Black Issues Book Review articles from March 2004

Black Issues Book Review archives from March 2004

BIBR's Sixth Annual Poetry Issue.(from the editor-in-chief)(Editorial)
March 1, 2004... Five years ago, Black Issues Book Review was a brand-new magazine. We had, by God's grace, managed to publish our debut issue. Thousands of subscription cards and checks poured into our business office. Booklovers, authors and folks from the...

Meet BIBR's regional editors.(regional editors)(Black Issues Book Review)
March 1, 2004... In its first five years of existence, BIBR has become a critical link to the world of black books for at least 75,000 readers. As part of a strategy to strengthen BIBR's position and influence in the next five years, a team of five regional...

We need our poets.(executive editor's view)(Editorial)
March 1, 2004... In one of Countee Cullen's poems in eluded in Caroling Dusk: An Anthology Of Verse by Negro Poets (Harper & Row, 1927), a collection he edited, the poet concludes: Yet do I marvel at this curious thing/To make a poet Black, and bid him sing!...

Letters to the editor.(Letter to the Editor)
March 1, 2004... Dear BIBR, I hope you're happy with the way the books to-film package ("Blair Underwood Goes for the Greenlight" January-February 2004), came out, because I think it looks great! Thanks for taking the time to do it. I hope the issue flies...

Shrine to history.(Between the lines: the inside scoop on what's happening in the publishing industry)(former home of Carter G. Woodson to open as museum)
March 1, 2004... The former home of Carter G. Woodson, who championed the study of Africa American history and started Negro History Week, will be restored and eventually opened as a museum. A law signed by President George W. Bush on December 19, 2003,...

K'wan.(Deals)(African American author gets deal for three more books form St. Martins Press)
March 1, 2004... K'wan, author of Gangsta (Triple Crown Publications; October 2002), and Road Dawg (Triple Crown, July 2003), has made a six-figure deal for three more books. His Street Dreams was sold by Vickie Stringer to Monique Patterson, St, Martins Press,...

Nikki Turner.(Deals)(new novels sold at auction)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Nikki Turner, author of the The Hustler's Wife (Triple Crown Publications, March 2003), is working on two more street-lit novels for publication in 2005. They were sold at auction to Melody Guy at One World/Ballantine, by Marc Gerald at Los...

Kalisha Buckhanon's first novel Upstate, sold to Monique Patterson at St. Martin's, in a deal in the mid-six figures for two books by Tracy Sherrod at The Tracy Sherrod Literary Agency.(Deals)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Kalisha Buckhanon's first novel Upstate, sold to Monique Patterson at St. Martin's, in a deal in the mid-six figures for two books by Tracy Sherrod at The Tracy Sherrod Literary Agency. Buckhanon's mentor, poet and novelist Sapphire,...

Erica Kennedy.(Deals)(book and movie rights bought by Miramax)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Journalist Erica Kennedy's first novel, Bling!, about the hip-hop scene, scored the unusual distinction of being bought simultaneously for a book and a movie by Miramax. The story tells of a mogul of the trendy music scene who sets out to make...

Collector's delight ...(Between the lines: the inside scoop on what's happening in the publishing industry)(Black Memorabilia: An African American Newsletter)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Larry Vincent Buster, author of The Art and History of Black Memorabilia (Clarkson Potter, 1st edition, December 5, 2000 ISBN 0-609-60425-2), has started a regular publication on the subject, Black Memorabilia: An African American Newsletter....

On Broadway and on tour.(Between the lines: the inside scoop on what's happening in the publishing industry)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, the recording producer/entrepreneur, is set to play Broadway this spring in a revival of A Raisin in the Sun, the Lorraine Hansberry classic, scheduled for previews in March and opening in April. Combs has been...

Milestones.(Between the lines: the inside scoop on what's happening in the publishing industry)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Dorothy I. Height, President of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) since 1957, and author of her memoir, Open Wide the Freedom Gales: A Memoir (Public Affairs, June 2003), has been selected for a Congressional Medal of Honor. Harry...

