Black Issues Book Review articles from July 2001

Black Issues Book Review archives from July 2001

A Great Summer for Black Books.
July 1, 2001... This summer offers the best publishing line-up of fiction by black authors, perhaps in history. Not only are a number of our beloved best-selling favorites back with long-awaited next novels, but a number of rising stars are returning with...

Reading the Fine Print.
July 1, 2001... To me, it's one of actor Morgan Freeman's most memorable roles: Back in the late 1970s, Freeman was a regular on a now defunct PBS-TV kids' show The Electric Company. (The Electric Company was an educational TV program targeted to the...

letters to the editor.
July 1, 2001... DEAR EDITOR, Congratulations to the BIBR family on the fantastic May/June 2001 issue. This issue had something for everyone and much needed literary news to awaken the soul of a people. Keep up the good work. --Felicia Polk Smith...

Corrections.(Brief Article)(Correction Notice)
July 1, 2001... Due to a production error in our May/June issue, a list of books published by black-owned gay/lesbian presses was inadvertently combined with a list of books published by general gay/lesbian presses. The following presses are black-owned:...

Deals.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Anita Diggs, senior editor and director of One World/Ballantine Books, signed Queen Latifah to a high six-figure deal for world rights to her new book Star about the ups and downs of celebrity life. Diggs also acquired the world rights to Bill,...

Amistad Press.(appointment)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Manie Barron, publishing manager of Amistad Press, is joining the prestigious William Morris Agency as a literary agent. Barron was a book-industry sales rep for many years, then moved to Random House, where he served as African American...

Bernette Ford who founded Cartwheel Books at Scholastic, is stepping down as editorial director to start yet another new venture at the children's publishing giant.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Bernette Ford who founded Cartwheel Books at Scholastic, is stepping down as editorial director to start yet another new venture at the children's publishing giant. She will develop a multicultural imprint of African American and Latino titles...

Monica Harris has left the top editor's job at Black Expressions, the 100,000-plus-member book club to become a freelance consultant.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Monica Harris has left the top editor's job at Black Expressions, the 100,000-plus-member book club to become a freelance consultant. Carol Mackey, former Black Expressions copywriter, is the new editor-in-chief.

Smith & Polk Public Relations made its official debut at a launch party hosted by E. Lynn Harris at his Chicago home during this year's annual Book Expo America.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Smith & Polk Public Relations made its official debut at a launch party hosted by E. Lynn Harris at his Chicago home during this year's annual Book Expo America. Partners Roderick Smith and Felicia Polk will offer full-scale public relations...

Kudos to the Chisholm-Mingo Group! The agency was named the Black Enterprise 100 Advertising Agency of the Year.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Kudos to the Chisholm-Mingo Group! The agency was named the Black Enterprise 100 Advertising Agency of the Year. Chisholm-Mingo is one of the nation's premier African American agencies, whose expertise in multicultural marketing and public...

Black Art Collector at the Met.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Audience Development Multicultural Initiative has a mission to increase public awareness of the Museum's multicultural collection and programs, encourage participation in Museum activities, and create ongoing...

Mammy is Free at Last!(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Though the controversial novel The Wind Done Gone by Alice Randall was reviewed by BIBR in the May/June 2001 issue (p. 22), the book's originally scheduled publication was blocked by a court order obtained by the estate of Margaret Mitchell,...

Looking Back at the Roots Phenomenon.(Critical Essay)
July 1, 2001... Twenty-five years ago, Doubleday published Alex Haley's "factional" account of his African American family, launching a juggernaut that redefined Americans' perceptions of slaves and slavery. During the summer of 1976, cascading fireworks...

Pearl Cleage's Idlewild Idylls.(Interview)
July 1, 2001... On the publication of her second novel set in the once popular black resort town in Michigan, Cleage talks about how she became a writer who delivers in several genres. In our increasingly multi-media world, content is king. Still it can...

I Wish I Had a Red Dress.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... I Wish I Had a Red Dress by Pearl Cleage William Morrow, July 2001, $24.00, ISBN 0-380-97584-X For many writers, having your debut novel chosen as an Oprah's Book Club pick might be an insurmountable barrier to future creativity. Not so...

Playwright's Choice.(ten plays recommended by Pearl Cleage)
July 1, 2001... The best-selling novelist who made her early reputation as a dramatist in black theater shares her favorite plays in print Many years ago, I attended the Atlanta premiere of Ntozake Shange's classic play For Colored Girls Who Have...

Playwright by Ear.(Brief Article)(Bibliography)
July 1, 2001... LA Theatre Works' ethnically diverse audiocassette services series releases black drama performances Theater is most often thought of as a place where plays are presented complete with ascending rows of seating. On Broadway, off Broadway,...

