Black Issues Book Review articles from September 2006

Black Issues Book Review archives from September 2006

Thomas takes her talents to Warner Books.(Karen Thomas)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Karen Thomas, founding editor of Dafina Books, the African American imprint at Kensington Books, has moved to Warner Books. After beginning her professional career at the Berkley Publishing Group in 1992, Thomas accepted a position at...

Harlem hosts first "Up South" Book Fest.(between the lines: the inside scoop on what's happening in the publishing industry)
September 1, 2006... Up South, Inc. and Aaron Davis Hall, Inc./Harlem Stage will present the first annual Up South International Book Festival (USIBF), September 29-October 1 in New York City. Spearheaded by Malaika Adero (pictured right), senior editor for...

Passion-filled pages for Kimani Press.(new novels launched)
September 1, 2006... Kimani Press launched its new romance line this summer with four novels. The first four books (for July) were Solid Soul by Brenda Jackson, Her Secret Life by Gwynne Forster, Flamingo Place by Marcia King-Gamble--all veteran romance...

Romance Awards.(African Americans honored)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Several African Americans were honored at the Romance Writers of America (RWA) 26th Annual National Conference held July 26-29 in Atlanta. The Borders Group Award for Best-Selling Multicultural Romance went to An All Night Man, anthology...

The Caine Prize for African writing was awarded in July to Mary Watson of Cape Town, South Africa, for her short story "Jungfrau" from her collection Moss (Kwela Books, 2004).(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... The Caine Prize for African writing was awarded in July to Mary Watson of Cape Town, South Africa, for her short story "Jungfrau" from her collection Moss (Kwela Books, 2004). The 10,000 [pounds sterling] prize is awarded to an African writer...

Winners of the Zora Neale Hurston/ Richard Wright Foundation's Legacy Awards will be announced at a ceremony on November 3 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.(Other Honors)
September 1, 2006... Winners of the Zora Neale Hurston/ Richard Wright Foundation's Legacy Awards will be announced at a ceremony on November 3 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. The nominees, announced in July, include John Hope Franklin, Mirror to...

The Outreach Council of the African Studies Association (ASA) announced winners of the 2006 Children's Africana Book Awards for authors and illustrators of outstanding books about Africa published in the United States for young children and older readers.(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... The Outreach Council of the African Studies Association (ASA) announced winners of the 2006 Children's Africana Book Awards for authors and illustrators of outstanding books about Africa published in the United States for young children and...

Nonfiction.(deals)
September 1, 2006... Marilyn Nelson and illustrator Jerry Pinkney's story of the International Sweethearts of Rhythm, the first racially integrated "all girl" jazz band of the '40s, to Lauri Hornik at Dial, by Regina Brooks at Serendipity Literary Agency. A...

Fiction.(Ghost Surgeon, Joseph's Journey, Creepin, Deliver Me, Love Right Or Get Left)(Brief article)(Book review)
September 1, 2006... Deborah Johnson's Ghost Surgeon, a race-relations mystery based on events recalled from her childhood as a doctor's daughter in Mississippi, to Dawn Davis at Amistad, for publication in January 2008, by Harvey Klinger at Harvey Klinger. ...

Signings & sightings: events.
September 1, 2006... BALTIMORE, MD. The 11th Baltimore Book Festival will be held September 29-October 1, 2006. Scheduled to appear at this year's event: Kevin Clash, author of My Life as a Fury Red Monster; Ruby Dee, Life Lit by Some Large Vision; and Hill...

Thanks from a self-publisher.(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2006... Dear Editors: I am a loyal reader of Black Issues Book Review. Your magazine is insightful, informative and quite entertaining. I am a library branch manager, and I use it as a selection tool to help build my African American collection....

Endorsement for comics.(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2006... I am writing to thank you for your wonderful recommendation of comic books in your EXECUTIVE EDITOR'S VIEW published in the May/June 2006 issue of Black Issues Book Review. Your comments spoke of comic books as an excellent way to encourage...

Black Maestro: The Epic Life of an American Legend.(A Forgotten Horseman: A Son's Weekend Memoir)(Book review)
September 1, 2006... Black Maestro: The Epic Life of an American Legend by Joe Drape William Morrow, April 2006 $24.96, ISBN 0-060-53729-9 A Forgotten Horseman: A Son's Weekend Memoir by Lee E. Downing Lee E. Downing, March 2006 $26, ISBN 1-599-75880-6 ...

Forty Million Dollar Slaves: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Black Athlete.(Book review)
September 1, 2006... Forty Million Dollar Slaves: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Black Athlete by William C. Rhoden Crown, July 2006 $23.95, ISBN 0-609-60120-2 This emotionally stimulating and easily debatable book takes us on a journey from what was...

