Books of Soul

The Kid With The Cubed Fro by Martin Jackson

July 14, 2011
The cover for The Kid With The Cubed Fro The Kid With The Cubed Fro is the new all age comic book series from Graffiti On The Sun. 

The Series follows the adventures of a young super genius African American boy that everyone calls the kid with the cubed fro, due to his square shaped afro.  A kid that due to his high IQ causes him to often be at the epicenter of the weirdness of the world, everything from aliens invasion, monsters, bullies, secret government programs, quantum physics mishaps and that’s just a few of the things that the kid most use his smarts to deal with.

“In some ways this series is an oxymoron.”  Says Martin Jackson the creator of The Kid With Cubed Fro.  “On one hand even though kid genius characters are nothing new we haven’t seen many of Kid with the Cubed Fro’s background or personality in the media at least not as the lead and so that something fresh and new.  But on the other hand the series somewhat a throw back to old comics.  Not in the retro sense of just trying to copy the surface style of things in the past but the series has a similar energy and feel and gives the reader something they won’t find much in the modern comic market.”

The Kid With the Cubed Fro is on sale now in .99¢ eBook format at Amazon.com

See also
http://www.indyplanet.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=5643.

For more information please visited the Graffiti On The Sun website http://graffiti-on-the-sun.blogspot.com.

Best Selling Paperback Sale! Buy Two, Get your Third FREE at Barnes & Noble!

I Got Bank: What My Granddad Taught Me About Money by Teri Williams

March 10, 2011
Jazz Ellington says to his best friend Marquis “I got bank!” And he does. At ten years old, he has over two thousand dollars in the bank. And his savings keep growing. His granddad taught him to save his allowance and set up a bank account to make sure he did. I Got Bank! increases financial awareness while sharing the lives of two African-American boys growing up in the city. Beckham Publications Group
Available November 15, 2010 in Perfect Paperback

Real Street Kidz: Chasing Action by Quentin Holmes

October 9, 2010
The Real Street Kidz are Chasing Action!

Join Q, Lucky, Los, and Chase — a diverse group of preteens who must pull together in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles–in this unique coming of age story. When rumors fly around Long Beach that Chase, a rising skateboarder, cheated to defeat his former best friend in the Annual Long Beach Skateboard Competition, Chase becomes very determined to get a rematch to prove everyone wrong. But Chase and his new crew must rely on the plans of Q, the new kid, to get an all new skate park at the local neighborhood center for the rematch despite many unforeseen obstacles.

Will the Real Street Kidz trust Q’s plans? Will they form a tight bond or will their differences tear them apart? Will Chase get his rematch? Join Q and the crew to find out!

Dog Ear Publishing, LLC
Available May 3, 2010 in Paperback

Little Sister Is Not My Name by Sharon Draper

April 23, 2009

Little Sister Is Not My Name (Sassy)
by Sharon Draper

Scholastic Press

Available 03/01/09 Hardcover

It’s not easy being nine, especially when you’re Sassy Simone Sanford. Especially when you were named for sticking out your tongue on the day you were born. Especially when everyone in the family calls you Little Sister. And if that’s not bad enough, imagine being the youngest in the family. Imagine watching your big brother and sister have all the fun. Imagine being left out of the cool stuff your older sibs get to do–just because you’re younger. Just because you’re in the fourth grade. Just because Mom and Dad rule. Well, nothing stops Sassy. All she has to do is reach into her Sassy Sack to find the right lip gloss, hair clip, or rubber band, and life’s problems get solved. And thanks to her best friends, Carmelita, Jazzy, and Tandy, the most sour situations can become as sweet as honey!

Just Another Hero by Sharon M. Draper

April 8, 2009

Just Another Hero
by Sharon M. Draper

Available 06/23/09

Book 3 in the Jericho Trilogy

Arielle Gresham, disliked and mistrusted by most of the students at her school, has a secret past, an unbelievably complicated present, and a shaky future. But no one knows or cares because she has managed to alienate anyone who could help her. She tries to cope with problems at school, but difficulties at home almost break her spirit. As the school tries to deal with an outbreak of false fire alarms, a series of thefts, a student addicted to prescriptions drugs, and another who is a victim on vicious online bullying, Arielle finds that outward appearances are seldom what they seem to be.

A hero is needed–maybe several heroes to solve the various problems that emerge. What makes a hero? Perhaps we find out as the novel builds to a powerful, explosive conclusion.

Father and Son

March 31, 2009

Father and Son
by Denize Lauture (Author), Jonathan Green (Illustrator)

Available 03/19/09

Father and son
Hand in hand
Up on the road
In the sun

This profound poem, chronicling the special bond between a father and son, is perfectly complimented by the lush, exquisite illustrations of world-renowned Gullah painter Jonathan Green. With beautiful simplicity, Father and Son is just right for its new board book format — a perfect gift for any father or son.

2009 Coretta Scott King Book Awards

January 28, 2009

Monday, January 26, 2009
Announcing the 2009 Coretta Scott King Book Award Recipients

Given to African American authors and illustrator for outstanding inspirational and educational contributions, the Coretta Scott King Book Award titles promote understanding and appreciation of the culture of all peoples and their contribution to the realization of the American dream.

