Black Issues Book Review articles from January 2006

Black Issues Book Review archives from January 2006

Book industry history makers.(from the editor-in-chief)(Editorial)
January 1, 2006... WHY ARE THESE UNFAMILIAR faces on the cover of this, our 7th anniversary and annual Black History Month issue? That's what you may be wondering. If so, your question is valid. The answer is that we at BIBR believe that these individuals,...

December 1, 1955.(executive editor's view)(Rosa Parks )
January 1, 2006... PEOPLE ALWAYS SAY THAT I DIDN'T give up my seat because I was tired, but that isn't true. 1 was not tired physically, or no more tired than I usually was at the end of a working day... No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in," Rosa...

Uncovering the facts.(letter to the editor)(Letter to the Editor)
January 1, 2006... Readers might be left with the erroneous impression that the family of Emma Dunham Kelley-Hawkins ("Lost in Time," September 2005) had kept quiet about her mistaken racial classification as African American for a very long time. In fact, the...

Awards Season.(between the lines: the inside scoop on what's happening in the publishing industry)
January 1, 2006... Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr. of Harvard University and actress S. Epatha Merkerson (Lackawanna Blues, Law & Order) were cohosts for a gala event to present the 2005 Hurston/Wright Legacy Awards at the Hudson Theater of the Millennium Broadway...

Signings & sightings.(book festivals and conferences)(Calendar)
January 1, 2006... BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, NY The Eighth National Black Writers Conference Black Literature: Expanding Conversations on Race, Identity, History and Genre, Thursday, March 30, 2006-Sunday, April 2, 2006, Medgar Evers College (CUNY), Brooklyn, New...

The flex plan: clubs for those who don't have time for clubs.(books & clubs)(Directory)
January 1, 2006... RENA SIMMONS IS CONSTANTLY IN motion. As the single mother of two with a hectic job at an accounting firm in Baltimore, Maryland, she has to be; and there's little time in her schedule to unwind with books and discuss them with friends. ...

The color of love: Harlequin courts African American women with its own new lines and elopes with BET/Arabesque imprint.
January 1, 2006... QUESTION: What's "sweet and beautiful" and read all over? Executives at Harlequin Enterprises, the company name synonymous with romance for more than five decades, are hoping that black women will find the answer to this contemporary publishing...

And Jayden and Alexis lived happily ever after: the romance author's job is to deliver dreams--or else.(the love scene)
January 1, 2006... "Taking romance readers to a higher level...Port City style" is the theme of Romance Slam Jam 2006. The conference will be held March 9-12 at the Clarion Hotel, 419 East 70th Street in Shreveport, Louisiana. To register or for more information...

In his footsteps: Johnson's company began publishing its own books to satisfy growing interest in black history.(self-publishing)
January 1, 2006... JOHN H. JOHNSON, THE MAGAZINE publisher who died last August at age 87, also headed a four-decade-old book division that essentially sprang from a groundbreaking historical series in Ebony. The owner/publisher explained in chapter 40 of his...

Large and in charge: people who are making it and making a difference in the book industry.(Books)(Cover Story)
January 1, 2006... "THE PROBLEM OF THE 20TH CENTURY IS THE PROBLEM OF THE COLOR LINE," said W.E.B. Du Bois in The Souls of Black Folk, published in 1903. In that too-recently-ended era of legal segregation, the powerless condition of black people could be...

A change the air: book industry eyes the market and goes after diverse talent to reach it.
January 1, 2006... Diversifying the publishing industry is a work in progress, according to industry experts. A few years ago, the leading book publishing trade association began to promote racial diversity in the industry. Since that initiative by the...

Jazz You Can See.(Circle Dance: The Art Of John T. Scott)(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... Circle Dance: The Art Of John T. Scott by Richard J. Powell University Press of Mississippi; Copublished with the New Orleans Museum of Art June 2005, $45, ISBN 1-578-06773-1 Years ago, I was riveted by the sight of long, colorfully painted...

Literacy calendar.(Calendar)
January 1, 2006... JANUARY January 20-25, 2006 The American Library Association Midwinter will be held in January at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio, Texas. Get details by calling 1-800-545-2433 or going to www.ala.org. ...

Writing camps: got skills?(young adult)
January 1, 2006... Swimming, canoeing, hiking and eating s'mores are the perfect camp activities, but where do you send your aspiring young Toni Morrison or Walter Mosley to hone the craft? Black Issues Book Review has selected a few writing camps that should...

