Little Lov'n Monday

Little Lov'n Monday is a day we celebrate the work of fellow bloggers. Between now and Wednesday, post a link to an article, contest, interview, poem- anything you think deserves a little lov'n. Leave a link and be entered in LLM Giveaway. Deadline is July 3rd. Winner announced on Saturday. Congratulations, Diana! Visit Diana at Stop, Drop & Read. I'll leave this open to readers outside of the US, but instead of shipping a book, I'll email you a gift card. It's too costly for me to ship outside of the states.

Commit to visiting 5 blogs and leaving comments. If you do that, let us know. You might not care about winning a book, but I'm thinking you're a cool person who cares. Tell us that you shared some love. Thanks. Winner may choose a prize from the list or any previously offered book if it is available:

Domestic Goddess by Sophia Kinsella
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
Played by Dana Davidson (YA)
72 Hours by Bebe Moore Campbell
Fluke by Christopher Moore

Earn 1 entry for leaving a link to a post you think we should check out. Earn extra entries:
+5 for saying you visited folks and shared some love
+3 for posting LLM icon/link in your sidebar
+2 for blogging about LLM

Check these out:
The Everything Austen Challenge at Stephanie's Written Word's
Compact poems at Gene Meyers
Interview with Grace Lin at Mother Reader

The Sunday Salon

Had a good week. Read a great post by Eva at A Striped Armchair where she asks readers to ask her questions about recent reads. I opted to do the same and I’m happy to say doing so has motivated me to get some reviews done.

Recently finished Skunk Girl by Sheba Karim. It’s about 15-year-old, Nina Khan. Nina is Pakistani and Muslim. Like most teens, she’s disgusted with her body, interested in a cute boy and feels socially awkward. Heap on top of that she's conflicted about what it means to be both a good Muslim girl and a regular American teen.

One of the things that impress me about the author is the frank language about race. I read a lot of multicultural literature and a good deal of American teen lit, too, so to varying degrees I question political correctness in texts including social groupings; I consider if the grouping come across as natural or an attempt by the author to promote inclusion and diversity. In Karim’s work, there’s no clunky pc filter. In Nina's high school, blacks and a few Latinos hang out together and Asians and South Asians hang out with whites. While Nina's friends are white, she is teased by other whites for being brown. Then there is the whole color issue among Pakastanis themselves. Later in the book when Nina refers to coolies in Pakistan, I was surprised because I had been told the term coolie is the equlavent of the ‘N’ word still I appreciate that the author uses it because it reinforces a sense of authenticity for me. More about race and other issues in my forthcoming review.

Currently reading Mare’s War by Tanita S. Davis and I’m really enjoying it. The story alternates between Mare's, the eccentric, cool grandmother who served in the Women's Army Corp during War World II and her granddaughters', Tali and Octavia. The exchanges between these generations are funny and so relatable. My grandmother would have been Mare's age and like Mare, Ernie had big, Auburn hair. My grandmother was a hot mess. I couldn't have chosen a better time to read this. Thanks, Tanita.

This week for CORA Diversity Roll Call, Ali asked us to spotlight LBGTQ literature or authors. Well, my favorite YA author is Jacqueline Woodson so completing this assignment was fun and easy. Hope you’ll read it. Ms. Woodson is a prolific writer, she’s written twenty-two titles for children, young adults and adults. I’ve also linked to Worducopia so you can check out other entries. Join us.

More goodies in my mailbox. Did you get anything in the mail or at the library? Hope you had a good week. Happy reading.

In My Mailbox

We're down to the last days of our Color Online Summer Book Drive. Thanks to all of you who blogged, donated and those who wanted to give but couldn't. We appreciate your support. In My mailbox is hosted each week by Kristi at The Story Siren and Marcia hosts Mailbox Monday. With all the mail I won't be borrowing too much from my local library, but I will be reading books from our library and those titles I'll list for my Library Loot, a meme hosted by Eva at A Striped Armchair. From our library:

Mare's War by Tanita S. Davis. I've have been waiting for this. Was thrilled when it came in. I'm about half way through and loving it. The story alternates between Mare, the eccentric, cool grandmother who served in the Women's Army Corp during War World II and her granddaughters, Tali and Octavia. The exchanges between these generations are funny and so relatable. My grandmother would have been Mare's age and like Mare, Ernie had big, Auburn hair. My grandmother was a hot mess. I couldn't have chosen a better time to read this. Thanks, Tanita.

