women in her novels has felt, although anyone who reads her novels would know that only a person experiencing this pain and joy could write like she does. Born on October 18, 1951 in Port Huron, Michigan, McMillan began becoming interested in books while working at the library at age sixteen.
In 1986, she graduated from the University of California, Berkley with a BA in journalism. Her parents divorced when she was thirteen and her father died a few years later. She was raised by her mother alone, who worked nights at a factory. In 1998, she married Jonathan Plummer a younger man by at least 20 years. Plummer was the inspiration for the love interest in How Stella Got Her Groove Back. Her life turned the way of one of her novels when Plummer told McMillan that he was gay and they were soon divorced. Just like what her books strong female characters would do, McMillan sued Plummer and his lawyer for $40 million for attempting to embarrass and humiliate her during the divorce proceedings. McMillan has one child, named Solomon. McMillan is a strong vivacious woman and has been an inspiration for many woman over the years and she is certainly an inspiration to me. How Stella Got Her Groove Back is a book that I consider a favorite and helps me when life and love has gotten the very best of me.
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submitted by Faith Mauro
The Pirate's Daughter
The Pirate's DaughterMargaret Cezair-Thompson
copyright 2007
number of pages: 432
This book takes place in Jamaica, starting in the 1950s. The movie star Erroll Flynn comes to Jamaica, likes it so much that he buys a small island off the coast, and lives there with his wife.
Apparently, he really lived in Jamaica for a while. Most of the events around Flynn are fictional, and although he appears in the book several times and to some detail, the book is not actually about him.
The book is about Ida and May. Ida, as a small girl living in Jamaica, is fascinated by Flynn, and falls in love with him when she's barely a teenager. At the age of 17 she is briefly his mistress and falls pregnant with his child.
Later during the book, the perspective is from her daughter May. She is intrigued with the father she only meets once. Both Ida and May grow up in poverty, but later their fortunes change.
Both of them are quite light-skinned, so many of the people living nearby think of them as white, even though they culturally they are very much Jamaican. This creates a "them" and "us" atmosphere, especially during the richer times of the family, when most of the people on the island are still relatively poor.
In the background of the story is the independence of Jamaica and all the problems that came with it, from starting out as a pleasant island with a population that was poor, but happy to look out for each other, to an island full of crime (especially drug-related), with people not safe in their own houses. For instance, one of May's childhood friends becomes a drugs dealer and one day takes his friends over to Flynn's island (where May and her family are then living) to violently break into the house and steal valuables.
Interesting is the grandmother, who lives quite a distance away, in the mountains, and who uses old wisdoms about healing and magic. She is Ida's link to Africa, as the grandmother was born there and taken to Jamaica as a child. She is never affected by the changing situation, as she lives too far away. In a way, she lives insulated from the island at large.
An enjoyable book about the good times and the bad, of Ida and her family.
Reviewed by Judith Henstra
Potpourri: Literature & Women's Studies
Answer the quiz and your name will be entered in a monthly drawing. Post your reply to the comment box. Must include your e-mail to be eligible to win. Cool prizes, check out our Prize Bucket.
Quiz #12
This prolific YA author was born June 18, 1961 in Tuskegee, Alabama. She attended Kent State University and has worked with Volunteers in Service to America.
Kids and teens are so much more interesting than adults. Life is happening when you are a teenager. One minute you're a child, the next you're allowed to go out in the world by yourself. Who knows what will happen?
In 2003, She was named a MacArthur fellow, receiving a $500,000 grant known as the "genius" grant. Who is she? Name one title by the author.
Quiz #12
This prolific YA author was born June 18, 1961 in Tuskegee, Alabama. She attended Kent State University and has worked with Volunteers in Service to America.
Kids and teens are so much more interesting than adults. Life is happening when you are a teenager. One minute you're a child, the next you're allowed to go out in the world by yourself. Who knows what will happen?
In 2003, She was named a MacArthur fellow, receiving a $500,000 grant known as the "genius" grant. Who is she? Name one title by the author.
Potpourri: Literarture & Women's Studies
Answer the quiz and your name will be entered in a monthly drawing. Post your reply to the comment box. Must include your e-mail to be eligible to win. Cool prizes, check out our Prize Bucket.
