Christian fiction is not a new phenomenon. I grew up reading Catherine Marshall and Janette Oke’s Love Comes Softly series in the 80s. In the 90s, the Left Behind series gained widespread notoriety on the literary scene. Within African American Christian fiction, there are several well known authors including Jacquelin Thomas, Kendra Norman Bellamy, Michelle [ Read the full article… ]
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YALSA’s Best Books for Young Adults
Every year, the American Library Association compiles a list of the Best Books for Young Adults (BBYA). Each month, the BBYA committee, made up of members of the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) updates the consideration list. As of April 3, 2008, two novels by African-American authors have made the consideration list: Conception (St. [ Read the full article… ]
CNN hero: Yohannes Gebregeorgis, champions children
“Moved by the lack of children’s books and literacy in his native Ethiopia, Yohannes Gebregeorgis established Ethiopia Reads, bringing free public libraries and literacy programs to thousands of Ethiopian children.” Meet this weeks CNN hero, here. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/v/9hM1rU-Wr18&hl=en]
What’s New in YA Releases?
The release of new books is an exciting day for book lovers all over especially when it’s a book by an author that you love. With the news that the number of books by African American authors was down in 2007 compared to 2008, it is with pleasure that I present to you a list [ Read the full article… ]
Thelma Morris-Lindsey inspires children to read
How do you excite, influence, and stir the souls of our children to greatness? In other words, how do you inspire our children to read? Create a sense of self-efficacy: I have never known anyone to do anything unless there was a feeling that they could accomplish the task at hand. Putting a book into [ Read the full article… ]
Where The Rubber Meets The Road
So many books. So little time. I’m overwhelmed with the sheer number of books available. I used to feel ignorant when someone would wax on about an author I hadn’t heard of, because they’d speak of them as if everyone should know the person. I no longer feel that way. There are lots of books [ Read the full article… ]
Book report: Before John Was a Jazz Giant
Before John Was a Jazz Giant: A Song of John Coltrane Written by Carole Boston Weatherford Illustrated by Sean Qualls Published by Henry Holt and Company, April 2008 Life can be a rat race, I know. We get so busy we never take the time to stop and listen, taking a chance on missing life’s [ Read the full article… ]
28 & Beyond: Almost to Freedom
Children’s librarian and author Vaunda Micheaux Nelson was exploring an exhibit of historic rag dolls at New Mexico’s International Museum of Folk Art when inspiration struck. As she perused the collection, which included a few dolls from Underground Railroad hideouts, she is quoted as thinking: “If only these dolls could talk.” So began Nelson’s journey [ Read the full article… ]