The Color Of Earth by Kim Dong Hwa
Synopsis
Ehwa grows up helping her widowed mother run the local tavern, watching as their customers – both neighbors and strangers – look down on her mother for her single lifestyle. Their social status isolates Ehwa and her mother from the rest of the people in their quiet country village. But as she gets older and sees her mother fall in love again, Ehwa slowly begins to open up to the possibility of love in her life.
I'm looking forward to this graphic novel. The cover art is stunning. I am really enjoy the graphic novel format.
Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
Synopsis
Clay Jenkins returns home from school to find a mysterious box with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers 13 cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Bakerhis classmate and crushwho committed suicide two weeks earlier. On tape, Hannah explains that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, hell find out how he made the list. Through Hannah and Clays dual narratives, debut author Jay Asher weaves an intricate and heartrending story of confusion and desperation that will deeply affect teen readers.

In the Mail:
Pemba's Song by Marilyn Nelson
Synopsis
Pemba knows she's not crazy. But who is that looking out at her through her mirror's eye? And why is the apparition calling her "friend"? Her real friends are back home in Brooklyn, not in the old colonial house in Colchester, Connecticut, where none of this would have happened if Daddy were still alive. But now all Pemba has is Mom and that strange old man, Abraham. Maybe he's the crazy one.
I had the good fortune to hear Ms. Nelson read her poetry at an authors series hosted every year at a local college. If her fiction is like her poetry, this will be one fine read. She is talented and a very considerate person.

White Bread Competition by Jo Ann Hernandez
Publisher's Comments
When Luz, a ninth-grade Latina student in San Antonio, wins a spelling competition, her success triggers a variety of emotions among family, friends, and the broader community.
I connected with Jo Ann through Twitter. She is a powerhouse. Dynamic, community-minded and a committed advocated for writers of color. I'm looking forward to reading this award winner.

Shortie Like Mine by Ni-Ni Simone According to Edi at Crazy Quilt, Ms. Simone is hip, urban and weaves teen drama that is entertaining without being crass. Our first copy walked before it could collect any dust. I'm hoping I get to read this one. We received another Simone title in the mail, too. I tell you about after I finish this one.
Sixteen year-old, Seven McKnight may be the thickest one in her clique, but she is fierce, fly and fabulous. She has the biggest crush on the school's star basketball player, Josiah Whitaker, who is fine as wine. The only problem is he is with her girl, Deeyah. When Deeyah plays Josiah and his worst enemy against each other, it leaves Seven thinking it is time to make her move. ~L. Romich

Camden, New Jersey: Poetry Friday

"Camden, New Jersey"
Kate Rushin

Two backyards down
Our neighbor is yelling:
Get done, Johnny! Get done!

Johnny is her son.

Then she yells: Got eight, Wanita?
Had seven tomatoes,
Now I got eight!

Wanita is her girlfriend

Then it hits me

Our neighbor is a lesbian, a mother,
And just as colored as
Everybody else.

I wonder if I'll be like her

Poking around the garden with boy's sneaks
Yelling about tomatoes

Hey, Wanita!
Had seven,
Now I got eight!

June is Gay Pride Month. This poem isn't about being a lesbian; it's about the intersection of identity: mothers, lovers, family, lovers, neighbors. It's about how we, black women see ourselves. Interestingly, I recently read an interview where writer, Jacqueline Woodson wrote she is a writer who is queer, a writer who is black, a writer who is a woman. She said she doesn't want different groups using her when it's convenient for them. She is all these things all the time.

I found myself smiling at how the narrator relates to her neighbor. She acknowledges the women are a couple and unlike many people in our society, she doesn't object to their relationship but recognizes how we are the same. I loved the identification: the speaker contemplates her own identity, a woman picking tomatoes. I don't not sure if the narrator is identifying as a lesbian. I hope I'm not missing an affirming moment. What I see is a woman who is okay with the idea of being like her neighbors. In whatever way she relates, it is all good in my mind.

At CORA Diversity Roll Call we are celebrating LGBTQ literature and writers. Check us out. This week Poetry Friday is hosted by Carol at Carol's Corner.

poem from The Black Back-Ups by Kate Rushin, Firebrand Books. 1993.

Rest In Peace

August 29, 1958- June 25, 2009

I remember my childhood crush. Every girl
I knew loved Michael Jackson.
Prayers for his children and family.

Birthday Shout Out: Ernestine Briggs

Ernestine Briggs
June 25, 1925- October 31, 2004
Knoxville, TN

Hello, Darling! That was my grandmother's signature greeting. Ernie had big hair, big Auburn hair. She drank coffee, smoked cigarettes, always wore A-line skirts (she'd tell you she had great legs), loved oranges and crystal figurines. Her favorite color was white. My grandmother lived for her children. That was her life. We miss her. I miss her especially today.

