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!
January 31, 2010
Bloomsbury book cover stirs anger
For the second time in less than a year, Bloomsbury USA has put a white girl on the cover of a book that’s about a girl of color.
First it was Justine Larbalestier’s “Liar,” which has an African American protagonist. This time, the book is “Magic Under Glass” by Jaclyn Dolamore. The romantic fantasy features Nimira, a brown-skinned protagonist, but the figure on the cover that was shipped to stores is white.
Carolyn Kellogg
Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-quick23-2010jan23,0,4795756.story
December 16, 2009
By Calvin Reid — Publishers Weekly, 12/15/2009 6:37:00 AM
Publishers Weekly
It didn’t take long before complaints began to circulate on Twitter about the image used on the cover of this week’s Publishers Weekly to illustrate the annual feature on African-American book publishing.
“We don’t get the ‘Afro Picks!’ cover. It’s not hip, cute, or appealing,” said one tweet. Another tweet: “It seems like a big mistake,” while another read, “what exactly is the rationale behind the Afro-picks cover?” “This is a ridiculous cover. An afro with lotso picks. Get it?” “Publishers Weekly what were you thinking?” By early afternoon on Monday, Twitter was swarming with comments about the cover illustration and few of the comments were complimentary.
The image was a photograph taken from a new book from W.W. Norton, Posing Beauty: African American Images from the 1890s to the Present by Deborah Willis, a collection of carefully chosen photographs intended to highlight the physical and cultural beauty of African-American life. The image (Pickin’, 1999) by Lauren Kelley is a photograph of a black woman whose hair is full of Afro picks, the ubiquitous metal toothed hair-comb of the 1970s, complete with plastic handle in the form of a black power fist. The afro picks are arrayed in the woman’s hair to create a kind of giant sculptural Afro hair-do and the woman is leaning slightly forward to give the viewer a better look at the quirky artificially created hair-pick crown. The coverline for the image is: Afro Picks! New Books and Trends in African-American Publishing and it refers to the feature story “African-American Books in Today’s Marketplace,” a look at the current marketplace for black books written by Felicia Pride.
The resulting response to the choice of that particular image and that coverline was not anticipated by the person most closely involved with this week’s cover. That person was me, PW senior news editor, Calvin Reid. I organize, edit, and oversee the annual feature story on black books. I chose the cover in collaboration with the magazine’s creative director and I wrote the coverline, Afro Picks!, which was intended as a pun to highlight a story that “picked” new black titles of interest. The image was reminiscent of the 1970s and appealed to me, someone who grew up in the middle of the 1970s-era wave of black pride, black power and big afros with big afro picks stuck right in the back. To me it is a sweet, tongue-in-cheek funny and striking image of quirky black hair power. And while it never occurred to me that anyone would be offended by these images, I was very wrong and I have to acknowledge that. Quite a few people were offended by it and outraged by what some perceive as a disparaging or degrading image of a black woman. I certainly regret offending anyone and while I still love that image, I intend to think long and hard about whatever image is chosen for next year’s cover.
“My apologies to anyone who was offended by our cover—that certainly wasn’t our intent,” said PW’s editorial director, Brian Kenney. “At the same time, I’m delighted that Publishers Weekly was able to draw so much attention to Lauren Kelley’s powerful photograph, Deborah Willis’s wonderful book, and especially Felicia Pride’s absolutely terrific feature on African-American book publishing.”
In an effort to respond to the complaints, I contacted W.W. Norton executive editor Bob Weil, who edited the book from which the photo was taken. He wanted to emphasize that “this is a positive and transformational book.” He recently spoke at an event promoting the book at the Studio Museum in Harlem and said, “Willis’s book goes miles to show a more complete and honest history of the black image. One man stood up in the audience and said he’s using the book therapeutically with his psychiatric in-patients at Bellevue to improve their self-esteem; another young woman stood up and said she came upon the book by accident and was amazed to discover a book that reflected the world she knew.”