As big as Texas: one club reaches out to others to form statewide conference.(Cover2Cover, book club)
September 1, 2006... When Tannie McGregor left a book club in Houston, Texas, she longed for a new reading family. After months of watching her read in solitude, her husband encouraged her to form a group. Soon she was telling family and friends about her idea for...

Take a bow ... NBCC honors the best of the best.
September 1, 2006... The National Book Club Conference presented the following awards at its 2006 conference in Atlanta, August 4-6. Essay Contest Winners: "Why My Book Club Is Important to Me" * Second Saturday Book Club, Atlanta, Georgia * Collage...

Tupac: life goes on: why the rapper still appeals to fans and captivates scholars a decade after his death.(Tupac Shakur)(Cover story)(Biography)
September 1, 2006... A FULL DECADE AFTER HIS DEATH, TUPAC SHAKUR HAS THE CULTURE IN A HEADLOCK. HE HAS RELEASED NEARLY TWICE AS MANY ALBUMS DEAD--EIGHT--THAN THE FIVE HE RELEASED WHEN HE WAS ALIVE. HIS POSTHUMOUS RELEASES OFTEN OUTSELL THE EFFORTS OF LIVING ARTISTS...

Urban lit goes legit: authors headline new ventures to bring street cred into the world of corporate publishing.
September 1, 2006... With a multiple book deal and her own imprint under One World/Ballantine Books, Nikki Turner, one of the queens of street lit, is working her way through a pile of raw manuscripts---some of them handwritten--submitted by writers who hope to...

"The most dangerous organization in America": forty years after the founding of the Black Panther Party, new books amplify the story of courage, martyrdom and futility.
September 1, 2006... It was fitting that David Hilliard opened of his book Huey: Spirit of the Panther (Thunder's Mouth Press, January 2006) with the iconic poster of Black Panther Party cofounders Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale posing in front of their party's...

Worlds of change: the latest scholarly works for fall and winter release.(bibliomane: Choice books from university presses and small publishers)
September 1, 2006... "Transformational Publishing" was the theme of this year's meeting of" the American Association of University Presses (AAUP) in New Orleans. "Transformational" describes the challenges and competition facing the men and women whose business is...

Textbooks: the big squeeze: increasing costs, often fueled by frequent updates and high-tech extras many professors don't use, put students in a bind.
September 1, 2006... So you think that best-selling novel is expensive at $35 retail? Imagine the 19-year-old college student who needs a science textbook that costs three times as much. That student is not reading for pleasure; she's working, and acquiring the...

From the inside out: in his book, a journalist tells what going back to high school taught him about today's educational challenges.(self-publishing)
September 1, 2006... It started when I pissed off then-fleshman English teacher Mice Bennett with a September 1995 column I wrote for The Kansas City Star. That caused me to go back to high school and sit in a student desk to learn what it is like to be a teenager...

Heroes and She-roes: releases for fall explore role models, trailblazers and history makers.(children's bookshelf)
September 1, 2006... Send children back to school with books that celebrate education, our valiant leaders and highlights of our rich cultural heritage. Dear Mr. Rosenwald by Carole Boston Weatherford Illustrated by R. Gregory Christie Scholastic Press,...

Across the generations.(Porch Stories: A Grandmother's Guide to Happiness, Things I Like About Grandma , My Pop Pop and Me, Why Children Should Know Their Grandparents, What Was It Like, Grandma? Grandma Lois Remembers )(Brief article)(Book review)
September 1, 2006... September 10, 2006, is National Grandparents Day. In 1978, President Jimmy Carter, proclaimed that the day should be celebrated annually on the first Sunday after Labor Day to encourage young people to tap into the wisdom of the elderly. ...

In my writing place: creating fine literature for the young is not all child's play.
September 1, 2006... When I was a child, I had no thought of becoming a writer. I loved to read, but didn't like to write. I think now, though, that I was, perhaps, a writer-in-training. I was drawn by the sounds and textures and meanings of words, and I was a...

Hard labor: scholars chronicle the relationship of African Americans to unions and the industrialization of America.(nonfiction)
September 1, 2006... SINCE RECONSTRUCTION, BLACKS' unionization activity has taken two forms: attempts to integrate large white labor groups and attempts to build black unions. Early on, whichever form the activity took, the black workers behind it were fired,...

In Search of Nella Larsen: A Biography of the Color Line.(Book review)
September 1, 2006... * In Search of Nella Larsen: A Biography of the Color Line by George Hutchinson Harvard University Press, May 2006 $39.95, ISBN 0-674-02180-0 George Hutchinson demonstrates a keen capacity for meticulous research in his exhaustive...

