Happy Birthday: Ernessa T. Carter

Everyone at Color Online is still on a hiatus. Just dropping in quickly to wish Ernessa T. Carter author of 32 Candles a happy birthday. Today is her birthday at least that's what she said.

Our gift to the author is a look at a few of the great things people have said about 32 Candles

The Eclectic Book Lover
Perhaps what I love most, though, about this novel is its voice. Carter touches on things common to the black experience in such a universal way that anyone can understand and enjoy it. It's not a book that will only truly resonate with black people. The narrative is engaging, witty and intelligent and the dialogue manages to be in the appropriate vernaculars for the right characters. There's no overdone colloquialisms and no caricaturing of Southern dialects.

While this novel could be simply classified as "chick lit", it's so much more than that. Davie's story isn't just cute and romantic, but grandly triumphant and I loved every word of it

Reads4Pleasure
When was the last time you stayed up late to read a book? 32 Candles is so good that I started reading it at a bowling alley, ignored Twitter and the TV when I got home and stayed up until I was done with it. Yes, it's that good

My love for Davidia Jones

Its the 80's Davidia loves John Hughes films. Like Celie from the Color Purple, Davidia may be poor, black, she may even be ugly but she still dreams of a Molly Ringwald ending. Sixteen Candles is Davidia's favorite Ringwald film. She thinks she's found her very own Jake Ryan in James Farrell

I've shown a lot of restraint waiting this long to say I loved 32 Candles. Its ridiculously good. Its my favorite fiction debut of the year. I cared about and loved Davidia from the beginning. Her voice is original and realistic. In the first half of the Davidia Jones is the victim. In the second half, Davie Jones begins to take charge. 32 Candles is sad, funny, smart and entertaining, basically everything a great book should be.

Ernessa - Happy Birthday. Thanks so much for such an original debut.

Happy Birthday: Hiromi Goto

Hiromi Goto's -WWOC, She is one of the few author's that list her year of birth. Our gift to the author is a look back on what people have said about her YA debut Half World

Bernie Goedhart's review
Canadian illustrator Jillian Tamaki’s spectacular cover art first drew me to Half World. Neil Gaiman’s testimonial on the front cover prompted me to open the book and start reading.

I’m glad I did.

Author Hiromi Goto, born in Japan and now living in Burnaby, B.C., has created a story that is complex, unsettling (sometimes downright stomach-churning), thought-provoking and not an easy read. For those who stay with it, however, the results are rewarding.

Zetta Elliott
Have you ever stopped reading a book because you couldn’t bear for it to end? That was my experience reading Hiromi Goto‘s Half World. I was on the train and I was totally absorbed in the narrative—would Melanie make it across the bridge of crows? Would she find the nerve to bite off the baby’s finger to pay the toll and open the portal? This book is intense—yet it’s also funny at times, and poignant at others.

Hiromi, I am very happy Ari introduced you and your work to Color Online. On behalf of everyone at CO - Happy Birthday and Happy New Year

Happy Birthday :Jennifer Cervantes

Jennifer Cervantes did WWOC, that's how I know today is her birthday. Our gift to the author, a look back at what people have said about her wonderful middle grade debut Sun Torilla.

Mother Daughter Book Club review
Tortilla Sun had me longing to see the Sandia Mountains, feel the warmth of the sun and hear the call of the wind. New Mexico comes as vividly alive as the bright colors worn by many of its people. This book is recommended for ages 9 to 12, but I think girls up to 14 or 15 may enjoy it too. And the moms are likely to be delighted by Izzy’s journey of self-discovery. Issues to discuss include family heritage, ethnic traditions, dealing with grief and finding acceptance.

Lyn Miller-Lachmann's review @ Readergirlz
"Cervantes’s debut novel reveals the rich fabric of the community and a spunky and appealing protagonist. Izzy’s energy and impatience ring true, as well as her feeling of being out of sync with the village at first. The same feeling of being at odds with her surroundings helped to drive away Izzy’s mother, but the youngster’s desire to connect with her past bonds her to people with whom she otherwise has little in common. Cervantes uses elements of magic realism as markers of the characters’ emotional transformation in a way that is subtle and natural. Most compelling, though, is the connection between the athletic, tomboyish Izzy to the father she never knew, a promising baseball player until the tragedy that took his life."

Pamela Kramer's reveiw @ Examiner
Some books grab you like a locomotive and you cling on for your life as the story roars down the track--and you can't let go. Other books, like Tortilla Sun, are like a cup of cocoa on a cool evening--to be sipped slowly while enjoying the fragrant aroma and sweet taste.

Sun Tortilla was one of my favorite debuts of the year. On behalf of everyone at Color Online, Enjoy your day and have a very Happy New Year. And more stories please.

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