And with all due respect to those who were offended by the image, that is not a universal reaction. In an e-mail message from professor Willis, a scholar of black photography, chair of NYU’s photography department and a MacArthur Fellow, wrote: “It’s amazing how the viewers read this wonderful image that exemplifies power, humor, style, and beauty. Including the fist on the comb indicates power and strength and pride. It reminded me of the 70s. Ironic could it be that the readers are afraid to look at the power in black hair. (smile.) Thank you for using the image and exposing Black Beauty.”
September 11, 2009
So many have been asking: What caused you to write 8 books within the last year? Additionally, writing the screenplay for and producing a docu-drama based on my second book “Spread Some Love (Relationships 101)” – all within the same time frame? Basically, I fell in love with writing. I’ve studied many successful people and realized that they have one thing in common and that is – THEY LOVE WHAT THEY DO. Therefore they are good at it. Love is one of the most powerful forces given to man, though it is often overlooked. “For love we will climb mountains, cross seas, traverse desert sands, endure hardships. Without love mountains become unclimbable, seas uncrossable, and hardships our plight in life,” writes Gary Chapman in “The Five Love Languages.”
I never envisioned myself being a writer. I moved to Hollywood in 1996 and just wanted to act. As I stated in my book “When The Dust Settles” I was forced into writing or putting it more subtly it became as a blessing in disguise. While almost going bankrupt in 2004 I stumbled into a 1970s classic film which I so badly wanted to remake. At the time I had no prior experience in film making, except that which I had picked up previously on movie sets. Nonetheless, I was determined to succeed.
For the next three weeks, I made phone calls to find out who held the rights to my intended pet project. When I finally made contact with the studio, a woman answered the phone and told me they were not interested in selling the rights to a third party.
That statement didn’t sit well with me. You see, my plane had already taken off, the fasten-your-seat-belt signs were already extinguished, and the hostess was serving the beverage of the day.
I composed myself, contacted a writer friend whose script was recently optioned by a major studio, and asked him to assist me in writing my script. He did one of the best things a person can do for another: instead of giving me a fish, he showed me how to fish by sending me guidelines for writing a screenplay. I got busy. My mantra echoed for several months, “I’ll write my own. I’ll show them. They’ll be begging for my work someday.” My imaginary airplane was swiftly gaining altitude.
I knew if it was going to be – it was up to me! So I committed my time skill and resources to writing consistently. Each book I wrote, in that process I acquired a subsequent title and embarked upon the task of writing it.
Prior to 2007 I had written two screenplays and in spring of that same year my first book “The 5 Steps to Changing Your Life” was etched. In the summer of 2008 I wrote published and released “Spread Some Love (Relationships 101).” This book has become my bestseller and as a spin off “Spread Some Love (Relationships 101) Workbook” and “Spread Some Love (Relationships 101)” Journal were etched in early 2009. “When the Dust Settles (A True Hollywood Story)” based on my ten year quest in Hollywood followed in tow. This summer saw the release of “Dare to Make A Difference (Success 101),” “Dare to Make A Difference (Success 101) For Teens,” “The 52 Weeks Goal Setting Quest” and “The SUCCESS Triangle.” The latter is a volume of three eclectic books from my inspirational series relating to my climbing up from the bottom.
Back in 2007 after the release of my first book, I had a heart to heart talk with myself and decided that I wasn’t using much of my potential. I decided that no one was going outwork me. Still not adept at using the computer’s keyboard; I had never taken a typing class. My word per minute ratio no doubt was about a few words a minute – I’ve never checked. Someone once said: When the dream is big enough the facts don’t count. It’s my belief that if my thoughts can produce it – I can write it. This fall I’ll be releasing my tenth book “Total Commitment (The Mindset of Champions).”
If writing be the air that I breathe “write on.” When God brings it he doesn’t mess around.
A 2009 Books That Will Enhance Your Life – Release. All Rights Reserved.
May 24, 2009
By Elham Khatami
CNN
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(CNN) — “Still Alice,” written by Lisa Genova, is a novel about a 50-year-old Harvard professor’s struggle with Alzheimer’s disease. It’s also a book, Genova was told, that nobody would want to read.