African Americans On Stage: A Selected Bibliography.(Brief Article)(Bibliography)
July 1, 2001... African Americans have developed some of the most dynamic forms of stage artistry. The territorial scope of our artistic legacies is broad, and black dramatic expressivity includes the popular, the profane, the improvisational, the...

What You Owe Me.(Review)
July 1, 2001... What You Owe Me by Bebe Moore Campbell Penguin Putnam, August 2001, $26.95, ISBN 0-399-14784-5 Grudges can be hard to bury. Even when a body is six feet under, its soul, alive and well, may still be harboring a grudge. Bebe Moore...

Fearless Jones.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Fearless Jones by Walter Mosley Little Brown, June 2001, ISBN 0-316-59238-2 Loyal, chivalrous, empathetic and romantic are traits not often used when creating African American male characters. Not true with Walter Mosley. In fact, these...

John Henry Days.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... John Henry Days by Colson Whitehead Doubleday/Broadway Books, May 2001, $24.95 ISBN 0-318-549819-5 Whitehead has scored another winner with John Henry Days. Whitehead is the recipient of the 2000 Whiting Writer's Award and his first book,...

The Justus Girlz.(Review)
July 1, 2001... The Justus Girlz by Slim Lambright Harper Collins, July/August 2001, $24.00/$36.50, ISBN 0-060-18476-0 Long live the sisterhood! The unity between black women is brought to life through Slim Lambright's well-written and intricately--woven...

Any way the Wind Blows.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Any way the Wind Blows by E. Lynn Harris Random House, July 2001, $19.95 ISBN 0-385-50266-4 The latest literary offering from E. Lynn Harris is chock full of tawdry tales of deception, deceit, bed-hopping and scandalous revelations by the...

The Day Eazy-E Died.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... The Day Eazy-E Died by James Earl Hardy Alyson Books, August 2001, $21.95 ISBN 1-555-83509-0 Zora Neale Hurston did it in Their Eyes Were Watching God. Alice Walker mastered it in the unforgettable The Color Purple. And now James Earl...

Show & Tell.(Review)
July 1, 2001... Show & Tell by Nelson George Scribner, May 2001, $12.00, ISBN 0-743-20443-3 If you want to read a savvy, funny, intelligent, erotic mystery, pick up Nelson George's newest novel, Show & Tell. If you've never experienced all of these...

Dark.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Dark by Kenji Jasper Broadway Books June 2001, $12.95, ISBN 0-767-90707-8 A distinct set of rules applies to the neighborhood in which this debut novel is set. About those rules: Young Black men go to "rest in peace" parties for each other...

Guys in Suits.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Guys in Suits by Van Whitfield Doubleday/Broadway Books, July 2001, $22.95, ISBN-0-385-49846-2 A new book by author Van Whit field shines a spotlight on contemporary urban relationships from the voice of the African American man. Guys in...

Pipe Dreams.(Review)
July 1, 2001... Pipe Dreams by Solomon Jones Striver's Row, July 2001, $13.95, ISBN 0-375-75660-4 Recently, Philadelphia has been the setting for great dramatic fiction. Authors like Diane McKinney Whetstone, BeBe Moore Campbell, and Lorraine Carey have...

The Hearts of Men.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... The Hearts of Men by Travis Hunter Striver's Row, June 2001, $13.95, ISBN 0-375-75709-0 Male egos are fragile yet shatterproof in this true-to-life debut novel. Tough lessons and father-wit loom large in this story about men staying the...

Church Folk.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Church Folk by Michele Andrea Bowen Warner Books, June 2001, $21.95, ISBN 0-446-52799-8 Set in 1963, just as the Civil Rights Movement was heating up, this occasionally funny book is curiously old-fashioned. Only the bounce and tickle...

Singsation.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Singsation By Jacqueline Thomas Walk Worthy Press, April 2001, $21.95, ISBN 0-446-52798-X Trusting and standing up for God in every situation, no matter the costs are the main issues in this inspiring novel. Deborah Anne Peterson of Villa...

Sex and the Single Sister.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Sex and the Single Sister by Maryann Reid St. Martins Press, June 2001, $23.95, ISBN 0-312-27498-X Sex and the Single Sister is likened to the cable television show Sex and the City. It is a light, wonderful read that allows you to escape...

This Side of Eternity.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... This Side of Eternity by Rosalyn McMillan Free Press, $24.00, ISBN 0-684-86288-3 We've heard so much about Dr. Martin Luther King's last days in Memphis, but so little about that city's everyday black folks and how their lives and...