I want a real orange that tastes like
sunshine and its juices stick to my fingers.
I want to live long enough to giggle with my babies'
babies and inhale long, sweet breaths.

excerpt from a draft I wrote, "What Do I Want?"

Confession Tuesday

I have a confession while I love reading and talking about books, I’m pitiful when it comes to taking time to write reviews. I confess my poor record for getting them done is partly because of laziness. I could give you other reasons but the truth is reviews are not my favorite way to talk about books. I’m convinced the joy of taking an abundance of English courses where we had the luxury of engaging one another in extended discussions is to blame.

Well the book fairy was looking out for me. I read Eva’s at The Striped Armchair’s recent Sunday Salon post. She shared summaries and asked her readers to ask her questions. She'll use the questions and answers as the basis for her reviews. Love this!

Are you willing to indulge me? Below are four of my recent reads, books that deserve a good review. I’d love to answer your questions. Please ask me, the more the better. Post your questions in the comments between now and next Tuesday.

Shine, Coconut Moon by Neesha Meminger
Synopsis
Seventeen-year-old Samar — a.k.a. Sam — has never known much about her Indian heritage. Her mom has deliberately kept Sam away from her old-fashioned family. It's never bothered Sam, who is busy with school, friends, and a really cute but demanding boyfriend.
But things change after 9/11. A guy in a turban shows up at Sam's house, and he turns out to be her uncle. He wants to reconcile the family and teach Sam about her Sikh heritage.

Secret Keeper by Mitali Perkins
Synopsis
When her father loses his job and leaves India to look for work in America, Asha Gupta, her older sister, Reet, and their mother must wait with Baba’s brother and his family, as well as their grandmother, in Calcutta. Uncle is welcoming, but in a country steeped in tradition, the three women must abide by his decisions. Asha knows this is temporary—just until Baba sends for them. But with scant savings and time passing, the tension builds: Ma, prone to spells of sadness, finds it hard to submit to her mother- and sister-in-law; Reet’s beauty attracts unwanted marriage proposals; and Asha's promise to take care of Ma and Reet leads to impulsive behavior.

Aya by Marguerite Abouet and Clement Oubrerie
Synopsis
Ivory Coast, 1978. Family and friends gather at Aya's house every evening to watch the country's first television ad campaign promoting the fortifying effects of Solibra, "the strong man's beer." It's a golden time, and the nation, too — an oasis of affluence and stability in West Africa — seems fueled by something wondrous…
Aya tells the story of its nineteen-year-old heroine, the studious and clear-sighted Aya, her easygoing friends Adjoua and Bintou, and their meddling relatives and neighbors. It's a breezy and wryly funny account of the desire for joy and freedom, and of the simple pleasures and private troubles of everyday life in Yop City.

Brown Girl In The Ring by Nalo Hopkinson
Synopsis
It tells the story of Ti-Jeanne, a young woman in a near-future Toronto that's been all but abandoned by the Canadian government. Anyone who can has retreated from the chaos of the city to the relative safety of the suburbs, and those left in "the burn" must fend for themselves. Ti-Jeanne is a new mother who's trying to come to grips with her as- yet-unnamed baby and also trying to end her relationship with her drug-addict boyfriend Tony. But a passion still burns between the young lovers, and when Tony runs afoul of Rudy, the local ganglord, Ti-Jeanne convinces her grandmother Gros-Jeanne to help out. Gros-Jeanne is a Voudoun priestess, and it's clear that Ti-Jeanne has inherited some of her gifts. Although Ti-Jeanne wants nothing to do with the spirit world, she soon finds herself caught up in a battle to the death with Rudy and the mother she thought she lost long ago.

Find more confessions at Poet Mom's.

Little Lov'n Monday

Little Lov'n Monday is a day we celebrate the work of fellow bloggers. Between now and Wednesday, post a link to an article, contest, interview, poem- anything you think deserves a little lov'n. Leave a link and be entered in LLM Giveaway. Deadline is June 26th. Winner announced on Saturday. Congratulations, Ali! Visit Ali at Worducopia.

