I have a big post on Tuesday, a Q&A with Jabari Asim, author of A Taste of Honey. In the meantime, a few things to get caught up on:
Just posted a poll over on the right. Check it out. I recently received an email from a white woman who said she feels like black people glare at her when she ventures over to look at African American fiction. I really need to know if this is true for some of y'all or if the myriad people who report this phenomenon are projecting their own discomfort. If the poll's answers aren't nuanced enough or if you have something else to say on the matter, please leave a comment or email me.
Don't forget tomorrow is the last day to enter the giveaway for a copy of Uptown! See below if you haven't entered.
Heidi Durrow's novel was reviewed in the Sunday NY Times!
What Mother Never Told Me by Donna Hill just pubbed. This great book trailer gives a little insight into the book. If you like mother-daughter stories, heads up! Authors like Jennifer Weiner can do very well with stories that feature one black character (I really enjoyed Little Earthquakes and am not trying to put it down by mentioning it here). I hope Donna's book can do the same.
Congratulations to the 2010 winners of the Black Caucus of the American Library Awards and to winners in the literary categories of the 2010 NAACP Image Awards!
Bernice McFadden's got a great offer for book bloggers. Get a copy of her latest novel and get a chance to win $50!
I am so thrilled I also have to report that "Sins of the Mother" did really, really well. Thanks to everybody who blogged, Facebooked and tweeted about it!
Remember, I'm always posting links on the White Readers Meet Black Authors Facebook page. If you want news, you don't need to wait till Tuesdays.
3 comments:
The only time I can even recall someone who was white in the AA section, it was someone who worked at the store, reshelving books. I moved out of her way so she could put books away, and that's the only reaction I had.
I would not leer at someone in the AA book section, and neither would my contemporaries, but I can see some young folks doing it. Some high-schoolers I work with LOVE Urban fiction and it is housed in that area and I can definitely picture them rolling their eyes, and loudly saying, "What she over here for? Don't she know this is our part of the bookstore? Cain't we have nothin'? She know she ain't buying nothin' she just over here being nosy, etc." And, truth be told, unfortunately I believe SOME of the parents of my students might react that way as well. Some of "us" can be the problem, too...
Whenever I see White customers shopping for Black authors,my first thought is YES and I always make an effort to help.
Though I do glare at the old read the urban books just for the sex This doesn't happen often but I hate to see it.
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