Soul Mates Dissipate.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Soul Mates Dissipate by Mary B. Morrison Kensington/Dafina Books, June 2001 $23.00, ISBN 1-575-66913-7 This steamy debut novel tackles the uncertain terrain of what can happen when love goes awry. With page-turning scenes that keep the...

Rhythms.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Rhythms by Donna Hill St. Martin's Press, August 2001, $23.95, ISBN 0-312-27299-5 Best-selling author, Donna Hill's next creation is an intriguing family saga spanning three generations. It delves into the emotion-laden lives of Cora, Emma...

Satin Doll.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Satin Doll By Karen E. Quinones Miller Simon & Schuster, July 200l, $23.00 ISBN 0-743-21433-1 Satin Doll is the story of Regina Harris, a woman who grew up in Harlem and makes choices which lead to devious activities such as shoplifting....

Poetry reviews.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Crossing over into new literary genres can be difficult for authors, but leaping directly from poetry to a novel is a daunting task that only the truly exceptional can accomplish successfully. In 1925, a young man named Countee Cullen...

Love'Koo.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Love'Koo by Kwasi Ramsey Black Alchemist Press, January 2001, $11.95, ISBN 0-967-10826-8 With sensual symmetry, Kwasi Ramsey captures the complexities of masculine convention in his second collection of poetry, Love'Koo. A work that is as...

Ash.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Ash by Sharan Strange Beacon Press, April 2001, $14.00, ISBN 0-807-06863-2 A member of the Boston-based Dark Room Collective and current resident of Washington, D.C., Strange chooses a place south of these two cities to take her poetic...

unusual Suspects.(museum exhibit catalogs important sources of black heritage information)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... The pleasures of browsing and collecting museum exhibition catalogs Historically, people of color haven't had much of a relationship with museums. Since they served initially as repositories of culture for the socially elite, people of...

Coloring: New Work by Glenn Ligon.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Coloring: New Work by Glenn Ligon Essays by Olukemi Ilesanmi, Wayne Koestenbaum Walker Art Center, March 2001 ISBN 0-935-64071-1 Interested in signs & symbols, Glenn Ligon is a semiotician with a paintbrush. With his reproductions of...

Glenn Ligon: Stranger.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Glenn Ligon: Stranger Glenn Ligon, Thelma Golden, Hilton Als The Studio Museum in Harlem, February 2001 ISBN: 0-942-94919-6 Interested in signs & symbols, Glenn Ligon is a semiotician with a paintbrush. With his reproductions of runaway...

Andrew Wyeth: Close Friends.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Andrew Wyeth: Close Friends Introduction by Betsy James Wyeth Mississippi Museum of Art University of Washington Press, 2001 ISBN 0-295-98039-7 Andrew Wyeth: Close Friends, a catalog accompanying the touring exhibition of the same name, is...

Freestyle.(Review)(Young Adult Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Freestyle Thelma Golden with Christie Y. Kim, Hamza Walker, et. al. The Studio Museum in Harlem, April 2001, ISBN 0-942-94921-8 If a picture can express a thousand words then out of the million or so available for use, how do we find those...

THE Literature of AIDS.(Bibliography)
July 1, 2001... In poetry, fiction, memoir and analytical nonfiction commentary, black writers have faced up to the impact of HIV in a way few others in our communities have managed to do. Their truth could set us free. Dedicating her 1997 book, Does Your...

Stay Strong: Simple Life Lessons for Teens.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Stay Strong Simple Life Lessons for Teens by Terrie Williams With a foreword by Queen Latifah Scholastic, Inc., May 2001, $15.95, ISBN 0-439-12971-0 In today's climate where young people seem to be spiraling out of control, a quiet,...

Hair Story: Untangling the Roots of Black Hair in America.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Hair Story: Untangling the Roots of Black Hair in America by Ayana D. Byrd and Lori L. Tharps St. Martin's Press, $23.95, February 2001 ISBN 0-312-26599-9 There's something comforting about the fact that black folks have been fussing over...

The Broke Diaries.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... The Broke Diaries by Angela Nissel Villard, April 2001, $9.95, ISBN 0-679-78357-1 "Everyone has a broke diary. Maybe you never wrote yours down, perhaps your broke diary is just a collection of memories from college, or all those...

The BAP Handbook.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... The BAP Handbook by Kalyn Johnson, Tracey Lewis, Karla Lightfoot & Ginger Wilson Broadway Books, June 2001, $9.95 ISBN 0-767-90550-4 Do you know where the House of Prada is located? What are Mikimotos? Well, if you can distinguish between...