Commit to visiting 5 blogs and leaving comments. If you do that, let us know. You might not care about winning a book, but I'm thinking you're a cool person who cares. Tell us that you shared some love. Thanks. Winner may choose a prize from the list or any previously offered book if it is available:

Don't Get it Twisted by Paula Chase (YA)
Airhead by Meg Cabot (YA)
The Skin I'm In by Sharon G. Flake (YA)
Paradise by Toni Morrison
72 Hours by Bebe Moore Campbell
Barefoot Gen by Nakazawa
The House On Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros (YA)

Earn 1 entry for leaving a link to a post you think we should check out. Earn extra entries:
+5 for saying you visited folks and shared some love
+3 for posting LLM icon/link in your sidebar
+2 for blogging about LLM

Check these out:
CORA Diversity Roll Call- June is Gay Pride month
New Orleans for Sale? @ Bottom of Heaven
Someone's Got To Tell It Like It Is @ ABW
Human Hymen Rights @ Reviewer X
David Inside Out Giveaway at Stop, Drop & Read
Tender Morsels, a review at A Striped Armchair

The Sunday Salon

Busy week, but got in more reading. Finally finished Brown Girl In The Ring by Nalo Hopkinson. Thoroughly enjoyed it. A great mix of magical realism, fantasy and science fiction. I have two other titles by her on our wish list. I’m hoping we get them. The used copies are very inexpensive so if they’re not donated, I’m going to cash in a few cans. I need to write reviews for some great reads including: Secret Keeper by Mitali Perkins, Shine, Coconut Moon by Neesha Meminger, Aya by Marguerite Abouet and Clement Oubrerie and Hopkinson’s book. I still have Cuba 15 to finish and I’ve started and enjoying Skunk Girl by Sheba Karim. To see what I got in the mail this week, check my In My Mailbox post.

My new pub schedule for Color Online is working out well. Of course, now I’m out of sync here at Black-Eyed Susan’s. Well, I do what I can do. Gearing up for the reading challenge next week at Alternatives for Girls. I have flyers and bookmarks to make. Prizes to buy and books to set aside.

Little Lov’n Monday participation is down and I've heard other bloggers say their memes aren’t getting their usual turnout either. I realize we have lives. Still, LLM is about supporting each other and frankly I think we all can do just a little more to listen. One reviewer was lamenting that blogging allows everyone to speak, but who’s listening? There are few who aren’t fond of this critic, but his point is valid. Do we do take time to hear and respond to someone else or are we preoccupied with our own ramblings? Speaking of ruffling feathers, I might have done just that with my Confession Tuesday post.

We received a very generous donation from the publisher of Airhead by Meg Cabot. The book isn’t what the title suggests. If you read YA or mentor young people like I do, enter my drawing to win a copy. I have three copies. Giveaway is here.

Hope you’re having a good day commenting to friends and of course, finding time to read a good book. Happy reading.

In My Mailbox

We're down to the last ten days of our Color Online Summer Book Drive. It's not possible to list everything we get but I promise to share a good deal. We want you to know how much we appreciate your gifts. In My mailbox is hosted each week by Kristi at The Story Siren and Marcia hosts Mailbox Monday. So on to the mail:
Flash Burnout L.K. Madigan
Synposis
Fifteen-year-old Blake has a girlfriend and a friend whos a girl. One of them loves him; the other one needs him. When he snapped a picture of a street person for his photography homework, Blake never dreamed that the woman in the photo was his friend Marissas long-lost meth addicted mom. Blakes participation in the ensuing drama opens up a world of trouble, both for him and for Marissa.

Indie Girl by Kavita Daswani

Synopsis
Fifteen-year-old Indi Konkipuddi has always dreamed of becoming a fashion reporter. She'd do anything to land an internship with glamorous Celebrity Style magazine — even babysit publisher Aaralyn Taylor's two-year-old son. Indie's neurosurgeon dad can't understand why Indie would want to spend her weekends picking Play-Doh off of someone else's Persian carpets, and pretty soon she starts asking herself the same thing.

Half a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Synopsis
With the effortless grace of a natural storyteller, Adichie weaves together the lives of five characters caught up in the extraordinary tumult of the decade. Fifteen-year-old Ugwu is houseboy to Odenigbo, a university professor who sends him to school, and in whose living room Ugwu hears voices full of revolutionary zeal. Odenigbo's beautiful mistress, Olanna, a sociology teacher, is running away from her parents' world of wealth and excess; Kainene, her urbane twin, is taking over their father's business; and Kainene's English lover, Richard, forms a bridge between their two worlds.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith
Synposis
... expanded edition of the beloved Jane Austen novel featuring all-new scenes of bone-crunching zombie mayhem. As our story opens, a mysterious plague has fallen upon the quiet English village of Meryton—and the dead are returning to life! Feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet is determined to wipe out the zombie menace, but she's soon distracted by the arrival of the haughty and arrogant Mr. Darcy. What ensues is a delightful comedy of manners with plenty of civilized sparring between the two young lovers...

Airhead by Meg Cabot. Currently running a giveway. 3 winners. Just leave your name and email here. See Speed Reader's review at My Favorite Author.