The award is 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 and world brotherhood.
More about the Coretta Scott King Book Awards

Author Award

Kadir Nelson
We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball
published by Jump at the Sun/Hyperion Books for Children, an imprint of Disney Book Group

Author Honor Books

Hope Anita Smith
Keeping the Night Watch
published by Henry Holt and Company

Joyce Carol Thomas
The Blacker the Berry
published by Amistad, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers

Carole Boston Weatherford
Becoming Billie Holiday
published by Wordsong, an imprint of Boyds Mills Press, Inc

Illustrator Award

Floyd Cooper
The Blacker the Berry
published by Amistad, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers

Illustrator Honor Books

Kadir Nelson
We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball
published by Jump at the Sun/Hyperion Books for Children, an imprint of Disney Book Group

Jerry Pinkney
The Moon Over Star
published by Dial Books for Young Readers, a division of Penguin Young Readers Group

Sean Qualls
Before John Was a Jazz Giant
published by Henry Holt and Company

John Steptoe Awards for New Talent

These books affirm new talent and offer visibility to excellence in writing or illustration at the beginning of a career as a published book creator.

Shadra Strickland
Bird
published by Lee & Low Books

Ashley Bryan: Words to My Life’s Song

January 16, 2009

Ashley Bryan: Words to My Life’s Song
by Ashley Bryan (Illustrator), Bill McGuinness (Photographer)

Available 01/06/09

Ashley’s autobiography is full of art, photographs, and the poignant never-say-never tale of his rich life, a life that has always included drawing and painting. Even as a boy growing up during the Depression, he painted — finding cast off objects to turn into books and kites and toy and art. Even as a solder in the segregated Army on the beaches of Normandy, he sketched — keeping charcoal crayons and paper in his gasmask to draw with during lulls. Even as a talented, visionary art student who was accepted and then turned away from college upon arrival, the school telling Ashley that to give a scholarship to an African American student would be a waste, he painted — continuing to create art when he could have been discouraged, continuing to polish his talents when his spirit should have been beaten. Ashley went on to become a Hans Christian Anderson Award nominee, a May Hill Arbuthnot lecturer, and a multiple Coretta Scott King award winner. As you might imagine, his story is powerful, bursting with his creative energy, and a testament to believing in oneself. It’s a book every child in America should have access to and it does what the very best autobiographies do; it inspires!

Article: More (and Better) Books for Black Teens

January 2, 2009

Publishers are paying attention to African-American teens
by Felicia Pride and Calvin Reid — Publishers Weekly, 12/8/2008

Talk to a Young Adults editor or take a stroll through that section at your local bookstore and it’s evident that there’s a growing number of books aimed at the young adult market—and those numbers include more titles geared specifically to African-American teens. As publishers are addressing the lack of material aimed at this market—many African-American teens have turned to popular adult authors because of this dearth—there has clearly been some improvement.

These days publishers are offering black teens books that deal with serious issues, such as drug addiction and pregnancy, as well as pure entertainment; they’re looking to introduce new authors and experiment with graphic novels and even historical fiction for teens, all while looking for creative ways to make sure parents, teachers and librarians—as well as the kids themselves—know what’s on their lists specifically for black teens.

Publishers Weekly talked with a number of editors and category buyers as well as an agent specializing in titles for African-American teens in order to get a better view of the past, present and future of titles aimed at black teenagers.

Publishers Weekly

Article: E-books catch on with children

January 2, 2009

Undaunted by technology, young readers have become a hot market for publishers who are making books available digitally.

By Alana Semuels
December 25, 2008

After he’s finished his homework and his chores for the day, 8-year-old Skye Vaughn-Perling likes to read Dr. Seuss. He’s a particular fan of the hijinks that ensue when the elephant Horton hears strange voices emanating from a dust speck in “Horton Hears a Who.”

He doesn’t read from a dog-eared copy of the children’s classic, though. Skye, who lives in Agoura Hills, often reads on his computer, pressing the arrow button when he wants to turn a page. Sometimes the characters move around on the screen like animated cartoons on TV. If he wants, Skye can have the computer read a book to him while he’s curled up in bed.

“It’s a whole new level of exploring the books,” said his mother, Victoria Vaughn-Perling.

Readers and publishers alike are embracing a digital future. Electronic-book sales increased 73% in October compared with the same month last year, according to the Assn. of American Publishers, while sales of adult paperbacks decreased 23% and children’s paperbacks declined 14.8%. Sales of higher-education books, including textbooks, fell 443%.

“There’s a new excitement that e-books will become a viable way for consumers to purchase and read books,” said David Langevin, vice president and director of electronic markets at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Co.

The jump in digital sales is strongly related to the increased popularity of the Amazon Kindle, the Sony Reader and even the iPhone. Once readers have bought the hardware, digital books are much cheaper than hardcovers or even paperbacks. You can get a hardcover of Wally Lamb’s “The Hour I First Believed” for $17.97 on Amazon.com, for example, but it costs only $9.99 on the Kindle. And “100 Words to Make You Sound Smart” is $5.95 in print but only $2.99 in Apple’s App Store.

Digital books could get even cheaper if New York company DailyLit goes through with its plan to place advertising on the e-mails and RSS feeds it sends to subscribers, which contain serialized books. The ads would subsidize the cost of the books.

But the children’s book market is especially ripe for the wonders of the digital world.

Los Angeles Times