Quiz #11
She described herself as a black, writer, mother, warrior, poet. This black feminist and intellectual died too young (February 18, 1934-November 17, 1992). In this work [fill in the blank], she chronicles her battle with breast cancer and reflects on her life work. Who is she and what is the title of this work?
Bonus entry if you name and link to a second work by the author.
Quiz #11
She described herself as a black, writer, mother, warrior, poet. This black feminist and intellectual died too young (February 18, 1934-November 17, 1992). In this work [fill in the blank], she chronicles her battle with breast cancer and reflects on her life work. Who is she and what is the title of this work?
Bonus entry if you name and link to a second work by the author.
Black History Month Giveaway
Promote our Black History Month Writers' Contest on your blog or other social network page and be entered in a drawing for a free copy of November Blues by Sharon Draper. Post a separate note here with your link.For an extra entry, become a Black-Eyed Susan or Color Online follower and leave a separate comment telling me you've done so.
For contest details go here.
Deadline for contest and giveaway entries is February 25th. Winners contacted on February 28th.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Potpourri: Literature & Women's Studies
Answer the quiz and your name will be entered in a monthly drawing. Post your reply to the comment box. Must include your e-mail to be eligible to win. Cool prizes, check out our Prize Bucket.
Quiz #10
She was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, in 1969. She lived with an aunt until she was twelve-years-old when she joined her immigrant parents in Brooklyn. She received a BA in French literature from Barnard College and her Master of Fine Arts degree at Brown University. Her thesis was her first novel followed by a collection of short stories. Who is she?
Quiz #10
She was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, in 1969. She lived with an aunt until she was twelve-years-old when she joined her immigrant parents in Brooklyn. She received a BA in French literature from Barnard College and her Master of Fine Arts degree at Brown University. Her thesis was her first novel followed by a collection of short stories. Who is she?
Link Us & Win A Free Book
Join our blog community. Tell your friends about us. Tell us what you'd like to see here. We want to hear from you. Interaction is key to a thriving community.
To entice you, we’re running a link promotion. Add us to your blogroll or other sidebar links, and we’ll enter your name in a drawing for a free book from our Prize Bucket or a $5 Amazon gift certificate. Leave a comment for each entry.
Earn extra entries:
+ 1-add a link to our promotion in your sidebar
+2- blog about our promotion
+2 if a poster leaves us a comment that you referred them to us
Deadline is February 25. 2 winners will be announced February 28th.
To entice you, we’re running a link promotion. Add us to your blogroll or other sidebar links, and we’ll enter your name in a drawing for a free book from our Prize Bucket or a $5 Amazon gift certificate. Leave a comment for each entry.
Earn extra entries:
+ 1-add a link to our promotion in your sidebar
+2- blog about our promotion
+2 if a poster leaves us a comment that you referred them to us
Deadline is February 25. 2 winners will be announced February 28th.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Potpourri: Literature & Women's Studies
Answer the quiz and your name will be entered in a monthly drawing. Post your reply to the comment box. Must include your e-mail to be eligible to win. Cool prizes, check out our Prize Bucket.
Quiz #9
She was born in 1936 in Yellow Springs, Ohio. This prolific children’s author was the recipient of multiple major awards. She was the first African American woman to win the Newbery Award and the first writer for children to receive a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellowship. Who is she?
Quiz #9
She was born in 1936 in Yellow Springs, Ohio. This prolific children’s author was the recipient of multiple major awards. She was the first African American woman to win the Newbery Award and the first writer for children to receive a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellowship. Who is she?
COLA- celebrating women of color
Friends,
Check out our latest feature: COLA- Color Online Love Alert. Find links to blogs, books and articles written by women of color or news about awards and articles celebrating the work of women of color writers, poets, artists and activists. We'll also feature multicultural publishers. Check the sidebar regularly for new COLA links.
Let's celebrate the contributions of women of color by showing them some love. Check out the links and then leave a comment. I'm not big on what you say if you're not big on acting on what you think so when you read something noteworthy, say something. In the virtual word, clicking on those keys is action and the action you take is what matters.
Check out our latest feature: COLA- Color Online Love Alert. Find links to blogs, books and articles written by women of color or news about awards and articles celebrating the work of women of color writers, poets, artists and activists. We'll also feature multicultural publishers. Check the sidebar regularly for new COLA links.