Following the paths of pioneers.(Between the lines: the inside scoop on what's happening in the publishing industry)(Black Americans in Publishing)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Founded as Black Women in Publishings 25 years ago, Black Americans in Publishing (BAIP) supports the advancement of black professionals employed in the industry and nurtures those seeking entry. The founders (see listing at left, below...

Internet leverages publishing success.(Between the lines: the inside scoop on what's happening in the publishing industry )(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Earl Cox, founder of Writersandpoets.com, fuels publishing success can be leveraged via the Internet. "The World Wide Web is a great platform to launch a new book series, announce the arrival of a new author, and to integrate a host of other...

Signings & sightings.(Calendar)
March 1, 2004... BALTIMORE, MD Jambo, Watoto! African American Children's Book Festival, sponsored by the Ripe Harvest Foundation and The Baltimore Sun, on Saturday, March 6, from 10 A.M. to 3 P.M. The festival takes place at the Waiters Art Gallery, 600...

Signs of my blackness.(signings & sightings)
March 1, 2004... When I met her, I knew we was going places. She finished high school. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

"American Dream" classics for kids: the American Library Association's Coretta Scott King Awards, now celebrating its 35th year, set a standard for African American literature for children.
March 1, 2004... It crowns the jewels of African American literature for children and young adults, and rightly so: named for one of the world's most regal women with the most noble of causes, the Coretta Scott King Award (CSK) will be presented in June for the...

Sibling rivalries: literary poetry versus spoken word: why does the divide exist and what does it mean?(Cover Story)
March 1, 2004... Today's black poets find themselves in an interesting (though not necessarily unique) place in the history of contemporary American letters. They are at the heart of what many critics have termed a "new renaissance" in African American...

The word/the blues. A meditation. Investigating blues poetry, an old tradition.
March 1, 2004... The blues haunts us, haints us, holds us tight to memory. Ancestor bound and rhythm rocked, it recalls our hurts, healing them through a bent-note gospel of moan. Hard hearted blues. Hard-workin' blues. Lost Woman blues. Baby, come back blues....

Almost famous: an original Broadway Def Poetry Jam cast member learns that the trick is to survive after the stage lights go down.(poetic license)
March 1, 2004... I still catch myself wondering how it all came to pass: One moment I was laud died in the Nuyorican Poets Care reading clumsy rhymes about homophobia, and the next, I was dwarfed by the breadth of the stage at the Longacre Theater on Broadway....

The Collected Poetry of Nikki Giovanni 1969-1998.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
March 1, 2004... by Nikki Giovanni William Morrow, December 2003 $24.95, ISBN 0-060-54133-4 Nikki Giovanni possesses "a unique and distinctive voice" says Virginia Fowler in the introduction to this 438-page volume. This new collection includes seven of...

Drag.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
March 1, 2004... by Duriel E. Harris Elixir Press, October 2003 $14.00, ISBN 1-982-41800-8 Debut collections are very tricky. A poet's obsessions as well as his or her talent often give first books their persistent value. I kept returning to this issue...

Blue Beat Syncopation Selected Poems, 1977-2002.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
March 1, 2004... by Stanley E. Banks BkMk Press University of Missouri February 2003 $12.95, ISBN 1-886-15736-7 Stanley E. Banks's recent effort flattens a map of Kansas City, Missouri, and overlays it with varying shades of blues. In much the same way as...

Said the Shotgun to the Head.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
March 1, 2004... by Saul Williams MTV Pocket Books, September 2003 $11.95, ISBN 0-743-47079-6 If you greet Williams's book expecting conventional poetry, you will soon become aware of your error. The 182-page book is one long poem tackily dressed in bold,...

Poetry From the Masters: the Pioneers.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
March 1, 2004... Edited by Wade Hudson Just Us Books, December 2003 $9.95; ISBN 0-940-97596-3 A sweeping overview of African American men and women who made significant early contributions to the American poetry canon, this is a concise young adult primer....