Lisa Genova, author of “Still Alice,” found success after self-publishing her novel.
Lisa Genova, author of “Still Alice,” found success after self-publishing her novel.
After spending 1½ years writing “Still Alice,” Genova spent just as much time trying to find a literary agent. “I never heard a response from most of the query letters I sent,” Genova said. “Four literary agents asked to see the book. One of them said she just didn’t think there was a general audience that would want to read about Alzheimer’s.”
When she was turned down by several traditional publishing houses, Genova decided to follow a different route: self-publishing via Web-based companies. When she informed one of the literary agents of her decision, his response was daunting.
“He said, ‘Don’t do that, you’ll kill your writing career before it starts,’ ” said Genova.
But she decided to press forward. Turning to the Author Solutions self-publishing brand, iUniverse, Genova published her book for $450, a cost that included an ISBN — the International Standard Book Number that uniquely identifies books — and the ability to sell on Amazon.com.
Months later, after receiving positive reviews on Amazon.com and a favorable review in the Boston Globe, Genova’s book was picked up by Simon & Schuster and is in its 12th week on The New York Times Bestsellers List.
“If you believe in your book, I think you should give it a chance,” Genova said. “Still Alice” “was a book that people already identified with and [Simon & Schuster] saw the book’s potential in a very real way.”
Genova is not alone. As the economy takes its toll on traditional publishing houses — HarperCollins dropped its Collins division in February, losing major executives and editors, and Random House continues with cutbacks — more authors are looking to online self-publishing companies.
See more art http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/04/06/print.on.demand.publishing/index.html#cnnSTCText
April 13, 2009
Another independent bookstore bites the dust. In an email to customers (and a blog post) Friday afternoon, the owners of College Park’s Vertigo Books announced they will shut down for good on April 24. The announcement was accompanied by several parting shots at online shopping behemoth Amazon.com, which the owners more or less explicitly blame for their shop’s demise.
Starting today, everything at Vertigo Books is marked down 20 percent. Vertigo, which started in Dupont Circle in 1991 before making the move to College Park, specialized in carrying African American authors as well as international studies tomes.
http://dcist.com/2009/04/vertigo_books_to_close.php
April 9, 2009
Wed Apr 8, 6:29 pm ET
NEW YORK – Former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has signed a deal to publish his memoir — a close-up look at his encounters with major world figures and events.
The Nobel Peace Prize-winning statesman says “a lot has been said and written” about his 10 years as secretary-general, but now he will finally get to tell his own story.
The book will include accounts of the 71-year-old Ghanaian diplomat’s interactions with world figures from George W. Bush, Vladimir Putin and Saddam Hussein to Nelson Mandela and Yasser Arafat.
The Penguin Press announced its acquisition of the memoir Wednesday. The publication date has yet to be set.
Annan and the United Nations were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001.
April 4, 2009
Associated Press
April 3, 2009
New York — Marlene Perez’s “Dead Is the New Black” is a young adult novel with a noirish pink and black cover and a supernatural plot. If it ever becomes the next sensation, give some credit to middle-schoolers such as Geneva Lish.
“It has an unusual plot and a unique power,” says Lish, a seventh-grader.
Lish didn’t buy the book online or at a store. She was among the students at J.H.S. 167 in Manhattan who recently visited the Scholastic Book fair, shopping in the school’s auditorium as they looked through graphic novels, fantasy and a Life magazine volume about President Obama.
During a hard time for publishing and education, the fairs remain a relatively stable source of income. According to a recent report from Scholastic Corp., revenue from fairs for the nine months ending Feb. 28 was $261.2 million, virtually unchanged from the same nine-month period a year earlier.
“I’ve never met one parent who said, ‘My kid has too many books.’ . . . You might cut a lot of things out. You might cut out a toy. You’re not going to cut out a book,” says Scholastic’s president of book fairs, Alan Boyko.
Book fairs have been around for decades, although the field now is largely controlled by Scholastic.
The publisher says its business has grown from about 8,000 annual fairs in the early 1980s to about 120,000 fairs expected this year.