Let's celebrate the contributions of women of color by showing them some love. Check out the links and then leave a comment. I'm not big on what you say if you're not big on acting on what you think so when you read something noteworthy, say something. In the virtual word, clicking on those keys is action and the action you take is what matters.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Potpourri: LIterature & Women's Studies
Answer the quiz and your name will be entered in a monthly drawing. Post your reply to the comment box. Must include your e-mail to be eligible to win. Cool prizes, check out or Prize Bucket.
Quiz #8
This children's book illustrator has recently been awarded the *Ezra Jack Keats Book Award. Her most recent work is her collaboration with author, Zetta Elliot.
Who is the rising star to watch? Earn a second entry by providing a reference link to her work or blog.
*The Ezra Jack Keats Book Award was established in 1985 to recognize and encourage authors and illustrators new to the field of children’s books. Many past winners of the EJK Book Award have gone on to distinguished careers creating many books beloved by parents, children, librarians and teachers across the country.
Quiz #8
This children's book illustrator has recently been awarded the *Ezra Jack Keats Book Award. Her most recent work is her collaboration with author, Zetta Elliot.
Who is the rising star to watch? Earn a second entry by providing a reference link to her work or blog.
*The Ezra Jack Keats Book Award was established in 1985 to recognize and encourage authors and illustrators new to the field of children’s books. Many past winners of the EJK Book Award have gone on to distinguished careers creating many books beloved by parents, children, librarians and teachers across the country.
Tyrell
Tyrell Coe Booth
copyright 2006
number of pages: 310
When I don’t like the protagonist, the supporting characters, the basic premise or how the plot resolved itself but think it’s a great book anyway, that says something is wonderful about the writing.
Tyrell is the story of an intercity Black teen, living in a shelter, and trying to take care of his brother and make some money without resorting to dealing drugs as his father has done. The subplot deals with will-he-or-won’t-he? with his Catholic schoolgirl, underage girlfriend. (Well, he will, just not “for real,” since as everyone knows oral sex doesn’t count.)
The first few chapters had me impatient, since the impoverished characters all have cell phones and eat at McDonald’s. Good grief, I could feed my family for a week on the cost of one fast-food meal. Could, heck, I often do. But as I kept reading, I realized through the story what no amount of lecturing or explaining could have taught me: it not only takes money to make money, it takes money to save money. I can feed my family for a long time for pennies because I have a fully equipped kitchen, a chest freezer, a crock pot, dozens of cookbooks, and years of cooking experience behind me. These are people who not only don’t have those resources, they wouldn’t know what to do with them if they had them. And such people are real, even if this story is not.
I’m sorry but I don’t like Tyrell. He is a nasty, self-important, myopic jerk. But he’s a well-drawn, nasty, self-important, myopic jerk. I’ve never seen such vivid writing. I’ve never marveled more at a written interpretation of a dialect. And Ms. Booth, unlike Mark Twain (also known for dialects) is a social worker in the group she’s describing. She has empathy, she has understanding, she can bring the group alive for people who will always be far away from the inner city experience.
Review submitted by Freida Toth
copyright 2006
number of pages: 310
When I don’t like the protagonist, the supporting characters, the basic premise or how the plot resolved itself but think it’s a great book anyway, that says something is wonderful about the writing.
Tyrell is the story of an intercity Black teen, living in a shelter, and trying to take care of his brother and make some money without resorting to dealing drugs as his father has done. The subplot deals with will-he-or-won’t-he? with his Catholic schoolgirl, underage girlfriend. (Well, he will, just not “for real,” since as everyone knows oral sex doesn’t count.)
The first few chapters had me impatient, since the impoverished characters all have cell phones and eat at McDonald’s. Good grief, I could feed my family for a week on the cost of one fast-food meal. Could, heck, I often do. But as I kept reading, I realized through the story what no amount of lecturing or explaining could have taught me: it not only takes money to make money, it takes money to save money. I can feed my family for a long time for pennies because I have a fully equipped kitchen, a chest freezer, a crock pot, dozens of cookbooks, and years of cooking experience behind me. These are people who not only don’t have those resources, they wouldn’t know what to do with them if they had them. And such people are real, even if this story is not.
I’m sorry but I don’t like Tyrell. He is a nasty, self-important, myopic jerk. But he’s a well-drawn, nasty, self-important, myopic jerk. I’ve never seen such vivid writing. I’ve never marveled more at a written interpretation of a dialect. And Ms. Booth, unlike Mark Twain (also known for dialects) is a social worker in the group she’s describing. She has empathy, she has understanding, she can bring the group alive for people who will always be far away from the inner city experience.
