New African American Books: Book Clubs & Libraries
March 8, 2010
Designed to commemorate the life and works of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and to honor Mrs. Coretta Scott King for her courage and determination to continue the work for peace, the Coretta Scott King Book Awards annually recognize outstanding books for young adults and children by African American authors and illustrators that reflect the African American experience. Further, the Award encourages the artistic expression of the black experience via literature and the graphic arts in biographical, social, and historical treatments by African American authors and illustrators.
- Author Award Winner
“Bad News for Outlaws: The Remarkable Life of Bass Reeves, Deputy U.S. Marshal,” written by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson, is the King Author Book winner. The book is illustrated by R. Gregory Christie, published by Carolrhoda Books, a division of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc.
- Illustrator Award Winner
“My People,” illustrated by Charles R. Smith Jr., is the King Illustrator Book winner. The book was written by Langston Hughes and published by ginee seo books, Atheneum Books for Young Readers.
- Author Honor Book
“Mare’s War” by tanita s. davis and published by Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc.
- Illustrator Honor Book
“The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” illustrated by E. B. Lewis, written by Langston Hughes and published by Disney – Jump at the Sun Books, an imprint of Disney Book Group.
- John Steptoe New Talent Author Award
“The Rock and the River,” written by kekla magoon, is the Steptoe winner. The book is published by Aladdin, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division.
- Coretta Scott King – Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement
Walter Dean Myers is the winner of this first-ever Coretta Scott King – Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement. The award pays tribute to the quality and magnitude of beloved children’s author Virginia Hamilton. Myers’ books include: “Amiri & Odette: A Love Story,” published by Scholastic Press, an imprint of Scholastic; “Fallen Angels,” published by Scholastic Press; “Monster,” published by Amistad and HarperTeen, imprints of HarperCollins Publishers; and “Sunrise Over Fallujah,” published by Scholastic Press.
March 1, 2010
The Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA) announced the winners of the 2010 BCALA Literary Awards during the Midwinter Meeting of the American Library Association in Boston, MA. The awards recognize excellence in adult fiction and nonfiction by African American authors published in 2009, including the work of a first novelist, and a citation for Outstanding Contribution to Publishing. The recipients will receive the awards during the 2010 Annual Conference of the American Library Association in Washington, D.C.
The winner in the Fiction category is Buying Time by Pamela Samuels Young (Goldman House).
The two Fiction Honor Book winners are Sag Harbor by Colson Whitehead (Doubleday) and Carried by Six by Allen Ballard (Seaford Press).
Buying Time is a captivating, suspenseful thriller focused on greed, murder and corruption in the viatical industry. Waverly Sloan, a disbarred attorney about to lose it all, ventures into a very lucrative career redeeming life insurance policies for the terminally ill. He soon discovers however that the life-threatening dangers of this new career outweigh the financial gains. The well developed subplots of domestic violence and pedophilia heightens the suspense of the novel and also generates constant juggling of the suspects list. Samuels-Young, a corporate attorney in Southern California, is the author of three previous mysteries.
Sag Harbor is a humorous coming of age tale where Colson Whitehead provides readers with an inside view of what it means to be black and affluent, but mainly what it means to be a teenage boy. Whitehead clearly captures 1980s popular culture as well as tapping into the African American vernacular and oral traditions. Colson Whitehead is an award winning author and lives in Brooklyn.
Carried by Six is a gripping page-turner, where Obie Bullock, leader of the Men of Africa United (MauMau) has waged a war against the drug dealers who have taken over his urban Philadelphia neighborhood. Tired of being terrorized by the dealers and having the young men of the neighborhood either being “carried by six” pallbearers to their graves or “judged by twelve” and sentenced to a prison term, Obie fights to keep his family safe and himself alive while making his neighborhood a better place to live. Author Allen Ballard, a Philadelphia native, now lives in Albany, NY where he teaches history and Africana Studies at the State University of Albany.
The winner in the Nonfiction category is The Breakthrough by Gwen Ifill (Doubleday).
An Honor Book winner for Nonfiction was also selected: Freedom Struggles by Adriane Lentz-Smith (Harvard University Press).
The Breakthrough explores the political leadership of the Black community starting with the Civil Rights Movement and progressing to the contemporary and what Ifill calls “The Age of Obama.” Not until the appearance of President Barack Obama on the national political scene did political leadership become so hotly contested within the Black community. Ifill describes this power struggle between two generations of Black leadership as “sandpaper politics” where change is often abrasive but necessary. The Breakthrough provides intriguing and insightful profiles of Black leaders engaged in national politics as well as rising stars at the local and state levels. Gwen Ifill is moderator and managing editor of Washington Week and senior correspondent of The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer.
Through the experiences of the 200,000 black soldiers of the American Expeditionary Forces in World War I, Freedom Struggles uses moving stories and experiences to bring forth a significantly influential but little known aspect of American history. Adriane Lentz-Smith is Assistant Professor of History at Duke University.
The recipient of the First Novelist Award is K.C. Marshall for My Sister’s Veil (XLibris). This debut novel is an inspirational and motivating story about the trials and tribulations of three strong Black women. Their lives are separated yet connected through their friendship and consequential environment. Using their inner strength or spiritual “veil”, the main characters show how their ancestral culture shapes their drive to overcome adversities thus giving them the fortitude to make a difference changing themselves and their circumstances. K.C. Marshall is a free lance writer.
For excellence in scholarship, the BCALA Literary Awards Committee presents the Outstanding Contribution to Publishing Citation to In Search of Our Roots by Henry Louis Gates (Crown Publishers). Gates has taken his popular PBS television documentary and captured his extensive genealogical research in a compelling book. Nineteen famous and unknown African Americans allow us to follow their incredible journey tracing family sagas through slavery and back to Africa. This is a book of enormous importance that will inspire others to take this courageous journey to explore their family roots.