Black history month: understanding our past; new books guide young readers through history's lessons.(children's bookshelf)(Show Way)(Copper Sun)(They Dance Alone)(Children's review)(Book review)
January 1, 2006... Just as authors of adult books seem more eager to tackle the topic of slavery (see "Loose the Shackles," page 40), children's book authors appear to be offering more stories to help young readers understand its role in our nation's history. New...

Loose the shackles: when fiction writers brave the harsh realities of slavery.(Bibliography)
January 1, 2006... A few years back, the folks at HBO asked Walter Mosley to write the narration for the film Middle Passage, a spare and haunting examination of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. The movie, originally written in French, is told entirely through...

Owning people: latest nonfiction on the institution of slavery dig deeper into a troubling subject.(Bibliography)
January 1, 2006... If you think historians are not interested in understanding the institution of slavery in America and its legacy, think again. More than two dozen books we found published in the last year alone seem to probe every corner and fact of human...

The face in the mirror: a writer's search for the Confederates in the family tree leads to some unexpected discoveries.(My Confederate Kinfolk )(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... How much of our history do we really want to know? Thulani Davis had never really planned to look for her "roots" and most especially not the white ones. Thirty years after she inherited two albums of tintype pictures and photographs that once...

Dual heritage: new resources offer clues to the hidden legacy of Afro-Native American kinships.(bibliomane: Choice Books From University Presses and Small Publishers)
January 1, 2006... IT COULD BE THE RECENT OPENING OF A Smithsonian museum dedicated to Native Americans. Maybe it's the allure of glitz and rumors of tax-free cash from reservation casinos. Or perhaps it's just a deep-seated desire to nail down those venerable...

Saving ourselves: archival treasures: the closing of the Clark Atlanta library school renews interest in collections at many historically black colleges and universities.
January 1, 2006... A MIGHTY GIANT WENT DOWN IN THE SOUTH RECENTLY, CLOSING A rich history of black librarianship that very few people Clark Atlanta University's School of Library Informa(SLIS) permanently closed its doors in June 2005, ending the programs of the...

Common ground: librarians from five racial or cultural caucuses plan historic gathering.
January 1, 2006... LIBRARIANS OF EVERY RACE AND ETHNICITY WILL ASSEMBLE THIS FALL FOR A HISTORIC GATHERING to discuss mutual challenges and expanding opportunities. The Joint Librarians of Color will host its first-ever national conference at the Adam's Mark...

Bidding for history: Swann Galleries' auction of rare manuscripts and printed African Americana draws buyers who appreciate its importance.
January 1, 2006... WHEN WYATT HOUSTON DAY FIRST GOT THE IDEA IN 1994 FOR AN AUCTION OF "PRINTED and manuscript African Americana" at the venerable Swann Galleries auction house in New York City, he had an inkling that it was one whose time had come. Working as a...

Just the facts: reference works on African Americans are foundations of a good home library.(essential: Selections for the well-stocked personal library)(Bibliography)
January 1, 2006... IF I COULD CHOOSE BETWEEN MY HUMBLE Brooklyn digs and one of the celebrity homes featured on MTV Cribs, I'd gladly take the 14-room mansion with guest house and multicar garage, thank you very much--but on one condition. They'd have to build me...

For all seasons: Philadelphia group spreads love of black writing to community throughout the year.
January 1, 2006... LORENE CARY (Black Ice, Knopf, 1991) recalls being a young mother rushing through the snow to get to the Celebration of Black Writing in Philadelphia in the '80s, years before she founded the organization that would eventually take it over. "I...

On Beauty.(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... * On Beauty by Zadie Smith The Penguin Press, September 2005 $25.95, ISBN 1-594-20063-7 The members of both the Belsey and Kipps families are stalwart theorists. Their individual and collected perceptions of things "beautiful," both...

Joplin's Ghost.(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... Joplin's Ghost by Tananarive Due Atria Books, September 2005 $25, ISBN 0-743-44903-8 Due is often described as a horror writer, but her smart, original stories seem to transcend the genre. In her most recent novel, Due tells the story of a...

The Whale Caller.(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... * The Whale Caller by Zakes Mda Farrar, Straus and Giroux, December 2005 $23, ISBN 0-374-28785-6 A love triangle involving a man, a woman and a whale might seem implausible, but this is the premise of Zakes Mda's most recent novel, The...