The Body's Question.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
March 1, 2004... by Tracy K. Smith Graywolf Press, October 2003 $14.00, ISBN 1-555-97391-4 Smith, winner of the 2002 Cave Canem Poetry Prize, is a philosopher in the traditional sense. Her first collection of poems interrogates the nature of physical and...

Chances Are Few.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
March 1, 2004... by Lorenzo Thomas Blue Wind Press, May 2003 $19.95, ISBN 0-912-65277-2 This volume of poetry says to the careful reader and the strong listener that African American blues aesthetics can be rearranged, distorted, mutated and still be the...

One Girl Babylon.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
March 1, 2004... by Ruth Ellen Kocher New Issues Poetry & Prose, Western Michigan University, November 2003 $14.00, ISBN 1-930-97433-7 Kocher delivers concentrated doses of unadorned reality--not necessarily harsh and brutal but hardly always pretty,...

Conjuring the Dead.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
March 1, 2004... by Kumani (Denise Gantt) WordHouse Books, September 2003 $10.95, ISBN 1-891-52910-2 Each poem vibrates with a beautiful simplicity. The passing of the author's longtime friend was the catalyst for this debut volume, which won the Maryland...

Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam on Broadway ... and More.(Book Review)
March 1, 2004... Edited by Danny Simmons Atria Books, September 2003 $20.00, ISBN 0-7434-7621-2 Danny Simmons opens this anthology with fire statement, "Today, like yesterday, spoken word is giving a voice to the voiceless." A concise and true statement...

Inner-Course: a Plea for Real Love.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
March 1, 2004... by Toni Blackman Villard, August 2003 $16.95, ISBN 0-375-50914-3 Readers can grasp Frida Kahlo's diary, Sonia Sanchez's images about love and power, and Sappho's challenge to reconstruct her fragmented love in this vibrant work. This book,...

The Activist.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
March 1, 2004... by Renee Gladman Krupskaya, September 2003 $11.00, ISBN 1-928-65018-X A series of lyrical prose passages narrated by a journalist who is covering a showdown between a group of militants and politicians, The Activist shows how easily one's...

They Shall Run: Harriet Tubman Poems.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
March 1, 2004... by Quraysh Ali Lansana Third World Press, April 2004 $20.00, ISBN 0-883-78257-X Many of the poems in this volume are small miracles and do the main job of art: they turn something you think you already know into a mystery and deepen your...

Black Swan.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
March 1, 2004... by Lyrae Van Clief-Stefanon University of Pittsburgh Press, November 2002 $12.95, ISBN 0-622-95787-6 Lyrae Van Clief-Stefanon's Black Swan is a slim but thoughtful debut. With sedate economy, Van Clief-Stefanon delivers a composite...

Stormy Blues.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
March 1, 2004... by Carole Boston Weatherford Xavier Review Press, July 2002 $10.50, ISBN 1-883-27511-3 Weatherford's fifth collection combines poems about artists and chronicles of family and historical incidents. Its poems work best when the speaker...

Television.(Brief Article)(Sound Recording Review)
March 1, 2004... by Latasha Natasha Diggs Surya Sounds, 2003 mszuliemusic@yahoo.com The CD solo debut by sound poet Diggs tells the story of a household of black women and their television sets. Diggs surfs through audio genres from noise and house music to...

Slam or be slammed: emerging poets are finding more places to practice their craft and compete against the best of the best.
March 1, 2004... Imagine a room packed with people, in which five judge--picked at random--score poets in a boisterous free-for-all of storytelling, musicality and comedy rolled into metaphor. The scores can range from 1, for a horrible poem, to 10, for an...

Home time and island time: novelist Pearl Cleage finds inspiration just outside her window in Southwest Atlanta, while Paule Marshall has twice drawn on a long ago trip to Grenada.(sojourn)
March 1, 2004... When Pearl Cleage is ready to work on a novel, a play or a column, she simply walks down the hall to a room in the front of her house in Atlanta's historic Southwest community. Cleage's office is dominated by an old battered gray-metal...

