Black Issues Book Review articles from May 2006

Black Issues Book Review archives from May 2006

Publisher's page.
May 1, 2006... Seven years ago, William E. Cox had more than just a new idea, he had an epiphany. He and his business partner, Frank Matthews, had already built a successful business in magazine publishing with Black Issues in Higher Education. It was one of...

With love, mom.(mammy wit)(Editorial)
May 1, 2006... Mother wit" or "mammy wit" is what the old folks used to call that intrinsic wisdom God gave women, guiding even the unschooled in caring for and protecting their families. Whatever it is, it sometimes seems to be in shorter supply in our...

The road we traveled.(Letter to the editor)
May 1, 2006... The entire staff at Just Us Books applauds the staff of Black Issues Book Review for including the extremely important article on blacks in publishing, "Large and In Charge," in your January-February 2006 issue. It is so important that we...

Dealmakers.(between the lines: the inside scoop on what's happening in the publishing industry)
May 1, 2006... Three of the Wayans--Keenen, Shawn and Marion--from that clan of outrageously funny, enduring and endearing comedians, will produce a series of books with cartoons, 101 Ways to Know You're.... The books were sold to Elizabeth Beier of Griffin...

Agenda: BookExpo: 2006 Expo in the capital city.(Calendar)
May 1, 2006... More than 2,000 exhibitors are expected for BookExpo America 2006 at the new Washington, D.C., Convention Center, Thursday, May 18 through Sunday, May 21. Exhibits will be open from 9 A.M. to 6 P.M., Friday and Saturday; and 9 A.M. to 4 P.M. on...

Life as art: character study: Anna Deavere Smith as herself.(Biography)
May 1, 2006... USUALLY, ANNA DEAVERE SMITH IS THE ONE ASKING THE questions, A decade ago, the actress-playwright received a MacArthur "genius" award for pioneering a unique brand of theater, a cross between journalistic reporting and virtuosic acting, which...

Letters to a Young Artist: Straight-up Advice on Making a Life in the Arts-For Actors, Performers, Writers and Artists of Every Kind.(Brief article)(Book review)
May 1, 2006... Letters to a Young Artist: Straight-up Advice on Making a Life in the Arts--For Actors, Performers, Writers and Artists of Every Kind by Anna Deavere Smith Anchor Books, February 2006 $13, ISBN 1-400-03238-5 This Renaissance woman and...

Maternal instincts: what will the children think?(the writing life)
May 1, 2006... MY DAUGHTER HAS LEARNED TO read. This would be good news for any parent, but for a parent who is also a Reader with a capital R, a person who would rather go to the library than the mall, a person who credits books with saving her life--this is...

All that she touched: the "lucky ones" gather to remember the author they knew as a mentor and friend.(tribute: Octavia E. Butler, June 22, 1947-February 24, 2006)(Obituary)
May 1, 2006... IT SEEMED MOST FITTING THAT WE SHOULD remember her in a bookstore. So there we were, about 50 of us--writers, readers, educators, friends. Octavia had been gone more than a week, and we were hungry for the company of other mourners. So many,...

Keeping on: Toni Trent Parker's legacy is the vast array of books now available to black children and all children.(Obituary)
May 1, 2006... Toni Trent Parker, founder of Black Books Galore! and a beloved figure in the world of children's book publishing, died after a long illness on September 15, 2005, on what was her 32nd wedding anniversary. More than 300 people attended her...

Nappy.(Brief article)(Book review)
May 1, 2006... Nappy by Charisse Camey-Nunes Illustrated by Ann Marie Williams Brand Nu Words, January 2006 $14, ISBN 0-974-81421-0 Nappy is not only a children's hair story, it is a book that tells of the distinct connections between black, female...

Wavy, Curly, Kinky: The African American Child's Hair Care Guide.(Brief article)(Book review)
May 1, 2006... Wavy, Curly, Kinky: The African American Child's Hair Care Guide by Deborah R. Lilly Wiley, November 2005 $14.95, ISBN 0-471-69534-3 The author offers suggestions about relaxing, pressing or texturing your daughter's or stepdaughter's...

Jordan's Hair.(Brief article)(Book review)
May 1, 2006... Jordan's Hair by Ed and Sonya Spruill Illustrated by Stephen Mercer Peringer Judson Press, November 2005, $8, ISBN 0-817-01484-5 Jordan thinks he is bad because of his coarse hair and black skin. He feels betrayed by God because he does not...

In Coretta Scott King's name: something for every young reader.(Coretta Scott King Awards for African American authors, illustrators )
May 1, 2006... THE AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION (ALA) announced the winners of its Coretta Scott King Awards for African American authors and illustrators of children's books at its Midwinter Meeting in San Antonio, just days before Mrs. King's death on...