Enough: The Phony Leaders, Dead-End Movements, and Culture of Failure That Are Undermining Black America--and What We Can Do about Itt.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 1, 2006... Enough: The Phony Leaders, Dead-End Movements, and Culture of Failures That Are Undermining Black America--and What We Can Do About It by Juan Williams Crown Publishers, August 2006 $25, ISBN 0-307-33823-5 The author is an energetic...

Life Lit by Some Large Vision: Selected Speeches and Writings by Ossie Davis.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 1, 2006... * Life Lit by Some Large Vision: Selected Speeches and Writings by 0ssie Davis With special editorial notes and a Foreword by Ruby Dee Atria Books, October 2006 $23.95, ISBN 0-743-28988-9 Here are 30 brilliant pieces of writing. Some...

The Immortality of Influence.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 1, 2006... The Immortality of Influence by Salome Thomas-El with Cecil Murphey Foreword by Will Smith Dafina Books/Kensington Publishing May 2006, $23, ISBN 0-758-21266-6 What strikes one most about Salome Thomas-El is his passionate, self-imposed...

The Senator and the Socialite: The True Story of America's First Black Dynasty.(Book review)
September 1, 2006... The Senator and the Socialite: The True Story of America's First Black Dynasty by Lawrence Otis Graham HarperCollins, July 2006 $26.95, ISBN 0-060-18412-4 By any standard, Blanche Bruce, the first African American to serve a full term...

Meanwhile, back at the crypt: new black vampire and horror tales are so sexy.
September 1, 2006... VAMPIRES, THE SEDUCTIVE FOLK-loric creatures that subsist on human blood, have populated myths in Africa, Europe and other cultures around the world since ancient times. With the publication of Dracula in 1897, Irish writer Bram Stoker set the...

All Aunt Hagar's Children.(Book review)
September 1, 2006... * All Aunt Hagar's Children by Edward P. Jones Amistad/HarperCollins, September 2006 $25.95, ISBN 0-060-55756-0 Edward P. Jones is most often recognized for his work The Known World (Amistad/HarperCollins, 2003), his Pulitzer Prize- and...

Tambourines to Glory.(Book review)
September 1, 2006... * Tambourines to Glory by Langston Hughes Harlem Moon/Broadway, September 2006 $10.95, ISBN 0-767-92327-8 Parts of this short novel are so funny I can imagine Langston Hughes pausing to laugh while writing it. In the book, a black church...

Great Sky Woman.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 1, 2006... Great Sky Woman by Steven Barnes One World/Ballantine Books, July 2006 $24.95, ISBN 0-345-45900-8 The latest offering from speculative fiction writer Steven Barnes is set in prehistoric Africa and is the first of two novels about the...

Playing by the Rules.(Book review)
September 1, 2006... Playing by the Rules by Elaine Meryl Brown One World/Ballantine Books, June 2006 $13.95, ISBN 0-8129-7034-9 The world of Lemon City seems to exist in a utopian universe, one in which a close-knit community of strivers live by a code...

Hunger.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 1, 2006... Hunger by Erica Simone Turnipseed Amistad/HarperCollins, September 2006 $23.95, ISBN 0-060-79730-4 Can love be better the second time around? Turnipseed attempts to answer this question by returning to the story of Noire and Innocent. In...

Lost Hearts in Italy.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 1, 2006... Lost Hearts in Italy by Andrea Lee Random House, June 2006 $23.95, ISBN 1-400-06169-5 Poor Mira. Poor impulsive, bored, selfish girl. She marries her college sweetheart and moves to Rome with him to start their new life together. Then she...

Will You Be Mine?(Brief article)(Book review)
September 1, 2006... Will You Be Mine? by Barry Beckham Beckham Publications Group, Inc. May 2006, $26.95, ISBN 0-931-76159-X Beckham presents his narrator's life story wrapped within his tale of love and loss. The novel touches on relationships, secrets, the...

Last Night a DJ Saved My Life.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 1, 2006... Last Night a DJ Saved My Life by Lyah Beth LeFlore Harlem Moon/Broadway, May 2006 $12.95, ISBN 0-767-92118-6 Destiny Day is a New York City party promoter whose life seems perfect on the outside, but is full of drama she mostly creates. ...

The Great One: Katherine Dunham (1909-2006) Turning Anthropology Into Art.(tribute)(In memoriam)
September 1, 2006... At the International Association of Blacks in Dance Conference, in 1997, Katherine Dunham was over 80 years old and using a wheelchair. Yet she held more than 200 aspiring young dancers and professionals spellbound as she graciously shared...

Flying off the shelves.
September 1, 2006... The Flying Off the Shelves lists are compiled from retail sales data received from independent bookstores. Numbers in parenthesis indicate last issue's position. Hardcover Fiction 1. Chasing Destiny/ Eric Jerome Dickey (2)...