If busy people only get busier, the Brown Bookshelf members are in trouble. You submitted names. We did the literary background checks. And after sixty days of intense research, we’re proud to present the 28 authors and four illustrators we’re highlighting for 28 Days Later. Did your favorite jewel or best kept secret make the [ Read the full article… ]
As Paula mentioned in her Betting on the CSK blog this week, the industry is abuzz this week wondering who will take home the coveted prize this year – the Coretta Scott King Award. While researching for the 28 Days Later campaign, several books caught my eye because of the uniqueness of the plot, the [ Read the full article… ]
A few weeks ago, Essence magazine announced their Essence Literary Awards and Save Our Libraries campaign. Recently, they posted the nominees for each category on their website. The nominees for Children’s Books are: Henry’s Freedom Box by Ellen Levine illustrated by Kadir Nelson/Scholastic (picture book) Henry Box Brown is well known and remembered as a [ Read the full article… ]
There are two measures of success. You know you’ve made it when Saturday Night Live parodies you in a skit or when dissenting opinions go out over the blogosphere. The Brown Bookshelf has “arrived”! No, neither Beyonce or Justin Timberlake has sang a hilarious ode to our venture, but there has been quite a bit of [ Read the full article… ]
As a child, I always peppered everyone with questions. Why is Pennsylvania called The Keystone State? Who invented crayons? What causes a rainbow? My grandma’s eyes would twinkle before she delivered her trademark response: “Look it up in your Funk & Wagnalls.” She was referring me to the dictionary and cream-colored set of encyclopedias that sat on my bookshelf. And sure enough, [ Read the full article… ]
While speaking at a predominately African-American high school a few years ago, I asked the students to name some of their favorite books. I expected the students to name novels by some of my favorite YA authors—perhaps Walter Dean Myers, Jacqueline Woodson, or Virginia Hamilton. Instead, the students named authors such as Eric Jerome Dickey [ Read the full article… ]
The old saying, “if you want something done, ask the busiest person in the room to do it” has become somewhat of a lifestyle for me, starring me as the busiest person in the room. Note: This is not a boast! I could honestly, use a good lesson in saying no. But when Varian emailed [ Read the full article… ]