They Tell Me of a Home.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... * They Tell Me of a Home by Daniel Black St Martin's Press, October 2005 $24.95, ISBN 0-312-34187-3 The author believes that "every author's first novel is usually his own story," and he admits that his own autobiographical truths...

Voodoo Season: A Marie Laveau Mystery.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... Voodoo Season: A Marie Laveau Mystery by Jewell Parker Rhodes Atria Books, August 2005 $24, ISBN 0-743-48327-8 To believe in voodoo requires a suspension of disbelief--to accept the unacceptable and embrace the impossible. This is the...

The Long Mile.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... The Long Mile by Clyde W. Ford Midnight Ink, October 2005 $13.95, ISBN 0-738-70785-6 Set in contemporary New York City--the province of contemporary thriller detective stories (think NYPD Blue)--this novel is about a black police officer...

The Pride.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... The Pride by Wallace Ford Dafina Books/Kensington Publishing November 2005 $14, ISBN 0-758-20952-5 A first-time novelist focuses on four prominent members of an elite group, The Pride. They are Paul Taylor, a shrewd attorney; Diedre...

The Middle Sister.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... The Middle Sister by Bonnie J. Glover One World/Ballantine Books, June 2005 $12.95, ISBN 0-345-48090-2 This debut novelist explores the theme of separation in her explosive book. Our narrator begins the novel in the 1970s as a child in...

Whatever It Takes.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... Whatever It Takes by Gwynne Forster Dafina Books/Kensington Publishing August 2005, $14, ISBN 0-758-20654-2 From the time they were children, the twins Kellie and Lacette Graham have been polar opposites. Lacette is kind and considerate,...

In Sheep's Clothing.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... In Sheep's Clothing by Mary Monroe Dafina Books/Kensington Publishing September 2005, $24, ISBN 0-758-20344-6 Twenty-eight year old Trudy Bell's new job at the Bon Voyage travel agency might be the worst trip of her life. In frustration,...

Counting Raindrops Through a Stained Glass Window.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... Counting Raindrops Through a Stained Glass Window by Cherlyn Michaels Hyperion, September 2005 $12.95, ISBN 1-401-30813-9 Vanella Morris mistakenly thought her boyfriend of six years would accept a live-in arrangement over marriage....

Mistakes Men Make.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... Mistakes Men Make by Byron Harmon Pocket Books, July 2005 $13, ISBN 0-7434-8309-X This new novel by a television producer is a candid, unflattering look into the world of sports journalism and the New York City nightlife. It is a succinct...

Pretty Evil.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... Pretty Evil by Lexi Davis Pocket Books, October 2005 $14, ISBN 1-416-50525-3 This is a notable first novel with outrageous and sometimes impossible antics of four mismatched friends that has the makings of a television sitcom. Their...

Zahrah the Windseeker.(Brief Article)(Children's Review)(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... Zahrah the Windseeker by Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu Houghton Mifflin Company, September 2005, $16, ISBN 0-618-34090-4 Ages 10-13 If you are looking for book with a fantastical, classical edge, you have definitely found it in Okorafor-Mbachu's...

From Pieces to Weight: Once Upon a Time in Southside Queens.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... From Pieces to Weight: Once Upon a Time in Southside Queens by 50 Cent MTV Books, August 2005 $23, ISBN 0-743-48644-7 Before America was sold the music of rapper 50 Cent (nee Curtis James Jackson III), they were sold the brutal backstory he...

Other noteworthy titles.
January 1, 2006... 50 Cent: No Holds Barred by Jake Brown Colossus Books/Amber Communications Group, Inc., June 2005 $16.95, ISBN 0-976-77352-X Music producer Jake Brown offers another take on 50 Cent's struggles in the streets and his triumphs in the recording...

Mister Gumbo: Down and Dirty With Black Men on Life, Sex and Relationships.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... Mister Gumbo: Down and Dirty With Black Men on Life, Sex and Relationships by Ursula Inga Kindred and Mirranda Guerin-Williams St. Martin's Griffin, August 2005 $13.95, ISBN 1-312-32681-5 These authors do a little traveling, meeting 18...

Life's Spices from Seasoned Sistahs: A Collection of Life Stories from Mature Women of Color.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... Life's Spices From Seasoned Sistahs: A Collection of Life Stories From Mature Women of Color Edited by Vicki Ward Nubian Images Publishing Company March 2005, $14.95, ISBN 0-975-51620-5 It's rare to find a self-help book that sounds as...

