New Crayons: What's New On Our Shelves

Remember when you were a kid and getting new crayons was a big deal? Getting new books holds the same kind of magic for some of us big kids. Every week on Sunday, I post what's new in our box. I think crayons is a pretty cool metaphor for multicultural lit. Every week we receive a book is a good week.

We had a good week. Check out our full box this week:

Foxy: My Life in Three Acts by Pam Grier with Andrea Cagan. I love memoirs and my formative years were the 70s so I'm really hoping this lives up to the fantasy. Ms. Grier wasn't just beautiful she embodied power, independence, a woman who did what she pleased.
Iconic for her roles in such gems of the genre as CoJJy and Foxy Brown, Grier has also appeared in mainstream films, the likes of Fort Apache the Bronx and Mars Attacks. Her b exploitation efforts were made on shoestring budgets without much time for rehearsal or nuance, but when given a much meatier role - the title character in Quentin Taranti no's Jackie Brown - she turned in a spectacular performance. ~California Chronicle

The Big Book of Soul by Stephanie R. Bird. Stephanie is a new author for me. We recently connected and I'm really excited about reading her book. I want to read more nonfiction and her topic is so where I am right now. Coming behind my read of Carleen Brice's book, Children of The Waters where the main character is immersed in her ancestry, herbs and holistic living this is right on time.
Bird (A Healing Grove) has enjoyed a rich and complex background before writing in spirituality. This is perhaps her most far-reaching effort thus far. Her work on Hoodoo (African American folk magic traditions) has not been without its critics, but Bird is after something different from a traditional conception of Hoodoo—she is, like many postmodern neopagans (although she might resist that term), inventing a new tradition that syncretizes the best of her inherited traditions and the best of the practices she sees around her. Library Journal

Arc & Hue by Tara Betts. Tara is no stranger here but if you don't know her, visit her blog and Facebook page. I have been patiently waiting for this copy. Will share my thoughts after I read it and then it will be housed in our book loan program. I want to share this with many and encourage you to support the poet by purchasing your own copy.
Betts is also a poet’s poet, and the work collected in Arc & Hue is often stunning. With a foreword from Afaa M. Weaver and blurbs from Thomas Sayers Ellis, Patricia Smith, and others, this debut collection feels very much like a launch into the canon. ~The Defenders Online

M+O 4EVR by Tonya Cherie Hegmain. I have really wanted to read this. This is a belated birthday present from Ari. She has really been after me to keep a book instead of giving them away. This one I'm keeping. I've been stalled on my GLTB Challenge reads.
See full review at Happy Nappy Bookseller.




PeaceBuilders: Daisaku Ikeda and Josei Toda, Buddhist Leaders by M. LaVora Perry.
I recently finished Taneesha Never Disparaging. If you want a good book to share with children about a faith most people know little about, this is a good choice. Looking forward to this new title from Ms. Perry. See a review at Multiculturalism Rocks.

Sweet Hereafter by Angela Johnson. This is the final book in the Heaven triology. I've read and loved both First Part Last and Heaven. If you don't know these books, do check them out.

Rich: A Dyamonde Daniel book by Nikki Grimes, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie. Unexpected surprise. Two copies so we'll put one in our Prize Bucket and the other I'll likely donate.



What did you get this week in the mail, at the bookstore or the library? Write a blog post and drop us a link and I'll add your name to a monthly drawing for a book of your choice from our Prize Bucket.