Summer Groove

As summer approaches, I often think of childhood memories, but not always. Sometimes, summer conjures up those wicked nights spent at the festivals off the waterfront. My early thirties were my Indian Summer. I was young then, a working professional with no commitments. One year at the African World festival I spotted a fine brother, the kind of man, what is it they say in those novels, arresting, yes he was arresting.

He was sporting an Isaac Hayes dome. He was smooth milk chocolate (cliche but everything you think of when you think chocolate, he was). He wore a loose fitting shirt, you know, the kind that billows in the wind as you walk along the shore. Sported matching linen pants, loose but not so loose I couldn’t detect the gluteus maximus that only a brother who diligently squats three times a week and runs five miles a day before dawn has. I watched the rhythmic roll of his hips to the drums of a funky Latin beat, yes, I know it was African World but I know it was Latin because he told me all about the group later, but I’m jumping ahead here. Everybody was feelin’ the groove and the groove was bumpin’. I slipped into that sea of warm bodies and prayed to the deities of lust to be kind to me. Let Isaac find his way to my full swaying, tangerine hips. I wanted to share his heat….

And how did it turn out? Let’s just say everytime I look at my 70s inspired, striped hip hugging robe, I smile, and I remember the night the gods were kind to me.

Every week at 3WW, Thom assigns three words. This week: arresting, wicked and rhthymtic.

Confession Tuesday

I'm super late. And I'm writing off-the-cuff for real. I'm annoyed. I won't give you a full blown rant because whining is exactly what's bugging me.

Let's start with the blogosphere: Bloggers still whining about the them vs us controversy that started with an expressed criticism about how a panel of bloggers at BEA was presented. The core sentiment was how the group was presented and what that message meant. It was never a personal attack nor an argument about the quality of the panelists' blogs.

Seriously, people, let it go. There is real shyte going on in the world. The most ardent defenders argue that they began blogging because of their love of reading and sharing about what they've read. Then what difference does it make what a professional critic thinks of your efforts? Are you writing for the same audience? Hardly. Does someone else's opinion affect what you're going to continue doing or how you do it? Hardly. Do you think the majority of readers who have already chosen who they relate to care what someone else thinks about their reviewer of choice? Hardly.

Moving on. There are folks ragging what the President is doing or not doing for any particular group whether it's the LGBTQ community, African Americans or women, you fill in the blank. People, let's see beyond our own agendas. Anyone paying attention to Iran, North Korea or those dark folks in Africa that too many of us regard as a single country? AIDS is wiping out populations, militias are raping women and forcing children to wield guns, our planet is sick-thanks to us and we're whining about no one's paying attention to us?

Where I volunteer, residents at the shelter will routinely go off on staff (angry really because they feel powerless but they project on staff) accusing them of abusing their authority, complaining staff throws their failure in their face, curse them because the RAs have jobs and homes and they the residents don't. Well, you know what, stop it.

Shyte happens. Sometimes life sucks. But most of us and by most of us, I mean anyone who access to read this have far more to be grateful for than not. I have told the young women on ocassion: if you made it to this shelter you are far better off than the women on the streets or those stuck in one of the overcrowded, under-staffed shelters or the ones at the morgue. You aren't living under the threat of bombs or ditatorship. Put your crap in perspective.

If you've been whining lately: back up, shut up breathe. Letting go ain't easy. Living ain't easy. Would you prefer the alternative? I'm not ready to push up daisies. So let's chill.

Airhead by Meg Cabot Giveaway

We received a huge donation from the publisher of Airhead. Our book drive is going well and we are hoping for a strong finish so we're sharing the loot. I'm giving away 3 copies of Airhead to say thank you to all of you who have supported us. I run a library because I strongly believe in the power of books. I don't want to hoard books, I want them read. Leave your name and email address to be entered in the giveaway. Blog, tweet, link to our Color Online Book Drive and you'll earn 3 extra entries. Deadline is June 25th. U.S. residents only. Winners contacted via email and announced here June26th. You don't need separate posts. Good luck!

Cabot (the Princess Diaries series) dishes up all the story ingredients her fans have come to know and love romance, humor, believable teen dialogue and even a fantastical twist. This last bit requires a major suspension of disbelief, but willing readers will love it. Emerson Watts, 16, likes living in New York City's SoHo neighborhood, but she can't tolerate most of the students at her private high school. She and her best friend (and secret crush), Christopher, escape their outcast status by immersing themselves in online video games. But Emerson's bland world shatters when she attends the opening of a new Stark Megastore and suffers a terrible accident. She wakes up in the hospital one month later in someone else's body and not just anyone else's, but that of superhot teen model Nikki Howard.

Color Online: Susan Says

Color Online: Susan Says

If you've wondered what I look like here's my mug shot.