Livin' Large: African American Sisters Confront Obesity.(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... Livin' Large: African American Sisters Confront Obesity by Stacy Ann Mitchell, M.D. and Teri D. Mitchell Hilton Publishing Company, Inc, October 2004 $16.95, ISBN 0-971-60674-9 This book was written as a dialogue between two biological...

Hungry for More: A Keeping-It-Real Guide for Black Women on Weight and Body Image.(Book Review)(Brief Review)
January 1, 2006... Hungry for More: A Keeping-It-Real Guide for Black Women on Weight and Body Image by Robyn McGee Seal Press, December 2005 $13.95, ISBN 1-598005-149-9 McGee, an activist and women's rights advocate, provides valuable information and...

Between mission and message: just how Christian is this "Christian fiction"?(faith)
January 1, 2006... THE AFOREMENTIONED QUESTION in the title above echoes the debate of ages past concerning the traditions, nuances and messages of the black religious experience. Should the black church be found guilty of serving as an opiate for its loyal...

Any Rich Man Will Do.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... Any Rich Man Will Do by Francis Ray St. Martin's Press, October 2005 $13.95, ISBN 0-312-32431-6 Fans can always depend on this veteran novelist to weave an engaging story. The latest novel is no exception, but Ray tries some "firsts" here....

First Mates.(Book Review)(Brief Review)
January 1, 2006... First Mates by Cecelia Dowdy Steeple Hill, February 2005 $4.99, ISBN 0-373-87298-4 Rainy Jackson takes a cruise around the Caribbean to get over a faithless ex. When she meets Winston Michaels, they put their faith and belief in love to...

Good to Me.(Book Review)(Brief Review)
January 1, 2006... Good to Me by LaTonya Mason Walk Worthy Press/Warner Books October 2005, $13.95 ISBN 0-446-69645-5 Charity Phillips, a Christian therapist, minister and single mother, must rely on her trust in the Lord when her new business is in jeopardy...

Seasons.(Book Review)(Brief Review)
January 1, 2006... Seasons by Bonnie Hopkins Walk Worthy Press/Warner Books October 2005, $21.95 ISBN 0-446-57846-0 After finding strength to get past Maxie, the man who abandoned her when she was pregnant, and her family who turned her away, Jacetta...

Creating Black Americans: African American History and Its Meanings, 1619 to the Present.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... Creating Black Americans: African American History and Its Meanings, 1619 to the Present by Nell Irvin Painter Oxford University Press, November 2005 $30, ISBN 0-195-13755-6 In her latest book, this Princeton professor and historian...

Einstein on Race and Racism.(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... Einstein on Race and Racism by Fred Jerome and Rodger Taylor Rutgers University Press, July 2005 $23.95, ISBN 0-8135-3617-0 The world's preeminent scientist significantly confronted race issues, but this facet of Albert Einstein's life is...

Innocents Lost: When Child Soldiers Go to War.(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... Innocents Lost: When Child Soldiers Go to War by Jimmie Briggs Basic Books, August 2005 $24.95, ISBN 0-465-00798-8 Afghanistan. Rwanda. Uganda. It's not hard to visualize any of these war-torn countries, with all their plight and...

Beloved Harlem: A Literary Tribute to Black America's Most Famous Neighborhood, From the Classics to the Contemporary.(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... Beloved Harlem: A Literary Tribute to Black America's Most Famous Neighborhood, From the Classics to the Contemporary Edited by William H. Banks Jr. Harlem Moon/Broadway Books August 2005, $18.95, ISBN 0-767-91478-3 The one regret I have...

The Ethics of Identity.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 1, 2006... The Ethics of Identity by Kwame Anthony Appiah Princeton University Press, January 2005 $29.95, ISBN 0-691-12036-6 Most scholars acknowledge that identities are socially constructed. Few, however, discuss the impact such an acknowledgement...

No turning back: Dr. Kenneth B. Clark, who marshaled the science of psychology to move the Supreme Court, held onto his faith in integration.(tribute)(Biography)
January 1, 2006... I MET THE WORLD-RENOWNED PSYCHOLOGIST, educator and civil rights activist Dr. Kenneth Bancroft Clark only once, and then, rather briefly. But it was a highly memorable first meeting. I was the editor of The Crisis, the official magazine of the...

Flying off the shelves.
January 1, 2006... Hardcover Fiction 1. The Interruption of Everything/ Terry McMillan (NEW) ($25.95, Viking, ISBN 0-670-03144-5) McMillan's sixth novel is a tale of midlife crisis told in the witty, honest and inspiring style we've come to expect...