The writers' conference circuit: summer retreats and workshops are designed to help writers cross the finish line.(self-publishing)(Calendar)
March 1, 2004... Seize the moment! If this is the year you committed to writing or perhaps self-publishing your first novel, there are countless classes and workshops available to help you achieve your goal. If you live in the Maryland/Washington,...

Double vision.(Eye: a showcase for the visual arts)(Ibeji: The Cult of Yoruba Twins)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
March 1, 2004... According to John Picton, in his essay "Seeing Double," "Yoruba people were said to have a rate of twin births some four times that of anywhere else, and the images that replaced twins that died in infancy are among the best-known and...

African adobe.(Eye: a showcase for the visual arts)(Butabu: Adobe Architecture of West Africa)(Banco: Adobe Mosques of the Inner Niger Delta)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
March 1, 2004... A down-to-earth material such as clay, or mud, so to speak, has been used to build some of the most simple yet elegant and notable architecture in Africa. These two books--illustrated by Moore's exquisite color images and Schutyser's...

When the camera lies.(Eye: a showcase for the visual arts)(Only Skin Deep: Changing Visions of the American Self)(Book Review)
March 1, 2004... Recent years have witnessed a growing awareness of the crucial role photography plays in shaping cultural definitions of race and gender. Deborah Willis and Carla Williams's groundbreaking study The Black Female Body: A Photographic History...

300 years of black art.(Gallery)(Wake Up Our Souls: A Celebration of African American Artists)(Brief Article)(Children's Review)(Book Review)
March 1, 2004... This book, published in conjunction with the Smithsonian American Art Museum to accompany the much-heralded traveling exhibition "African American Masters," gives a broad retrospective of 300 years of black art with detailed biographical...

A traveling female spirit: Nalo Hopkinson takes her inspiration from the magic of the Caribbean and the strength of women.(spotlight)
March 1, 2004... Charm, technology and Caribbean-seasoned magic are the vehicles Nalo Hopkinson uses to smoothly travel from one category of writing to another. "At its mot, practicing magic is the effort of imposing your will upon things in the world,"...

The Africans who settled Manhattan: new studies tell the stories of the ancestors, slave and free, who labored to create New York.(bibliomane)(Bibliography)
March 1, 2004... Northerners, and perhaps New Yorkers especially, have a tendency to regard slavery as something that happened else where and to think of African Americans as relatively recent arrivals to the city, migrating just in time to stir up the Harlem...

The relentless pursuit of joy and purpose: Dr. Renita J. Weems's newest book explores the important lessons in the Song of Solomon.(faith)("What Matters Most: Ten Lessons in Living Passionately From the Song of Solomon")(Book Review)
March 1, 2004... The writings of Dr. Renita J. Weems can always be counted upon to impart loving truths and "on-time" wisdom to let us see ourselves from a new perspective. Her latest book, What Matters Most: Ten Lessons in Living Passionately From the Song of...

Go to the Ant: Life's Lessons Demonstrated by God's Smallest Creatures.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
March 1, 2004... By Michael A. Eleyinafe American Book Publishing, November 2003 $14.95 ISBN 1-589-82062-2 In this slim volume of only 100 pages, the author has combined biographical information, stories from Scripture, and guidelines for personal...

Addicted to Hurry: Spiritual Strategies for Slowing Down.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
March 1, 2004... by Dr. Kirk Byron Jones Judson Press, June 2003 $13.00, ISBN 0-817-01445-4 Dr. Kirk Byron Jones, a professor of social ethics and pastoral ministry at Andover Newton Theological School, uses counseling, biblical and pastoral experiences to...

Kinks and all: books on the pleasures and challenges of black hair mix practical tips and humor.(Nurture: advice, fitness and health)(Book Review)
March 1, 2004... Our hair is often considered our crowning glory. The maintenance of it and, indeed, simply talking about its unique qualities has been the inspiration for several new books, including some for children. In the following roundup, Black Issues...