Los Angeles Times
March 19, 2009
By LEE LOGAN, Associated Press Writer Lee Logan, Associated Press Writer – Tue Mar 17, 10:32 pm ET
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Could a vintage, dog-eared copy of “The Cat in the Hat” or “Where the Wild Things Are” be hazardous to your children?
Probably not, according to the nation’s premier medical sleuths, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
But a new federal law banning more than minute levels of lead in most products intended for children 12 or younger — and a federal agency’s interpretation of the law — prompted at least two libraries last month to pull children’s books printed before 1986 from their shelves.
Lead poisoning has been linked to irreversible learning disabilities and behavioral problems, and lead was present in printer’s ink until a growing body of regulations banned it in 1986. The federal law, which took effect Feb. 10, was passed last summer after a string of recalls of toys.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission has interpreted the law to include books but has neither concluded that older books could be hazardous to children nor made any recommendations to libraries about quarantining such tomes, agency chief of staff Joe Martyak said Tuesday.
Still, the agency’s interpretation itself has been labeled alarmist by some librarians.
“We’re talking about tens of millions of copies of children’s books that are perfectly safe. I wish a reasonable, rational person would just say, `This is stupid. What are we doing?’” said Emily Sheketoff, executive director of the American Library Association’s Washington office.\
Yahoo News
January 19, 2009
The Top 10 selling African American books, featuring African American issues and authors, published in December 2008 from Amazon.com (1/14/09)
- Michelle Obama: First Lady of Hope by Elizabeth Lightfoot
(The Lyons Press, 12/11/08, Paperback)
Michelle Obama played a large and influential role in her husband’s campaign, and is certain to do the same thing during his presidency. Michelle Obama: First Lady of Hope examines, for the first time, her astonishing career, from her undergraduate years at Princeton, where she majored in African Studies, to her continuing education at Harvard Law School, where she obtained a Juris Doctor degree. Michelle Obama: First Lady of Hope will further examine her influence on her husband, her role in his presidential campaign, and her political beliefs.
- Flint: Book 4: Resurrection by Treasure Hernandez
(Urban Books, 12/01/08, Paperback)
- California Connection by Chunichi
(Urban Books, 12/01/08, Paperback)
- The Hip Hop Wars: What We Talk About When We Talk About Hip Hop–and Why It Matters by Tricia Rose
(Basic Civitas Books, 12/01/08, Paperback)
Hip-hop is in crisis. For the past dozen years, the most commercially successful hip-hop has become increasingly saturated with caricatures of black gangstas, thugs, pimps, and ’hos. The controversy surrounding hip-hop is worth attending to and examining with a critical eye because, as scholar and cultural critic Tricia Rose argues, hip-hop has become a primary means by which we talk about race in the United States. In The Hip-Hop Wars, Rose explores the most crucial issues underlying the polarized claims on each side of the debate: Does hip-hop cause violence, or merely reflect a violent ghetto culture? Is hip-hop sexist, or are its detractors simply anti-sex? Does the portrayal of black culture in hip-hop undermine black advancement? A potent exploration of a divisive and important subject, The Hip-Hop Wars concludes with a call for the regalvanization of the progressive and creative heart of hip-hop. What Rose calls for is not a sanitized vision of the form, but one that more accurately reflects a much richer space of culture, politics, anger, and yes, sex, than the current ubiquitous images in sound and video currently provide.