Playing the whiteness card: studies focus on the invention of race and its meanings.(After Whiteness: Unmaking an American Majority)(Away Down South: A History of Southern Identity)(Whitewashing America: Material Culture and Race in the Antebellum Imagination)(Buying Whiteness: Race, Culture, and Identity From Columbus to Hip-Hop)(Colored White: Transcending the Racial Past)(What White Looks Like: African-American Philosophers on the Whiteness Question)(When Race Becomes Real: Black and White Writers Confront Their Personal Histories)(White Like Me: Reflections on Race From a Privileged Son)(White Men on Race: Power, Privilege and the Shaping of Cultural Consciousness)(Whitewashing Race: The Myth of a Color-Blind Society)(Book review)
May 1, 2006... WHITENESS STUDIES" IS A critical school that investigates the economic, political and social history of "white people,' as well as the ways in which white privilege was developed and became entrenched in American society. In fact, the very...

Jesus is a liberal! Authors challenge conservative Christians who co-opt God and narrow the message of the Gospel.(God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It)(How the Republicans Stole Christmas: The Republican Party's Declared Monopoly on Religion and What Democrats Can Do to Take It Back)(Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis)(Book review)
May 1, 2006... THREE AUTHORS OF RECENT BOOKS argue that many Christian conservatives, displaying arrogance that flows from their feelings of certainty about what their faith stands for, view anyone outside their narrow confines as faithless, weak or evil. As...

A doll with a storied past.(Buy Golly!)(Book review)
May 1, 2006... Buy Golly! The History of Black Collectables by Clinton Derricks New Cavendish Books September 2005 $35, ISBN 1-872-72728-x Somewhere between when a cover image of this book (first published in the United Kingdom) was posted on Amazon.corn...

How we pray.(Soul Sanctuary: Images of the African American Worship Experience)(Book review)
May 1, 2006... Soul Sanctuary: Images of the African American Worship Experience by Jason Miccolo Johnson Foreword by Gordon Parks Bulfinch Press, May 2006 $29.95, ISBN 0-821-25790-0 "To me, the sanctuary is the soul of the black church, and the soul is...

Literary landscapes: novels of disparate places, themes and souls.(Apex Hides the Hurt)(Brief article)(Book review)
May 1, 2006... * Apex Hides the Hurt by Colson Whitehead Doubleday, March 2006 $22.95, ISBN 0-385-50795-X Some readers may wonder: What "in the world is a nomenclature consultant?" Would the average conventional reader accept such a person as the...

Wild Stars Seeking Midnight Suns.(Book review)
May 1, 2006... Wild Stars Seeking Midnight Suns by J. California Cooper Doubleday, April 2006 $24.95, ISBN 0-385-51133-7 In her latest collection of stories, Cooper introduces us to characters who are as warm and familiar as the people with whom we live...

Unburnable.(Brief article)(Book review)
May 1, 2006... Unburnable by Marie-Elena John Amistad/HarperCollins, April 2006 $23.95, ISBN 0-060-83757-8 In her debut novel, John is, in one word, superb. Set in the eastern Caribbean island of Dominica, the story expertly weaves folklore and history...

Beasts of No Nation.(Book review)
May 1, 2006... Beasts of No Nation by Uzodinma Iweala HarperCollins, November 2006-06-05 $16.95, ISBN 0-060-79867-X Uzodinma Iweala's Beasts of No Nation is a slim novel with green grass, billowy clouds and a silhouetted group of youngsters on the cover....

The King of Macy's.(Brief article)(Book review)
May 1, 2006... The King of Macy's by Fred Beauford Morton Books, Inc., January 2006 $15, ISBN 1-929-18811-0 Set in a very post-9/11 Los Angeles, this is a composite of social issues by a veteran writer. Aging actor Randy Dent has had a reasonably...

George and Rue.(Book review)
May 1, 2006... * George and Rue by George Elliott Clarke Carroll & Graf, February 2006 $23, ISBN 0-7867-1620-7 At age 13, I felt George Elliott Clarke's revolutionary impact when he gave a reading of his breakthrough poetry collection Whylah Falls...

Operation Smokeout.(Brief article)(Book review)
May 1, 2006... Operation Smokeout by Anthony P. Jones Allen Publishing Company, October 2005 $25.95, ISBN 0-880-53951-8 The best writers of political thrillers aim for a high degree of plausibility. That is where Operation Smokeout, Jones's debut, falls...

Neecey's Lullaby.(Brief article)(Book review)
May 1, 2006... Neecey's Lullaby by Cris Burks Harlem Moon/Broadway Books, March 2006 $12.95, ISBN 0-767-91983-1 In her second book, Burks tells the story of Neecey Shade, a free-spirited child who encountered abuse from her mother and the men in her...

Through the Fire.(Brief article)(Book review)
May 1, 2006... Through the Fire by Seressia Glass Genesis Press/Indigo Spectrum, March 2006 $9.95, ISBN 1-585-71173-X Brandt Hughes is a caged tiger, a walking explosive. No one knows he chooses between life and death (via his M9 Beretta) every morning....

It's Like That.(Brief article)(Book review)
May 1, 2006... It's Like That by Cheryl Robinson New American Library, January 2006 $13.95, ISBN: 0-451-21746-2 "Everyday Is a Struggle" could be the alternative rifle for Robinson's new book, told from the rotating narratives of an engaged mother of two...