Fire on the Beach.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Fire on the Beach by David Wright and David Zoby Scribner/Lisa Drew Books, Jut), 2001, $26.00, ISBN 0-684-87304-4 In 1871, Congress instituted the LSS, the Life-Saving Service. The LSS, a precursor of the Coast Guard, was created to respond...

Just Walkin' In The Rain.(Review)
July 1, 2001... Just Walkin' In The Rain by Jay Warner Renaissance Books, February 2001, $24.95, ISBN 1-580-63410-1 Take Tennessee in the 1950s, a relatively progressive governor and a group of convicts-turned-rhythm & blues singers, and you have the...

Pay-Per-Novel Cyberspace Presses.(Bibliography)
July 1, 2001... With online portals opening doors to publication, the Internet may fast become the peoples' publishing house, but writers choosing this "pay-as-you-go" path to publication should proceed with caution. Like the fiery lead character in her...

Shaq Talks Back.(Review)
July 1, 2001... Shaq Talks Back by Shaquille O'Neal St. Martin's Press April 2001, $23.95, ISBN 0-312-27845-4 From his dominance on the basketball court to the big screen, from his music booming through stereo speakers to numerous multi-million dollar ad...

Healing for Those Hurt by Love.(works by Michelle McKinney-Hammond)(Brief Article)(Interview)
July 1, 2001... Author Michelle McKinney-Hammond considers her readership her ministry The woman on the book jacket, Michelle McKinney-Hammond, is beautiful, accomplished and with a provocative full-lipped smile beneath a pair of penetrating eyes. Now,...

A Manuscript of Their Own.(women's book club writes own novel)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... When a book by a respected author fell short of their critical expectations, members of a Maryland reading group decided to write one themselves. It was the summer of 1996 when members of The Book Club, a Riverdale, Maryland reading group,...

The Soulful Comic's Domain.(www.theblackzone.com)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... "You're in the zone... THE BLACK ZONE." The website's catch phrase echoed in my mind as I was greeted by music spilling from my computer speakers, causing my head to nod and my feet to tap to the beat. www.theblackzone.com showcases...

Mr. Africa Poetry Lounge: www.Ajuju.com.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... (One of our readers asked us to review this website.) Sheryl: Upon entering, "Amateur Night at the Apollo" came to mind and a vision of the Sand Man Sims using his fancy foot-work to push a contestant off stage at the request of the crowd....

Summer reading has never been so easy.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Calling all parents: Just Us Books, publisher of the long-revered Afro-Bets Book of Black Heroes A-Z, offers a program that will ease you and your children into summer reading: the Afro-Bets Kids Club. As a member, your child will receive such...

Online Booksellers.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... A new site to watch: www.itsablackthang.com There aren't many books here, but what catches the eye is the crossword puzzle book based on the achievements of African Americans in the areas of civil rights, science and technology, movie,...

The Black Writers Alliance.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... The Black Writers Alliance, www.blackwriters.org, an Internet-based literary arts association, has announced its 2001 Gold Pen Award nominees for the categories of Best New Author, Best Mainstream Fiction, Best Mystery/ Thriller, Best Christian...

Random House.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Random House announces the launch of a new website for debut author and former U.S. Department of Justice, Christopher Chambers: www. chrischamberbooks.com. Sympathy for the Devil his first thriller, featuring FBI agent Angela Renee Bivens will...

From the Podium to the Press to the People.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Motivational speakers generate "back of the room" book sales The words from the song "Sisters Are Doing It for Themselves" perfectly describe the sisters who are making their marks in the motivational world. With their inspirational...

Road Trippin' With Books On Tape.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Fill your ears with popular fiction by black authors, thanks to Griot Audio[TM] and other new options Nothing compliments a great road trip, removes you from a subway ride, replaces those same old songs on the radio, eases the stress of...

Schools Out ... Summer Reading is In!(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... As those hot midsummer days unfold, summer reading club programs are in high gear as students fill their summer breaks with camp, sun, fun, water, or a trip down South, and, most importantly, reading great books. Studies show that children who...

Black Books Galore! Guide to Great African American Children's Books About Girls.(Review)(Children's Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Black Books Galore! Guide to Great African American Children's Books About Girls by Donna Rand and Toni Trent Parker John Wiley & Sons, Inc., January 2001, $15.95, ISBN 0-471-37526-8, Ages 7 & up Guide to Great African American Children's Books...

BCALA(*) Top 20 Children's Books of 2000.(Bibliography)
July 1, 2001... A Child Is Born by Margaret Wise Brown, Illus. Floyd Cooper Jump at the Sun/Hyperion Books for Children October 2000, $16.99, ISBN 0-786-80673-7, Ages 4-8 A multicultural cast of angels, wise men, and shepherds pay homage to a brown...