Review submitted by Freida Toth
Book Review
A Cool MoonlightAngela Johnson
copyright 2003
number of pages: 144
The first time I heard about Angela Johnson was on the author list posted at Color Online for the celebration of Black History Month. I found a book by her at my local library, and couldn't wait to pick it up. It was A Cool Moonlight in the Italian translation by Daniela Liconti. Although I don't often read books for children, I was immediately grabbed by the easy, beautiful writing and tender rendering of the protagonist's everyday and inner life.
The main character and narrating voice of A Cool Moonlight is Lila, an almost-nine-year-old girl who doesn't remember the sun, because she has hardly ever seen it. She has xeroderma pigmentosum, a rare genetic disease that makes her skin particularly sensitive to UV rays. As a matter of fact, Lila can't stay in the sun, and also in the night she always has to wear sunscreen and thick clothes to protect her skin from damage.
In spite of these difficulties, Lila is a lively, curious girl who likes learning new things and giving free reins to her imagination. Two friends of hers come to visit her at night: Alyssa and Elizabeth, two girls of about Lila's age, with whom she can play and explore the world. It's a pity that only she can see them!
The book cover the two months prior to Lila's ninth birthday. Her greatest wish is to be able to stand in the sunlight, feeling the sun kiss her skin. Alyssa and Elizabeth bring her "sun pieces", which Lila collects in a special sack. She is persuaded that when the sack is full, she will be able to stand in the sun. In the end, though, she reaches acceptace of her own condition, and says that "there's nothing wrong with moon girls".
Review submitted by Alessandra Peron
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Prize Bucket
When you win a contest at Color Online, you pick your own book prize from our Prize Bucket. We are always adding more books. Check out what we currently have:*recent additions
*Annie John by Jamaica Kincaid
*Meeting of the Waters by Kim McLarin
*Searching For Tina Turner by Jacqueline E. Luckett
*Dreaming In Cuban by Cristina Garcia
*Liar by Justine Larbalestier (YA)
*Sadika's Way by Hina Haq
*Toads and Diamonds by Heather Tomlison
*Rattlesnake Mesa: Stories from Native American Childhood by Ednah New Rider Weber (children)
*Elizabeti's Doll by Bodeen (children)
*Born Confused by Tanjua Deai Hidier (YA)
*Sweet, Hereafter by Angela Johnson (YA)
*Sacred Mountain Everest by Christine Taylor-Butler
*Aya by Magurerite Abouet (GN)
*Aya of Yop City by Magurerite Abouet (GN)
*Aya: The Secret Comes Out by Magurerite Abouet (GN)
*Camilla's Roses by Bernice L. McFadden
*Ash by Malinda Lo
The Rock and The River by Kekla Magoon (YA)
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
8th Grade Super Zero by Olugbemisola Rhuday Perkovich
Foxy: My Life in Three Acts by Pam Grier with Andrea Cagan
The Big Book of Soul by Stephanie R. Bird
PeaceBuilders: Daisaku Ikeda and Josei Toda, Buddhist Leaders by M. LaVora Perry (MG)
Rich: A Dyamonde Daniel book by Nikki Grimes, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie
Tortilla Sun by Jennifer Cervantes (MG)
Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson (MG)
Tofu Quilt by Ching Yeung Russell (poetry)
Amiagas and School Scandals by Diana Rodgriguez-Wallach (YA)
Amor and Summer Secrets by Diana Rodgriguez-Wallach (YA)
One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia (YA)
A Map of Home by Randa Jarrar
Rogelia's House of Magic by Martinez Wood (YA)
The Secret Keeper by Mitali Perkins (YA)
The Other Side of Paradise by Staceyann Chin
Ruined by Paula Morris (YA)
Portrait in Sepia by Isabel AllendeFleldgling by Octavia Butler
Red Glass by Laura Resau
Lilith's Brood by Octavia Butler
Awakening by L.A. Banks
Minion by L.A. Banks
Spirits of the Ordinary by Kathleen Alchala
Something to Declare by Julia Alvarez
Paula by Isabel AllendeJune-Tree: New and Selected Poems by Peter Balakian
All of Me by Venise Berrry
Kickboxing Geishas by Veronica Chambers
February Flowers by Fan Wu
Bang by Sharon G. Flake (YA)
Anila's Journey by Mary Finn
Kid B by Linden Dalecki (YA)
