I’m Still Here -Austin Channing Brown

Per my mom's suggestion, when I read certain books I keep a pad of sticky notes inside to mark special quotes and passages. Austin Channing Brown's I'm Still Here held dozens of sticky notes peeking out from both ends: a testament to gorgeous prose holding deep thoughts. The rest of the title is "Black Dignity…

28 Days of Black Authors ~Day 28

I was around 12 years old when my dad told me to read Walter Dean Myers' Monster. I picked it up, kind of stunned to see a cover with a black guy on it. It's funny because looking back I expect to have felt slight electric shocks as I opened the first page. But honestly,…

28 Days of Black Authors ~Day 27

I still remember the day I turned the final page of Miracle's Boys. I still remember the tear stains on the page. I still remember the presence of the characters as if they were in my room. I still remember the hunger that gripped me to read more. More books that impacted me, more books…

28 Days of Black Authors ~Day 26

"It takes a long time to accept yourself for who you are. To see the poetry in your walk. To look in the mirror and like what you see even when it doesn't look like anybody else's idea of beauty." ~The Skin I'm In I just finished reading The Skin I'm In and let's just…

28 Days of Black Authors ~Day 25

I'm not a sports person. So why is a book about a basketball prodigy one of my favorites? Because of Kwame Alexander's writing genius. In his book The Crossover he tells the story of a kid obsessed with basketball through gorgeous bits of poetry and hip-hop verse. But this story doesn't stop at basketball, it…

28 Days of Black Authors ~Day 24

It's crucial for each individual to tell his or her story, especially in a world where everyone voices opinions on who a person is and who they should be. Booker T. Washington's autobiography Up From Slavery chronicles his life from childhood in slavery to his success with Tuskegee Institute. Seeing an in-depth look at his…

28 Days of Black Authors ~Day 23

Novels in verse always hold a special place in my heart. Something about the beauty of poetry flowing through a storyline will always draw me. The magic of novels in verse is illustrated in Andrea Davis Pinkney's novel Red Pencil. It tells the story of Amira, a Sudanese girl, who longs to go to school…

28 Days of Black Authors ~Day 22

Telling the stories of great African Americans always comes with a bit of pressure, that pressure intensifies when that icon is your father. Ilyasah Shabazz, Malcolm X's daughter, expertly handled this pressure and created a stunning YA novel telling her father's story. Along with Kekla Magoon Ms. Shabazz wrote X: A Novel, which illustrates a…

28 Days of Black Authors ~Day 21

Diversity is not only about ethnicity it deals with one's body of work too. We desperately need black authors who write everything from historical fiction and coming-of-age narratives to humorous adventure stories and chilling dystopian chronicles. Christopher Paul Curtis is an author whose repertoire is quite varied. In his books Mr. Chickee's Messy Mission and…

28 Days of Black Authors ~Day 20

Expertly weaving Christianity throughout intriguing narratives, it's no wonder Nikki Grimes is a greatly beloved and acclaimed children's and young adult author. I recently read her novel A Girl Named Mister which introduces us to Mary Rudine, a young teenager busy with church and school, devoted to her promise of purity. The narrative deals with…