Dissecting Michael Jackson: a cultural critic takes the measure of the man captured in the mirror.(On Michael Jackson)(Book review)
May 1, 2006... In celebration of Black Music Month, BIBR takes a look at some recent titles about the musicians and the rhythms that have shaped the musical landscape in America. On Michael Jackson by Margo Jefferson Pantheon Books, January 2006 $20,...

More noteworthy titles.(Before the Legend: The Rise of Bob Marley)(Chasin' the Bird: The Life and Legacy of Charlie Parker)(The Gentle Giant: The Autobiography of Yusef Lateef)(The House That Trane Built: The Story of Impulse Records)(Lady Sings the Blues)(Let's Get to the Nitty Gritty: The Autobiography of Horace Silver)(Life Is Not a Fairy Tale)(Louis Armstrong's New Orleans)(Marley Legend: An Illustrated Life of Bob Marley)(One O'Clock Jump: The Unforgettable History of the Oklahoma City Blue Devils)(Blue Monday: Fats Domino and the Lost Dawn of Rock 'n' Roll)(The Devil's Horn: The Story of the Saxophone, From Noisy Novelty to King of Cool)(Harlem of the West: The San Francisco Fillmore Jazz Era)(Book review)
May 1, 2006... Before the Legend: The Rise of Bob Marley by Christopher John Farley Amistad/HarperCollins, May 2006 $21.95, ISBN 0-060-53991-7 Last year, journalist Farley visited Marley's homeland to compose a portrait of the music superstar in his early...

Come Hell or High Water: Hurricane Katrina and the Color of Disaster.(Book review)
May 1, 2006... * Come Hell or High Water: Hurricane Katrina and the Color of Disaster by Dr. Michael Eric Dyson Basic Civitas Books, February 2006 $23, ISBN 0-465-01761-4 In one of the first books published about this catastrophe, Dr. Dyson, the high...

The Covenant with Black America.(Book review)
May 1, 2006... * The Covenant With Black America Introduction by Tavis Smiley Third World Press, February 2006 $12, ISBN 0-883-78277-4 Tavis Smiley, black America's Larry King, says in this book's Introduction that it's not about "us" versus "them" as...

Target Zero: A Life in Writing.(Book review)
May 1, 2006... * Target Zero, Eldridge Cleaver: A Life in Writing by Eldridge Cleaver, edited by Kathleen Cleaver Palgrave/MacMillan, February 2006 $27.95, ISBN 1-403-96237-5 Like Malcolm X, a man he idolized, Eldridge Cleaver experienced a number of...

Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers.(Brief article)(Book review)
May 1, 2006... Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers by Kwame Anthony Appiah W.W. Norton & Company, January 2006 $23.95, ISBN 0-393-06155-8 Imagine a mirror falls and shatters. The mirror can reflect an entire image, but its shattered pieces...

Hokum: An Anthology of African American Humor.(Brief article)(Book review)
May 1, 2006... Hokum: An Anthology of African American Humor Edited by Paul Beatty Bloombury Publishing, February 2006 $29.95, ISBN 1-582-34434-5 Forget whatever you have read in previous collections of African American humor. Don't think about "Your...

The Games Black Girls Play: Learning the Ropes from Double-Dutch to Hip-Hop.(Book review)
May 1, 2006... The Games Black Girls Play: Learning the Ropes From Double-Dutch to Hip-Hop by Kyra D. Gaunt New York University Press, February 2006 $20, ISBN 0-814-73120-1 While attending an academic conference in 1994, ethnomusicologist Kyra Gaunt's...

Secret Daughter: A Mixed-Race Daughter and the Mother Who Gave Her Away.(Brief article)(Book review)
May 1, 2006... Secret Daughter: A Mixed-Race Daughter and the Mother Who Gave Her Away by June Cross Viking Adult, May 2006 $24.95, ISBN 0-670-88555-X In 1997, June Cross, a well-known television producer for PBS and CBS with many honors to her credit,...

He Talk Like a White Boy: Reflections on Faith, Family, Politics and Authenticity.(Book review)
May 1, 2006... He Talk Like a White Boy: Reflections on Faith, Family, Politics and Authenticity by Joseph C. Phillips Running Press, May 2006 $22.95, ISBN 0-762-42399-6 You might remember Joseph C. Phillips as Cliff Huxtable's son-in-law on The Cosby...

Old Negro, new Negro: two recent books look at Booker T. Washington's legacy.(Uncle Tom or New Negro?: African Americans Reflect on Booker T. Washington and "Up From Slavery" 100 Years Later )(The Education of Booker T. Washington: American Democracy and the Idea of Race Relations )(Book review)
May 1, 2006... Uncle Tom or New Negro? African Americans Reflect on Booker T. Washington and "Up From Slavery" 100 Years Later Edited by Rebecca Carroll Harlem Moon/Broadway Books, January 2006 $15.95, ISBN 0-767-91955-6 The Education of Booker T....

Flying off the shelves.(books)
May 1, 2006... Hardcover Fiction 1. Changing Faces/ Kimberta Lawson Roby (New) ($24.95, William Morrow, ISBN 04360-78077-0) A chick lit novel on the friendship, love lives and tribulations of three women by a popular author. 2. Baby...