Begging for Change by Sharon G. Flake (YA)
The Unresolved by T.K. Welsh
Who Am I Without Him by Sharon G. Flake (YA)
Taneesha: Never Disparaging by M. Lavora Perry
Bitter Sweets by Roopa Farooki (YA)
When The Black Girl Sings by Bil Wright (YA)The Untelling by Tayari Jones
Gringolandia by Lyn Miller-Lachmann (YA)
Trail of Crumbs by Kim Sunee
The Disappearance of Irene Dos Santos by Margaret Mascarenhas
Houston, we have a problema by Gwendolyn Zepeda
B as in Beauty by Alberto Ferraras
A Mango-Shaped Space by Wendy Mass (YA)Shine, Coconut Moon by Neesha Meminger (YA)
72 Hours by Bebe Moore Campbell
Cinnamon Kiss by Walter Mosley
The Skin I'm In by Sharon Flake (YA)
Who Will Cry for the Little Boy? by Atwone Fisher
Battle of Jericho by Sharon Draper (YA)
Red River by Lalita Tademy
Kushiel's Scion by Jacqueline Carey
Ugly Ways Tina McElroy Ansa
Don't Get It Twisted by Paula Chase (YA)
Marya by Joyce Carol Oates
Barefoot Gen by Nakazawa
Goddess for Hire by Sonia Sing
The Meaning of Consuelo by Judith Ortiz Cofer (YA)Change Baby by June Spence
Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich
The Watercourse by Cynthia Zarin
Beloved by Toni Morrison
Lucky by Alice Sebold
The House On Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros (YA)
Talking Drums by Anita Diggs
Spring Snow by Yukio Mishima
The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver
In The Meantime by Iyanla Vanzant
Sold by Patricia McCormick (YA)
After Tupac & D Foster by Jacqueline Woodson (YA)
Parrotfish by Ellen Wittlinger (YA)
Haiku: Seasons of Japanese Poetry by edited Johanna BrownellThe Embroidered Couch By Lu Tiancheng translated by Lenny Hu
A Tree Grows In Brooklyn by Betty Smith
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (YA)
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
What Look Like Crazy on an ordinary day by Pearl Cleage
We Were The Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates
*Mystery Prize- choose this option and be pleasantly surprised.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Book Review
Red RiverLalita Tademy
copyright 2007
number of pages: 432
Even though Red River is the work of fiction, Lalita Tademy entertwines her family's history and the Colfax massacre into a wonderful epic story that spans generations. In 1873, the residents of Colfax Louisiana had believed in the Reconstruction which gave them the right to vote, own property, and finally be free. But the white members of the community, and Louisiana as a whole, didn't care what rights were given to the colored people.
Sam Tademy and Israel Smith were just two members of the community that went to the courthouse in the spring of 1873, to make sure the sheriff that they voted in was able to take his position. Even though the newly elected sherriff was white, the members of the white community did not want a person in the office that they had not elected in. The help promised to be sent to help make sure that the Reconstruction is obeyed never arrives. And on the morning of April 13, 1873, Easter, after a month of being in the Courthouse and keeping the ex-sherriff out, it all comes to a terrible and violent end.
Ex-Sheriff Nash and several other white men give Tademy, Smith, and the others one more chance to come out with out violence, and let them take over the courthouse, but the offer is refused. They give them 30 minutes to allow the women and children, who were at the church to celebrate Easter, to leave before the attack begins. Led by Sam Tademy, the women and children flee to the woods. The white men set fire to the roof of the courthouse, and when the men inside start surrendering with white flags, they are shot. Seven men find refuge inside a tunnel underneath the courthouse, only to be dragged out and tied together. The white men march them to another location, stopping and taking men who had no part of the courthouse siege, tying them up with the others. Most of these men are hung, shot, and worse. In the end, 150 colored men and three white men die at the Colfax massacre.
The book follows the Tademy and Smith families many years after this, and shows how far they come. Lalita Tademy is a offspring of both families and this is her history.
