Links We Are Thankful For

Color Me Brown links are a series of weekly links in which we share links that pertain to literature and/or race. These are links to posts that we are grateful for (in truth we are grateful to all links about literature or dedicated to improving race relations but it would take too long to list them all).


Please show your appreciation by leaving comments and retweeting these posts :)

Denene Millner recommends book for children as part of National Buy a Book By A Black Author and Give it to Somebody Not Black Month

But when I got pregnant with my first baby, I promised that this didn’t have to be her reality—that my child didn’t have to spend the most impressionable part of her life missing and longing for herself in the pages of the best gifts I could ever give her: literature. And before she made her big debut on this sweet Earth, she had a shelf full of books, many of them books that featured characters that looked like her: Ezra Jack Keats’ “The Snowy Day,” “Goggles,” “and Whistle For Willie”; Vera B. Williams’ “More, More, More Said the Baby”; Faith Ringold’s “Tar Beach,” Nikki Giovanni’s “The Sun Is So Quiet,” Donald Crews’ “Big Mama,” Andrea Davis Pinkney’s “Duke Ellington: The Piano Prince and His Orchestra.” Admittedly, the pickings were slim. But I found them.

Barbara Caridad Ferrer (interviewed at Color Online here) talks about YA and romance

The way I see it is, if adult romance is about true love and the happy ever after, then YA is about first love and hopeful beginnings. It’s about setting the expectations—and the sometimes almost impenetrable barriers—for future relationships. In other words, those elements that create the basis for really great romance heroes and heroines.

I mean, as a romance reader I know I often find myself wondering about what damaged these characters I love so—that makes them so skittish about entering into a relationship with someone who’s so obviously perfect for them. And yes, we’ll often get at least some sort of explanation within the backstory (mores so if they’re reunion stories), but I inevitably find myself wanting more.

Asking questions. What was wrong with that first love? Why didn’t it work before? Was it not the right time for that relationship? Not the right place? Were there outside forces pulling them apart? What kind of mistakes were made? What were they thinking? In other words, what really happened?

A review of Tantalize by Cynthia Leitich Smith at 365 Days of Reading

Somewhat lacking in genuine romantic elements despite its title, Tantalize offers a fun concept with a splash of paranormal. Although there were dark elements to the story, the upbeat narration and fast-paced writing style kept Tantalize from being a downer. The murder-mystery elements were great, and I liked that even though the killer’s identity was pretty obvious, there was a surprise twist that I never expected

A review of The Trouble With Half a Moon by Danette Vigilante at A Few More Pages

I really didn't expect The Trouble With Half a Moon to grab a hold of my heart so tightly. I don't read a lot of contemporary urban fiction, but this one seemed to call out to me. An urban setting may seem alien to someone like me, who grew up in a rural area, but the topics of grief, loss, and healing are universal. The Trouble with Half a Moon focuses on a 13-year-old girl named Dellie, who blames herself for her brother's death and wrestles with those emotions on a daily basis. Her brother's death is ever-present in both her emotions and in her parents' actions. Her mother's fear of losing another child keeps Dellie inside her apartment much of the time. But Dellie longs to have a more typical teen existence, to spend time with her friends and neighbors. Her best friend is fighting with her, and the boy Dellie likes seems interested in spending time together, but she has to watch the outside world from her window.

Share your links with us in the comments!