Paths to wellness: some other BIBR selections.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
March 1, 2004... In and Out of Our Right Minds: The Mental Health of African American Women Edited by Diane R. Brown and Verna M. Keith, Columbia University Press, September 2003 $24.50, ISBN 0-231-11379-X Brown and Keith explore why--despite...

Old-school basketball: biographies of an exemplary guard and a masterful college coach.(arena)(Book Review)
March 1, 2004... The Big O: My Life, My Times, My Game by Oscar Robertson Rodale Books, November 2003 $24.95, ISBN 1-579-54764-8 Whenever I think of great basketball players, there is a name that inevitably comes to mind. No, it's not Wilt, Elgin or...

A thug-life coda: Tupac tells his own story through posthumous personal scrapbook.(rhythm & books)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
March 1, 2004... Tupac: Resurrection, 1971-1996 Edited by Jacob Haye and Karolyn Ali Atria Books, October 2003 $29.95, ISBN 0-743-47434-1 Tupac Shakur is the hip-hop icon most frequently canonized in contemporary literature. There are at least a dozen...

Back in the Day: My Life and Times With Tupac Shakur.(Briefly Noted)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
March 1, 2004... by Darrin Keith Bastfield Da Capo Press, September 2003 $15,00, ISBN 0-306-81295-9 Bastfield, one of Shakur's childhood friends, recalls the young man's aspirations, back when they attended high school together in Baltimore. In his vivid...

Rip It Up: the Black Experience in Rock and Roll.(Briefly Noted)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
March 1, 2004... by Kandia Crazy Horse St. Martin's Press, January 2004 $17.95, ISBN 1-403-96243-X Music journalist Kandia Crazy Horse has edited a collection of essays, original interviews and stories that focuses on the backstory of rock and roll which...

Eden, Ohio.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
March 1, 2004... by Shawne Johnson Dutton [Penguin Group], February 2004 $23.95, ISBN 0-525-94810-4 This novel explores the lives of people whose histories are bound together by their secrets and by their remarkable gifts. Johnson uses her trademark...

Jim & Louella's Homemade Heart-Fix Remedy.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
March 1, 2004... by Bertice Berry Harlem Moon/Broadway Books September 2003 $11.95, ISBN 0-767-90989-5 After 26 years of marriage, Jim and Louella's love life has become somewhat routine. One night, Jim experiences an episode of impotence. Louella calls on...

The Viaduct.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
March 1, 2004... by Grace F. Edwards Doubleday, December 2003 $22.95, ISBN 0-385-50200-1 A taut, chilling tale of self-doubt juxtaposed with courage, this novel is well paced with a skillful ear for dialogue and a sense of place--Harlem in the 1970s. While...

Rendezvous Eighteenth.(Book Review)
March 1, 2004... by Jake Lamar St. Martin's Minotaur, November 2003 $24.95, ISBN 0-312-28920-0 Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live in Paris? The City of Lights has long been considered a legendary refuge for African Americans in search of...

Freedom Land.(Book Review)
March 1, 2004... by Martin L. Marcus Forge, January 2003 $24.95 ISBN 0-763-30482-1 Freedom Land is a credible first-time novel by Martin L. Marcus, who has since died. His writing does the historic adventure genre proud. The story is compelling enough to...

Sex Life.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
March 1, 2004... by A. A. Clifford Hardbooks, March 2003 $13.95, ISBN 0-972-48040-4 In this futuristic world of over regulation and government intervention into every area of daily life, Joe, a resident of First City, knows instinctively that something...

A Distant Shore.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
March 1, 2004... by Caryl Phillips Knopf, October 2003 $23.95, ISBN 1-400-04109-0 This award-winning writer creates a parallel between the lives of two solitary souls from distinct races and cultures. Dorothy, a white retired school-teacher, crosses paths...

The love scene: women's fiction vs. classic romance.
March 1, 2004... Romance novelists have found great success over the past 10 years with the growth of the genre. Their fans are eager for each new title and writers' conferences are filled to fire brim with avid smart readers and anxious new authors. And main...