Review by Tenia Fleming
Book Review
Beloved
Toni Morrison
number of pages: 275
Before I get to a review I have a story to tell. When I was growing up, I lived in a mostly white town. In fact, I think there was only one other black family in the whole town. So, my grandmother felt the need to constantly give me books written by black authors, and try to force me to read them. I would not have had a problem with it if it had not been for the fact that the books that she picked always seemed to deal with slavery. And for 8 or 9 year old me that topic was too distressful. So, one day she gave me Beloved to read.
Yes, my grandmother gave me, a 8/9 year old little girl, Beloved. Needless to say, that I was so confused by the first chapter. This book is hard for some adults to read.I cannot begin to understand why she thought it was appropriate for a child. I have a feeling that she did not read the book herself but did like the concept. But anyways, I did not pick up that book until two decades later and was quick to tell anyone who asked that it was difficult and I would never try to read it again. In walks the Pulitzer Project and 1,001 Books You Must Read Before You Die and Beloved is on my TBR list.
What a difference twenty years make. I still believe that Beloved is a difficult read. The language and imagery is challenge. But I have to say that I enjoyed every last page. Morrison is a master with the English language. I could see the characters, the town, their past, and their present. For me Morrison made it all come alive. Now that I have really read the book, I can't remember what I found so difficult about it. Maybe my vocabulary and reading ability have evolved (I seriously hope so or the public school system has a lot to answer too).
The characters were very well thought out and portrayed. Each of the main characters (Sethe, Paul D, and Denver) grow throughout the novel. Morrison took the reader inside their thoughts and let you see their feelings and the reasons for their actions. Nothing was left to guess about. Each character had their own personality and past that shaped their decisions. It was intriguing to see how the events in the past lead them to the point where the story takes place. How these events shape how they each react to Beloved's presence.
Now for some people this will be a difficult read. While I enjoyed how Morrison was able to pact so much into the story, I can also see where it would make it hard for some. There are a lot of different things going on. A good portion of the story is dealt with through flash backs. Sethe, has flashbacks to her time as a slave and her escape. Paul D, has flashbacks to his own enslavement, incarceration, and all the hardship he had to go through. Denver has flashbacks to her lonely painful child. Sometimes it can be hard to figure out since Morrison gives you bits and pieces at a time. But I did enjoy her method, it just made me continue to turn the page.
Another thing that can be hard is the imagery. While Morrison does not go into great detail, the subject matter is harsh. And the things that characters go through are sad and difficult (it is a post slave tale). The decisions that they made at times can be unthinkable to someone not in their position.
Pros: Language, Imagery, Characters, Plot
Cons: Language, Imagery
Overall Recommendation:
I personally loved it and would recommend it. But I would also warn that this book is not for everybody.
Review submitted by Mahogany Howard
Toni Morrison
number of pages: 275
Before I get to a review I have a story to tell. When I was growing up, I lived in a mostly white town. In fact, I think there was only one other black family in the whole town. So, my grandmother felt the need to constantly give me books written by black authors, and try to force me to read them. I would not have had a problem with it if it had not been for the fact that the books that she picked always seemed to deal with slavery. And for 8 or 9 year old me that topic was too distressful. So, one day she gave me Beloved to read.
Yes, my grandmother gave me, a 8/9 year old little girl, Beloved. Needless to say, that I was so confused by the first chapter. This book is hard for some adults to read.I cannot begin to understand why she thought it was appropriate for a child. I have a feeling that she did not read the book herself but did like the concept. But anyways, I did not pick up that book until two decades later and was quick to tell anyone who asked that it was difficult and I would never try to read it again. In walks the Pulitzer Project and 1,001 Books You Must Read Before You Die and Beloved is on my TBR list.
What a difference twenty years make. I still believe that Beloved is a difficult read. The language and imagery is challenge. But I have to say that I enjoyed every last page. Morrison is a master with the English language. I could see the characters, the town, their past, and their present. For me Morrison made it all come alive. Now that I have really read the book, I can't remember what I found so difficult about it. Maybe my vocabulary and reading ability have evolved (I seriously hope so or the public school system has a lot to answer too).
The characters were very well thought out and portrayed. Each of the main characters (Sethe, Paul D, and Denver) grow throughout the novel. Morrison took the reader inside their thoughts and let you see their feelings and the reasons for their actions. Nothing was left to guess about. Each character had their own personality and past that shaped their decisions. It was intriguing to see how the events in the past lead them to the point where the story takes place. How these events shape how they each react to Beloved's presence.