Members of the BCALA Literary Awards Jury are: Joel W. White, Chair, Durham (NC) County Library; Virginia Dowsing Toliver, Vice Chair, Washington University in St. Louis; Gladys Smiley Bell, Hampton University; Karen B. Douglas, Duke University Law Library; Makiba Foster, Washington University in St. Louis; Carolyn Garnes, Library Consultant, Atlanta, GA; and Ernestine Hawkins, East Cleveland Public Library.
February 13, 2010
From Aya to Zapt!: 24 Graphic Novels for African American History Month
Featuring Marguerite Abouet, Frank Miller & Kyle Baker
By Martha Cornog, Philadelphia — Library Journal, 1/7/2010
Publishers Weekly
The past year has left tweens and teens with many more quality comics that increasingly depict engaging African American main characters. Plus, we have our Main Man himself, Mr. President, the comics geek–turned–comics hero. Forthcoming from Eureka: a Graphic Classics anthology featuring adaptations of short stories by African American authors. Forthcoming from TV star Rashida Jones via Oni Press: a spy thriller titled Frenemy of the State. Stay tuned!
December 14, 2009
Title: American Library Association 2010 Annual Conference
Location: Washington Convention Center, Washington, DC
Website: www.ala.org
Description: Opening General Session Featuring Toni Morrison
Saturday, June 26, 5:30- 6:30 pm
Toni Morrison is a Nobel Prize winning American author, editor and professor. Her contributions to the modern canon are numerous. Some of her acclaimed titles include: The Bluest Eye, Song of Solomon, and Beloved, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1988. She won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993. Her newest books for children are Peeny Butter Fudge and Little Cloud and Lady Wind.
Sponsored by Simon and Schuster
Start Date: June 24, 2010
End Date: June 26, 2010
September 11, 2009
Title: Black Resource Center Presents Eating to Die
Location: AC Bilbrew Library, Los Angeles
Description: Lottie Perkins, RN, MHA, Ph.D, “shares her knowledge, insight, and personal experiences to help other African Americans make conscious lifestyle choices that will increase their quality of life and longevity.”
Start Time: 2pm
Date: September 26, 2009
August 13, 2009
Why is it so hard to find books by people of color in libraries and bookstores?
One reason is that these books are marginalized: relegated to separate niche sections to which browsers might not go. As the average white shopper strolls through the bookstore section for Fiction and Literature, does it even occur to him or her that there might be more Fiction and Literature, but located on the few shelves for, e.g., African-American authors, or Books of GLBT Interest? And in the libraries, except for the sports and music sections, do books of interest to African-Americans even get set out when it’s not February? (Not at my library, they don’t!)
Librarians and booksellers cannot be viewed as uninterested gatekeepers of culture and learning. On the contrary, by the choices they make in purchasing, categorizing, arranging, marketing, and creating ease or difficulty of access of books, they not only determine what should be included and what excluded, but they also impose a value system on information. Too often, their decisions reflect the cultural assumptions of the dominant group.
See more at Rhapsody in Books.
June 11, 2009
Title: AAMBC National Meeting
Location: San Antonio, TX
www.aambcnationalmeeting.com
AAMBC presents: The AAMBC National Meeting a southern literary event that will be held June 13-14 2009. The event will be held at the Radisson Hotel in downtown San Antonio near the beautiful and historical river walk.
This event will cater to the AAMBC organization, many fellow book clubs across the nation, and new and seasoned authors throughout the United States. You will experience a family oriented atmosphere and a social gathering that will build great connections with nationally recognized and locally recognized authors and publishers.
The AAMBC, which stands for African Americans on the Move Book Club, is a highly anticipated literary event that will bring readers and authors together for a more personal meeting. You will experience great food, music, book signings, and build new relationships in the city of San Antonio.
Start Date: 6/13/2009
Start Time: 11:00 am
End Date: 6/14/2009
End Time: 06:00 am
May 3, 2009
Title: “my life, L.A.” – The Los Angeles Legacy Project
Location: Los Angeles
Description:
An interactive experience at the Leimert Park Book Festival, where individuals record their stories, feelings or histories about life in Los Angeles.
Project Creator: Pam Ward, author/designer and third generation, Los Angeles native.
Date: 2009-06-06
April 18, 2009
Title: Speaker Event: It’s Murder, They Wrote
Location: Palms-Rancho Park Library, Los Angeles 90064
Description: What — the butler didn’t do it? Then who did, and why should we care? How does an author create a suspenseful novel in a genre where every twist and turn in the road can pull the reader along, or send them into the ditch of “been there, seen that”? How do you keep your story and characters fresh? A great event for all fiction writers.
Featuring Penny Mickelbury (”A Murder Too Close: A Phil Rodriquez Novel”) and Gary Phillips (”The Jook”).
A special appearance by author David Cunningham, former president of the California Writers Club and original mentor of GLAWS, will continue our “Writing In Collaboration” topic by speaking on his work as a ghost writer and premier his new book, “The Travel Within”.
Start Time: 3:00 pm
Date: 2009-04-18
Greater Los Angeles Writer Society
April 11, 2009
Title: The Spoken Word/Celebrating African American Poetry
Location: A C Bilbrew Library, Los Angeles
Click here
Description: In celebration of National Poetry Month, an eclectic and dynamic group of Los Angeles poets will read and perform some of their most treasured poems. Free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.
Start Time: 1:00 pm
Date: 2009-04-18