Little Lov'n Monday

Little Lov'n Monday is a day we celebrate the work of fellow bloggers. Between now and Wednesday, post a link to an article, contest, interview, poem- anything you think deserves a little lov'n. Leave a link and be entered in LLM Giveaway. Deadline is June 19th. Winner announced on Saturday.

Commit to visiting 5 blogs and leaving comments. If you do that, let us know. You might not care about winning a book, but I'm thinking you're a cool person who cares. Tell us that you shared some love. Thanks. Winner may choose a prize from the list or any previously offered book if it is available:

Missing Mom by Joyce Carol Oates
June-tree: New and Selected poems by Peter Balakian
Begging for Change by Sharon G. Flake
Paradise by Toni Morrison
72 Hours by Bebe Moore Campbell
Kushiel's Scion by Jacqueline Carey
The House On Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros (YA)

Earn 1 entry for leaving a link to a post you think we should check out. Earn extra entries:
+5 for saying you visited folks and shared some love
+3 for posting LLM icon/link in your sidebar
+2 for blogging about LLM

Check these out:
Diversity Roll Call- poetry @ Fledgling
Quoteskimming. Shakespeare @ Writing and Ruminating
Punctuation in Poety @ PWB
How To Tell People They Sound Racist @ ABW
Guidepost Young Writers Essay Contest
Into The Beautiful North- review @ Worducopia

In My Mailbox

Another busy week. Special thanks to all the bloggers who promoted our Color Online Summer Book Drive. We're almost at the mid-way mark. I won't list everything we get in but we are trying to record donations for our records, keeping notes on addresses when we get them. We really do want donors to know your gifts are a very big deal to us. Without you, we could not build the collection we have. So on to the mail. In My mailbox is hosted each week by Kristi at The Story Siren and Marcia hosts Mailbox Monday. The following is a short list of donations:
Amor and Summer Secrets by Diana Rodriguez Wallach
Synopsis:
"In the first novel of a sparkling new series that's reminiscent of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants books, Wallach introduces an unforgettable heroine who's learning all about friendship, family, rivalry, and secrets. "

The author sent us a copy of each book in the series and signed them!

The Boondocks: Because I know you Don't Read the Newspaper

by Aaron McGruder

From publishers review:

The Boondocks has taken the syndication world by storm. Introduced in April 1999, the edgy new comic strip produced a stronger launch for Universal Press Syndicate than Calvin and Hobbes and For Better or For Worse... In fact, the notoriety landed Boondocks creator Aaron McGruder in publications ranging from Time magazine to People magazine which named him one of the "25 Most Intriguing People of '99." Centered around the experiences of two young African-American boys, Huey and Riley, who move from inner-city Chicago to the suburbs (or the "boondocks" to them), the strip fuses hip-hop sensibilities with Japanese anime-style drawings and a candid discussion of race...

Our first copy walked. When my assistant saw this donation she said the girls loved these. We're hoping this was lasts longer than the last.

Luna by Julie Ann Peters.

Synopsis

"From as early as she can remember, Regan O'Neill has known that her brother, Liam, was different. That he was, in fact, a girl. Transgender. Having a transgender brother has never been a problem for Regan until now. Liam (or Luna, as she prefers to be called by her chosen name) is about to transition. What does it mean, transitioning? Dressing like a girl? In public? Does Liam expect Regan to embrace this decision, to welcome his sex change? She's always kept her brother's secret, always been his confidante, but now Regan's acceptance and love will be put to the test. "

Got this on trade. Love this. Great writing and an issue more teens are facing now rather than in their later years. Highly recommend this.

The Color of Earth by Kim Dong Hwa

Synopsis

"In the tradition of My Antonia and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, from the pen of the renowned Korean manwha creator Kim Dong Hwa, comes a trilogy about a girl coming of age, set in the vibrant, beautiful landscape of pastoral Korea. "

This manhwa — first in a trilogy — chronicling the lives of a single mother and her daughter in rural Korea is a moving and evocative look at love as seen through the eyes of one feeling it for the first time and another who longs to savor it once more. The story follows daughter Ehwa from age seven up as she discovers the physical differences between boys and girls, grows into young womanhood and undergoes her initial confusing experiences with attraction and romance.

Saw an early review somewhere. Knew I wanted this graphic novel for our library. The book's cover and the paper are pieces of art in themselves. A generous donor sent us the first three volumes.

Flipping the Script by Paula Chase.

Synopsis:

"It's junior year at Del Rio Bay High, and Mina's feeling insecure while her boyfriend Brian is at Duke University. Meanwhile, Rob's presence around the clique triggers star athlete JZ's feelings of homophobia. "

Paula sent us a signed copy of the second title in the Del Rio series as well as Don't Get It Twisted, a popular title in our library.

