When I retired, I started writing book reviews for my friend and fellow librarian, Edi Campbell.
Here are a list of my reviews:
The Rhythm of Time
Last Chance Dance
The Davenports
Wade in the Water
As You Walk You On By
2023 28 Days Later The Brown Bookshelf Day 1: Kacen Callender
If you are unfamiliar with The Brown Bookshelf, then you need to get know this resource. Every February, this team of African American authors/illustrators feature an author or illustrator each day for the month of February. This year will be their last for a moment, as they are taking a hiatus to determine their next step.
For now, let us enjoy the authors and illustrators they are featuring this year.
Day 1: Kacen Callender: https://thebrownbookshelf.com/28days/throwback-posts-day-1-kacen-callender/
Throwback Thursday: Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
For Throwback Thursday, I chose Incidents in the Life of Slave Girl, written by Harriet Jacobs (or Linda Brent). Initially classified as fiction, a few historians finally acknowledged that this book is an authentic autobiography. In this book, Harriet Jacobs shares her pain and burden of being an enslaved girl, including being sexually harassed by her master. This book may be one of the first books that writes about sexual harassment. Although enslaved African Americans were considered property and masters had the power and control over them, Harriet Jacobs was one slave who refused to submit to her master’s sexual advances. How she manages to do this is worth reading and finding out for yourself.
Connecting Women’s History and Reading Month
Anytime of the year is a good time to honor people of color and their achievements. With March designated as both Women’s History and Reading months, I decided to select a book that definitely honors both. Tonya Bolden’s Changing the Equation 50th US Black Women in STEM is an excellent read and a great introduction to African American pioneers in the STEM professions. From Rebecca Lee Crumpler, the first woman to earn her MD in 1864, to contemporaries like Kimberly Bryant, founder of Black Girls Code, the women included in this book have paved the way for more young women to claim a spot in the STEM profession. Award-winning Tonya Bolden is a both a thorough researcher, using primary and secondary sources. and a skilled storyteller, writing these women biographies in a concise, warm, and easy to read style.
Five Books Exploring Race in America — Discover
We look at the authors of five books discussing race in America.
Five Books Exploring Race in America — Discover
12 Afro-Latinx Kid Lit Creators You Can Support Right Now — Latinxs in Kid Lit
Today, we would like to spotlight 12 Afro-Latinx creators in Kid Lit because: the Kid Lit publishing world is overwhelmingly white, the Latinx creators who do get published are largely white or white-passing, racism, anti-blackness, and colorism are systemic plagues in Latinx communities, in addition to our communities at large, and, as a result […]
12 Afro-Latinx Kid Lit Creators You Can Support Right Now — Latinxs in Kid Lit
The African American Experience: Well Read Black Girl Reading List at JMRL — grow. learn. connect.
Well Read Black Girl is “an inspiring collection of essays by black women writers, curated by the founder of the popular book club Well-Read Black Girl.” Below is a list of titles recommended in the book by Black authors that you can check out from JMRL. Non-Fiction I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by […]
The African American Experience: Well Read Black Girl Reading List at JMRL — grow. learn. connect.
review: The Last Day of Summer — CrazyQuiltEdi
title: The Last Day of Summer author: Lamar Giles illustrator: Dapo Adeola date: Versify; April 2019 main characters: Otto Alston and Sheed Alston SFF Review based on an advanced copy Otto and Sheed are young Black boys, cousins actually who live with their grandmother in Logan County, Virginia. The two couldn’t be more different. Otto […]
via review: The Last Day of Summer — CrazyQuiltEdi
interview: Lamar Giles — CrazyQuiltEdi
I thought this was the perfect time to interview Lamar Giles since these are for many students the last days of summer. I’m so glad he was available! Here, we discuss his latest books, The Last Day of Summer and Spin; inclusive writing and the pains of middle school. EC: When you were in middle school, were […]
Black History: Literacy — CrazyQuiltEdi
Black Crime Novels and Mysteries. While reading books about victims, sleuths or criminals can be sensational, it can also activate critical thinking and problem solving muscles in ways other books can’t. The can question our morality and ethics, uncover issues of justice and privilege and even critique those in power. The following add diversity to […]
The Eclectic Kitabu Project 