- Saltwater Slavery: A Middle Passage from Africa to American Diaspora by Stephanie E. Smallwood
(Harvard University Press, 12/15/08, Paperback)
This bold, innovative book promises to radically alter our understanding of the Atlantic slave trade, and the depths of its horrors. Stephanie E. Smallwood offers a penetrating look at the process of enslavement from its African origins through the Middle Passage and into the American slave market. Smallwood’s story is animated by deep research and gives us a startlingly graphic experience of the slave trade from the vantage point of the slaves themselves. Ultimately, Saltwater Slavery details how African people were transformed into Atlantic commodities in the process. She begins her narrative on the shores of seventeenth-century Africa, tracing how the trade in human bodies came to define the life of the Gold Coast. Smallwood takes us into the ports and stone fortresses where African captives were held and prepared, and then through the Middle Passage itself. In extraordinary detail, we witness these men and women cramped in the holds of ships, gasping for air, and trying to make sense of an unfamiliar sea and an unimaginable destination. Arriving in America, we see how these new migrants enter the market for laboring bodies, and struggle to reconstruct their social identities in the New World. Throughout, Smallwood examines how the people at the center of her story–merchant capitalists, sailors, and slaves–made sense of the bloody process in which they were joined. The result is both a remarkable transatlantic view of the culture of enslavement, and a painful, intimate vision of the bloody, daily business of the slave trade. (20070115)
- Michelle Obama: Meet the First Lady by David Bergen Brophy
(Collins, 12/01/08, Paperback)
Michelle obama has been by her husband’s side throughout his historic presidential campaign, a dynamic personality whether she is delivering speeches or hitting the dance floor on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Follow the story of a hardworking girl growing up on the South Side of Chicago and how she has inspired our nation to believe in the American Dream that her life exemplifies. In her own stirring words: America should be a place where you can make it if you try. Written by David Bergen Brophy, this in-depth biography captures the heart and soul of the First Lady behind the campaign for change.
- Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate
(Square Fish, 12/23/08, Paperback)
Kek comes from Africa. In America he sees snow for the first time, and feels its sting. He’s never walked on ice, and he falls. He wonders if the people in this new place will be like the winter – cold and unkind. In Africa, Kek lived with his mother, father, and brother. But only he and his mother have survived, and now she’s missing. Kek is on his own. Slowly, he makes friends: a girl who is in foster care; an old woman who owns a rundown farm, and a cow whose name means “family” in Kek’s native language. As Kek awaits word of his mother’s fate, he weathers the tough Minnesota winter by finding warmth in his new friendships, strength in his memories, and belief in his new country. Bestselling author Katherine Applegate presents a beautifully wrought novel about an immigrant’s journey from hardship to hope.
- Trust in Me (Kimani Romance) by Melanie Schuster
(Kimani, 12/01/08, Mass Market Paperback)
The men of the prominent Deveraux clan knew plenty about romance, and Lucien Deveraux was the biggest player of all. But that changed after Hurricane Katrina devastated his beloved city. Now Lucien’s ready to dedicate himself to one woman: Nicole Argonne. Trouble is, Nicole has no time for what she calls “pretty men.” If Lucien wants her, he needs to prove himself…and Nicole’s not going to make it easy.Lucien is sexy, smart and charming—just like the man who broke Nicole’s heart before. But Lucien has his own plan to win her. And when his scheming ex arrives in town, Nicole must decide whether she has the courage to trust again.…
- Running for Freedom: Civil Rights and Black Politics in America Since 1941 by Steven F. Lawson
(Wiley-Blackwell, 12/10/08, Paperback)
Running for Freedom, 3rd edition charts the monumental struggle for African-American civil rights and the impact of that movement in transforming the American political system in the South and nationwide from 1941 to 2008.Explores the interplay between the local and the national dimensions of the civil rights story, betweengrassroots activists and federal officials, and between the North and South New edition includes new material on the Clinton Administration, the controversial 2000 and 2004 presidential elections, and the disaster that Hurricane Katrina wrought on New Orleans Right up-to-date, it also describes the rise to power of Barack Obama and the achievement of blackpolitical legitimacy Ideal for students: short, teachable, and accessibly written; visually engaging with new photographs and maps
- Monster by Walter Dean Myers
(HarperCollins e-books, 12/02/08, Kindle Edition)
FADE IN: INTERIOR: Early morning in CELL BLOCK D, MANHATTAN DETENTION CENTER.Steve (Voice-Over)Sometimes I feel like I have walked into the middle of a movie. Maybe I can make my own movie. The film will be the story of my life. No, not my life, but of this experience. I’ll call it what the lady prosecutor called me … Monster.