CORA Diversity Roll Call #8: Got Poetry?

Color Online: CORA Diversity Roll Call #8: Got Poetry?

Your assignment is to post a poem in a form unique to a particular country, an example would be the sijo (Korea), haiku (Japan) or American Sentence (this is a single line of 17 syllables like a haiku. Created by Ginsberg). Another option: post a favorite poem by a poet of color. Tell us a little about the poet and the poem. Last option, post a poem that celebrates a particular country or culture. Tell us why you enjoy this poem. Please cite the collections for your entries. Let us know if you own the collection containing your feature.

3WW

The news of another member being afflicted
is like the sloshing in a pitcher shaken
by an unexpected bump against its table.
We’re dangerously close to spilling our keepsakes
onto an already dirty floor.

Each week, Thom gives us three words to craft a work. This week, we have restless, dangerous and keepsake. To see more, visit 3WW.

Confession Tuesday

It’s Tuesday so it’s time to fess up. I confess my name isn’t Susan. If you read my ABC meme last week, you know my first initial is L. I also wrote that when I began surfing a decade ago, my moniker was Zawadi and had been for many years. Let me share a brief history and explanation of my pseudonyms.

Little more than a decade ago I discovered online communities and I was hooked. I am social so it’s no surprised that I gravitated towards message boards. I joined several and with message boards you have to create a username. Now you can imagine that in large communities, using your real name is unlikely since most of us have common names and all members must have unique usernames on their accounts. My favorite communities were poetry and social/culture sites. Inevitably there was always a thread (discussion) about how you chose your username and why. Despite the regularity of these discussions, I always found them interesting. I chose my daughter’s name because I think it’s beautiful, and I had little concern that someone else would have it. Her name is Swahili for gift. I didn’t have to alter my moniker for several years.

Well, Z is a teen now and doesn’t like me co-opting her name so when I began blogging, I naturally thought about a new moniker. I realize that many people use their real names now, but the writer in me likes having an alter identity which for me really isn’t alter since anyone who knows me knows that I’m equally rough around the edges in person, too. Still, using a pseudonym does feel a bit like dressing up.

I chose Susan based on a collection of short stories, entitled Black-Eyed Susans and Midnight Birds: Stories by and about Black Women edited by Mary Helen Washington. Ms. Washington taught for years in Detroit and the appeal of Susan was sealed when I read the following excerpt from a speech Ms. Washington gave:

“Three years after the uprising in Detroit that whites called a riot and blacks called a rebellion, I became part of the small band of scholars who, in 1970, inaugurated the first Black Studies program at the University of Detroit.”

One activist, one outspoken black woman identifying with another. I realize the anthology is Black-Eyed Susan. Okay, I like the idea of the sturdy plant; I also like crooner, Al Jarreau’s Susan, and I definitely have an affinity for women like Ms. Washington. So, call me, Susan.

It’s funny, when someone addresses me by my real name I have to remember, Oh yeah, that’s me.

Have you belonged to online communities where you used a moniker? What was your name and why did you choose it? Have you ever written under a penname?

To read more confessions, check in with January at Poet Mom.

Little Lov'n Monday

Little Lov'n Monday is a day we celebrate the work of fellow bloggers. Between now and Wednesday, post a link to an article, contest, interview, poem- anything you think deserves a little lov'n. Leave a link and be entered in LLM Giveaway. Deadline is June 11th. Winner announced every Saturday. Congratulations to Tarie, winner (6/05)! Check her out at Into the Wardrobe.

Commit to visiting 5 blogs and leaving comments. If you do that, let us know. You might not care about winning a book, but I'm thinking you're a cool person who cares. Tell us that you shared some love. Thanks. Winner may choose a prize from the list or any previously offered book if it is available:
Begging for Change by Sharon G. Flake
Paradise by Toni Morrison
72 Hours by Bebe Moore Campbell
Kushiel's Scion by Jacqueline Carey
The House On Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros (YA)

Earn 1 entry for leaving a link to a post you think we should check out. Earn extra entries:
+5 for saying you visited folks and shared some love
+3 for posting LLM icon/link in your sidebar
+2 for blogging about LLM

Check Out These:
book giveaway, Mare's Ware at Tanita Davis'
Open Letter to that fool, Kayane West by Jeff Hobbs
"Loving Our Leaders" @ Alice Walker blog
Wanting Mor @Writing With a Broken Tusk (Interview)
"What A Girl Wants" @ Chasing Ray (project spotlighting solid girl leads)
Big List of Book Giveaways @ Ms. Bookish

The Sunday Salon

Good week for reading not so much for blogging. I've been divided between the book drive, launching a new layout for Color Online and enjoying some good reads. The layout for Color Online is lovely. Do come by.