Now for some people this will be a difficult read. While I enjoyed how Morrison was able to pact so much into the story, I can also see where it would make it hard for some. There are a lot of different things going on. A good portion of the story is dealt with through flash backs. Sethe, has flashbacks to her time as a slave and her escape. Paul D, has flashbacks to his own enslavement, incarceration, and all the hardship he had to go through. Denver has flashbacks to her lonely painful child. Sometimes it can be hard to figure out since Morrison gives you bits and pieces at a time. But I did enjoy her method, it just made me continue to turn the page.
Another thing that can be hard is the imagery. While Morrison does not go into great detail, the subject matter is harsh. And the things that characters go through are sad and difficult (it is a post slave tale). The decisions that they made at times can be unthinkable to someone not in their position.
Pros: Language, Imagery, Characters, Plot
Cons: Language, Imagery
Overall Recommendation:
I personally loved it and would recommend it. But I would also warn that this book is not for everybody.
Review submitted by Mahogany Howard
Friday, February 6, 2009
Potpourri: Literature & Women's Studies
Answer the quiz and your name will be entered in a monthly drawing. Post your reply to the comment box. Must include your e-mail to be eligible to win.
Quiz #7
Her blog describes her as a writer, author, teacher, speaker. She’s a Smith graduate. Studied abroad in Spain and authored a coming of age memoir detailing her life in a Spain very different from the one she had fantasized. She has written for Ms., Savoy, Suede, Bitch, Odyssey Couleur and Essence magazines. She maintains a blog to keep her readers plugged into an ongoing dialogue about cultural issues. Who is she and what is the title of her memoir?
Provide links if possible.
Quiz #7
Her blog describes her as a writer, author, teacher, speaker. She’s a Smith graduate. Studied abroad in Spain and authored a coming of age memoir detailing her life in a Spain very different from the one she had fantasized. She has written for Ms., Savoy, Suede, Bitch, Odyssey Couleur and Essence magazines. She maintains a blog to keep her readers plugged into an ongoing dialogue about cultural issues. Who is she and what is the title of her memoir?
Provide links if possible.
Book Review
My JimNancy Rawles
Copyright 2006
Number of pages: 192
My Jim is inspired by the character Jim in Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn. Although it is inspired by Jim, the novel tells the story of Sadie, Jim's wife. The story is told in the first person using colloquial dialog. Sadie's granddaughter is about to set off on her grown up life away from her grandmother and Sadie has finally decided to tell her story. Sadie and her granddaughter make a memory quilt while Sadie tells the young woman about the people she loved and incorporates objects that remind her of them into the quilt.
Sadie's story begins as a slave on a tobacco plantation in Missouri and continues beyond emancipation to her life as a freed slave. The novel gives the reader an appreciation of what it was like to be a slave. It makes the reader feel Sadie's emotional desolation as she experiences atrocities that were common place at the time.
While Rawles definitely doesn't sugarcoat anything, the novel is not as graphic or raw as other books based on slave narratives. Sadie is a compelling character, but most of the secondary characters are not portrayed as detailed as Sadie. I believe that the reader is held back from knowing these characters because Sadie holds herself back from loving them too much in order to avoid heartbreak when they are taken from her. Since Sadie is telling the story to her granddaughter, who never experienced slavery, the story is especially suited to young adults. It is a story of one generation explaining to another the strength of their ancestors. A strength that they share to help hold them up in current times. To quote the novel:
All them watching over you. Folks you aint even know wishing you well praying right now for your soul. If you let the spirits near you they guide you along. All them Africans. They spirits never settle till the last of they children come home...You take that quilt wherever you go. When you old and wore you think on me and all the others love you. You close your eyes and feel our love coming up behind you. Thats all you got in this world.
Ms. Rawles won an Alex Award in 2006 for My Jim. The author wrote two other novels - Love Like Gumbo which won the American Book Award and Crawfish Dreams.
Review submitted by Cora Rosenshaft
Book Review
Jason & KyraDana Davidson
copyright 2005
number of pages: 352
Jason Vincent is Cross High School's most popular star basketball player, a secretly talented writer, and a boy with a troubled relationship with his verbally abusive father. Super-smart Kyra Evans dresses slightly funny and doesn't do much to tame her hair, but she has a loving family and doesn't care what people think of her, least of all the popular group that Jason runs with. Their lives were not supposed to cross in high school at all…until a fateful English research paper project brings the two of them together, first as partners, then as friends, and finally as something more. Much more.