Too Much of a Good Thing.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
March 1, 2004... by Kimberla Lawson Roby William Morrow, January 2004 $19.95, ISBN 0-06-056849-6 There is a lot more going on than just preaching in the pulpit at Truth Missionary Baptist Church in Chicago; and Lawson-Roby's new book gives readers an...

Would I Lie to You? The Journey of Venus Johnston.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
March 1, 2004... by Trisha R. Thomas Crown Publishers, February 2004 $22.00, ISBN 1-400-004874-5 In this sexy sequel to Trisha Thomas's Nappily Ever After, Venus tackles her love life instead of her hair. In this next part of her journey, she struggles...

Why Sleeping Dogs Lie.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
March 1, 2004... by Tracie Howard Penguin Books, November 2003 $12.95, ISBN 0-451-20977-X We all have secrets and skeletons archived in the closets of our hearts and minds. We tend to forget about them hoping that they will never be excavated or realized....

As We Lay.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
March 1, 2004... by Darlene Johnson Villard/Strivers Row November 2003 $12.95, ISBN 0-375-75842-9 Johnson's novel is a somewhat mundane yet evocative rendition of a love triangle and its casualties. Johnson writes with conviction and utter veracity about...

Bibr recommends.
March 1, 2004... FICTION A Distant Shore by Caryl Phillips Knopf Eden, Ohio by Shawne Johnson Dutton [Penguin Group] Jim & Louella's Homemade Heart-Fix Remedy by Bertice Berry, Harlem Moon/Broadway Books The Viaduct by Grace R Edwards...

35 years as a literary maverick: Clarence Major is revered and respected for his literary achievements. He's just not as widely known as he should be.
March 1, 2004... Never really a bold faced name even in African American letters, the literary achievements of Clarence Major are nonetheless monumental: He produced high-quality fiction and poetry during the most critical years of the latter part of the last...

The great white fathers' failings: thoughtful new works by white authors sift through the conflicted views of Washington and Jefferson as Founding Fathers who were slave owners in the "land of the free".(An Imperfect God George Washington, His Slaves and the Creation of America)("Negro President": Jefferson and the Slave Power)(Book Review)
March 1, 2004... An Imperfect God George Washington, His Slaves and the Creation of America by Henry Wiencek Farrar, Straus & Giroux, November 2003 $26.00, ISBN 0-374-17526-8 "Negro President": Jefferson and the Slave Power by Garry Wills Houghton...

If we ruled the world ...(The Angry Black Woman's Guide to Life)(Book Review)
March 1, 2004... The Angry Black Woman's Guide to Life by Denene Millner, Angela Burt-Murray and Mitzi Miller Plume, April 2004 $12.00. ISBN 0-452-28512-7 The more I read, the more I realized that I am an ABW (Angry Black Woman) and product of it! The...

A Wealth of Wisdom: Legendary African American Elders Speak.(Book Review)
March 1, 2004... by Dr. Camille Cosby and Renee Poussaint Atria Books, November 2003 $27.98, ISBN 0-743-47892-4 Of the 50 men and women whose testimony A Wealth of Wisdom: Legendary African American Elders Speak comprises, flew traveled a smooth road of...

Betty Shabazz: A Remarkable Story of Survival and Faith Before and After Malcolm X.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
March 1, 2004... by Russell J. Rickford Sourcebooks, Inc., November 2003 $35.00, ISBN 1-402-20171-0 When great leaders die, the family left behind bears the heaviest burden. And often--though not always--they Lade into obscurity. But Betty Shabazz was a...

The e-book revolution still to come: your superstore may not sell them anymore, but retail e-book sales broke the one million units mark for the first time in 2003.(book bytes)
March 1, 2004... Were you asleep as the world converted from paper books to electronic books? No, paper books still rule park benches and the seats of commuter trains and buses. Electronic books, or e-books, have yet to take over since their introduction a few...