The book drive is going very well. Deb from Stoney Moss sent me some lovely tiles including The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao which I have heard so much about and wanted to read. Thanks to Lenore from Presenting Lenore for a mega box of goodies. Thanks to authors, Diana Rodri Wallich and Sarah Holmes. Diana is sending us a copy of her book, Amor and Summer Secrets and Sarah from Read Write Believe bought us Tanita Smith's new book, Mare's Ware. Colleen from Chasing Ray has promised a box and my dear friend Edi at Crazy Quilts has offered to send a book for every two books her readers send us. Some many wonderful bloggers have blogged about our drive. I can't thank you enough. Please forgive me for not naming everyone.

I'm still reading Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson and Cuba 15 by Nancy Osa. Finished Aya by Marguerite Abouet and Clement Oubrerie; loved it and Shine, Coconut Moon by Neesha Meminger, a good read.

Sunday night, members of Color Online and I will be making bookmarks for the young girls in the Rise -N- Shine program at Alternatives for Girls. Prior to that, my assistants and I will be cataloging new books and shelving them. For details on what I got in the mail check out my In My Mailbox post.

This is the first Friday of our new schedule for Diversity Roll Call. You have two weeks now to respond so join us. This week's assignment is poetry. Do check out "The Rose Bush" by Nikki Giovanni, my contribution for Poetry Friday. And for a bit of silliness, check out my ABC meme for Confession Tuesday.

I won't be picking up any books from the library for awhile. I have a stack from them and twice as many are coming in because of the drive.

So how was your week? Happy reading.

In My Mailbox

Very hectic week. Special thanks to all the bloggers who promoted our Color Online Summer Book Drive. Traffic has double at the site and books are coming in. See more about the drive in my Sunday Salon post. Got several books this week including multiple books from Deb at Stoney Moss and Lenore at Presenting Lenore. Not going to list of them all. I'll post more next. To see what other readers got in the mail check out, In My Mailbox hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren and Mailbox Monday hosted by Marcia at the Printed Page. Join us. Each group is fun. The loot:

After Dark by Haruki Murakami. I confess I have not read the author but I have wanted to. When I saw this at Paperback, I requested it. "At its center are two sisters: Yuri, a fashion model sleeping her way into oblivion; and Mari, a young student soon led from solitary reading at an anonymous Denny's into lives radically alien to her own..."

Bog Child by Shibhan Dowd. One of several titles sent to me by Lenore. I've heard of the book but don't know much. I'm curious after looking it up. "DIGGING FOR PEAT in the mountain with his Uncle Tally, Fergus finds the body of a child, and it looks like she’s been murdered...."

Because I Am Furniture by Thalia Chaltas. Another treat from Lenore. "Chaltas's novel of poems marks an intensely powerful debut. Anke and her older siblings, Darren and Yaicha, may appear typical teenagers in public, but their home life is dominated by their father. Though he is verbally, physically and sexually abusive to her brother and sister, Anke seems beyond his notice...."

What Looks Like Crazy on an ordinary day by Pearl Cleage. A classic Cleage work. I took a course in her work in college. This is my favorite novel by her and I think she is an impressive playwright. Thanks Deb. "After a decade of luxe living in Atlanta, Ava Johnson has returned to tiny Idlewild, Michigan — her fabulous career and power plans smashed to bits on one dark truth: Ava has tested positive for HIV."

Miles from Nowhere by Nami Mun. Saw this on a few of the gazillion blogs I read. Very interested. Looking forward to putting it on our shelves. "Teenage Joon is a Korean immigrant living in the Bronx of the 1980s. Her parents have crumbled under the weight of her fatheras infidelity; he has left the family, and mental illness has rendered her mother nearly catatonic. So Joon, at the age of thirteen, decides she would be better off on her own, a choice that commences a harrowing and often tragic journey...."

The Last Song of Dusk by Siddhartha Dhanvant Shanghvi. Someone recommended this to me some time ago. Picked it up at Paperback Swap. "When the astonishingly lovely Anuradha moves to Bombay to marry Vardhmaan, a charming young doctor, their life together has all the makings of a fairy tale. But when their firstborn son dies in a terrible accident, tragedy transforms their marriage into a bleak landscape..."

Willow by Julia Hoban. This has been on every teen blog for months. I hope it's a hit at the library."Seven months ago, on a rainy March night, sixteen year- old Willow's parents died in a horrible car accident. Willow was driving. Now her older brother barely speaks to her, her new classmates know her as the killer orphan girl..."