Jason finds that he can tell Kyra secrets that he's never told anyone. Kyra, rather inexperienced in the boy department, finds the perfect boyfriend in Jason. Both teenagers discover what love really is in their remarkable relationship, a relationship that, when first announced, brought the entire school to its feet in uproar. A Super-Jock and a Super-Brain, going together? It was unheard of. Impossible. It would never last.
Jason and Kyra's relationship may be magical, but they must withstand many obstacles thrown their way, particularly their different opinions over sex and the malevolent plans of Jason's ex-girlfriend, Lisa, the most popular girl whom he dumped for Kyra. Lisa has a plan to separate the couple and get back together with her rightful boy-property. Can Jason and Kyra's love for each other withstand hurtful assumptions?
Dana Davidson's voice is easy to read and extremely touching. Her characters are relatable, and not confined by cultural issues that sometimes stymie other readers when reading books by colored writers. Nevertheless, it is refreshable to have protagonists that don't fall in the typical middle-class, white category. Readers will find themselves sighing wistfully for a relationship as beautiful as the one Jason and Kyra share. Fans of Jacqueline Woodson and just plain romance will definitely reach for this book.
Played
Jason Vincent is Cross High School's most popular star basketball player, a secretly talented writer, and a boy with a troubled relationship with his verbally abusive father. Super-smart Kyra Evans dresses slightly funny and doesn't do much to tame her hair, but she has a loving family and doesn't care what people think of her, least of all the popular group that Jason runs with. Their lives were not supposed to cross in high school at all…until a fateful English research paper project brings the two of them together, first as partners, then as friends, and finally as something more. Much more.
Jason finds that he can tell Kyra secrets that he's never told anyone. Kyra, rather inexperienced in the boy department, finds the perfect boyfriend in Jason. Both teenagers discover what love really is in their remarkable relationship, a relationship that, when first announced, brought the entire school to its feet in uproar. A Super-Jock and a Super-Brain, going together? It was unheard of. Impossible. It would never last.
Jason and Kyra's relationship may be magical, but they must withstand many obstacles thrown their way, particularly their different opinions over sex and the malevolent plans of Jason's ex-girlfriend, Lisa, the most popular girl whom he dumped for Kyra. Lisa has a plan to separate the couple and get back together with her rightful boy-property. Can Jason and Kyra's love for each other withstand hurtful assumptions?
Dana Davidson's voice is easy to read and extremely touching. Her characters are relatable, and not confined by cultural issues that sometimes stymie other readers when reading books by colored writers. Nevertheless, it is refreshable to have protagonists that don't fall in the typical middle-class, white category. Readers will find themselves sighing wistfully for a relationship as beautiful as the one Jason and Kyra share. Fans of Jacqueline Woodson and just plain romance will definitely reach for this book.
Played
copyright 2007
number of pages
Ian Striker desperately wants to join the FBI, an ultrasecret group of the coolest, most popular guys in and out of Cross High School. To do so, he and the other "recruits" must complete some tests. For Ian, he has to make a random girl, Kylie Winship, agree to sleep with him within three weeks.
Ian Striker desperately wants to join the FBI, an ultrasecret group of the coolest, most popular guys in and out of Cross High School. To do so, he and the other "recruits" must complete some tests. For Ian, he has to make a random girl, Kylie Winship, agree to sleep with him within three weeks.
At first Ian thinks his test is a royal pain. Kylie isn't even that good-looking, and she was definitely not the kind of girl Ian wanted his friends to see him with. But as he grudgingly hangs out with Kylie in order to make her fall for him, he begins—much to his horror—to have feelings for her as well.
Kylie knows very well the type of player Ian has always been. But every time they kiss and every time he looks into her eyes, she is pretty sure she sees something in him, an emotion that's pure and real. What will become of the two young people when Ian's task is revealed and Kylie is humiliated?
Once again Dana Davidson writes an easy-to-read, easy to relate to novel about young people nowadays. She is without a doubt one of the most accessible African American writers for young adults, and her books should not be missed especially by romantics!
Review submitted by Stephanie Su
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