Remembering Margaret Walker: Louisville Kentucky reading group pays homage to a late, great author with televised book discussions.(books & clubs)
March 1, 2004... Joyce Barnett is a devoted fan of author Margaret Walker. When this Louisville, Kentucky, poet takes center stage at a coffeehouse or open-mic events, her performance style is frequently likened to Walker's by people who know Walker's work. But...

A door closes: Baltimore's Sibanye welcomed black authors.(market buzz)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Baltimore, "The city that reads," has recently lost an African American institution with the closing of Sibanye, Inc., formerly owned by Robin Green and Mary Douthit, after nine and-a-half years in business. Store oysters cited the...

Beyond the village: how black children widen their sense of the world through reading other voices from the global spectrum.(Black Issues Book Review)(includes related article "Stretching literary horizons" bibliography)(Column)
March 1, 2004... While BIBR is devoted to books about African American culture and literature, we decided it would be useful to explore what's available for our children to read about other cultures. Daphne Muse, who specializes in children's literature, took...

A child's garden of verses: four titles that introduce young readers to poetry's vitality.(Children's Review)(Book Review)
March 1, 2004... Black Is Brown Is Tan by Arnold Adoff Pictures by Emily Arnold McCully Amistad/HarperCollins, January 2004 $5.99, ISBN 0-064-43644-6 Ages 4-8 A beautifully written poem first published in 1973, this story was the first depiction of an...

Bark and Tim: a True Story of Friendship.(Brief Article)(Children's Review)(Book Review)
March 1, 2004... Based on the Paintings of Tim Brown by Audrey Glassman Vernick and Ellen Glassman Gidaro The Overmountain Press, December 2003 $14.95, ISBN 1-570-72271-4 Ages 5-8 The vibrant paintings of talented Mississippi born folk artist Tim Brown...

Beauty, Her Basket.(Brief Article)(Children's Review)(Book Review)
March 1, 2004... by Sandra Belton, Illustrated by Cozbi A. Cabrera Amistad/HarperCollins, January 2004 $15.99, ISBN 0-668-17821-9 A young girl discovers the richness of the basket she loves so much in her Nana's house. The basket has colorful flowers, but...

Looking for Red.(Brief Article)(Children's Review)(Book Review)
March 1, 2004... by Angela Johnson Simon Pulse, November 2003 $4.99, ISBN 0-689-86388-8 A 12-year-old girl is mourning the loss of her brother in this chilling, heartrending tale set in a coastal community. The sights, smells and sounds of the ocean both...

All Night, All Day: a Child's First Book of African-American Spirituals.(Brief Article)(Children's Review)(Book Review)
March 1, 2004... Selected and illustrated by Ashley Bryan Musical arrangements by David Manning Thomas Aladdin Library, January 2004 $6.99, ISBN 0-689-31662-3 Ages 4-8 and up The author and illustrator of Beautiful Blackbird has compiled a collection of 20...

Dancing the Ring Shout!(Brief Article)(Children's Review)(Book Review)
March 1, 2004... by Kim L. Siegelson, pictures by Lisa Cohen Jump at the Sun/Hyperion Books for Children, September 2003 $15.99, ISBN 0-786-80453-X Ages 5-8 Everyone at Appling Farm is preparing for the ring shout, a celebration of dance and song on the...

Year of No Rain.(Brief Article)(Children's Review)(Book Review)
March 1, 2004... by Alice Mead Farrar, Straus & Giroux, May 2003, $16.00, ISBN 0-374-37288-8 Ages 9-12 Eleven-year-old Stephen Majok embarks on a brave and harrowing journey after soldiers raid his drought-stricken village in war-torn southern Sudan with...

Yesterday I Had the Blues.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
March 1, 2004... by Jeron Ashford Frame, illustrations by R. Gregory Christie Tricycle Press, September 2003 $14.95, ISBN 1-562-46084-1 A lyrical illustration of the diverse colors our daily lives move through. An oft rhythmic, sometimes musical prose...