Books for a young black man?

I got the following request from a blog reader to recommend books that "a young black man should read." Off the top of my head, I would suggest the YA novels of Walter Dean Myers, Coe Booth, Rita Williams-Garcia, Sharon Draper and Booker T. Mattison. More suggestions can be found at Reading in Color, the blog for black teen readers, on this great list compiled by author Zetta Elliott of middle grade and young adult novels by black authors released in 2011 and on this list of YA books by other minority writers put together by the Happy Nappy Bookseller.

But my additional advice would be to find out what the young man enjoys. Sports? Find sports books. Horror? Get him some scary books (Try Brandon Massey, L.A. Banks, Tananarive Due, Terrence Taylor). Maybe he would enjoy graphic novels and comics: let him read about some black superheroes. Fire up his imagination by introducing him to science fiction.

Too often I think people assume that if a book is about a kid about the same age in about the same situation as the young reader then the young reader will automatically like the book. Maybe, but maybe not. The writer I loved the most when I was in high school was Stephen King, and even today I'm a big Harry Potter fan. I don't think it's a good idea to only focus on the outside circumstances of a person's life when thinking about books he might actually enjoy. Part of the pleasure of reading for me is escaping from the circumstances of my situation, if only for a short time.

Enjoyment. Pleasure. Fun. Keep those words in mind when shopping for a book for anyone. Instead of thinking what he "should" read, think of what might blow his mind or tickle him.

Teachers, librarians, booksellers, parents, young readers, read below and then if you have recommendations for this person, let us know in the comments. Thanks! 

Hello,

I would like to kindly ask if you had the time to suggest the top ten or twenty books, you feel, a young black man should read. I am looking to develop a list to find books for a young man, for the holidays and birthdays, who reads, slowly, with resistance and complaint, is struggling with his racial identity, his poverty, life with his mother and his sister, and without his absent father and extended family. Thank you very much for any thing you can suggest! I have posted this question, in greater detail, as the beginning of a new blog I have started on wordpress.

Good books for holiday gifts

It's that time of year again. In 2008 I launched a campaign to promote the idea of giving books by black authors to non-blacks for the holidays. In 2009 I offered a list of gifts for the 12 Days of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa--12 days, 12 books.

Three years later, it still seems like a good idea. But I fear I lack the energy to do it justice this year. Last year, I was able to pull off a big giveaway of books and guest posts by bloggers, but this year I'm feeling pretty wiped out. So I offer this round up of links for folks who like the idea and want to tell others. Please tweet your little hearts out. Book bloggers please link away.


My top 10 reasons you should read a book by a black author. And a few more for good measure.

Fall 2011 book releases and some cool books from this spring, which would make great gifts.

Over the last few years, I've run Q&As with 20 authors. You can learn about them and their books here.

I've run a bunch of reviews from guest authors of fiction and nonfiction.

I made a video welcoming everybody into the African American section of the bookstore (if your bookstore has one).

Here are Ernessa T. Carter's summer book suggestions and her list from last Christmas.

And some good books for kids, recommended by Denene Millner and by Heidi Durrow. The Happy Nappy Bookseller also offers a great list of great gift book ideas for children and young adults on her blog.

But wait, there's more! Fiction and poetry suggestions from Tara Betts.

What books are you buying this holiday season? If you have other suggestions for books that would make great gifts, let us know in the comments. Thanks!

National Book Award

From left, National Book Award winners Stephen Greenblatt, nonfiction; Thanhha Lai, young people's literature; Nikky Finney, poetry; and Jesmyn Ward, fiction. (Tina Fineberg, Associated Press / November 16, 2011)

Hearty congratulations to Jesymn Ward, who just won the National Book Award for Fiction for her latest Salvage the Bones (reviewed in the Washington Post)!

Delighted for Nikky Finney won for her Poetry with Head Off & Split!! And apparently she gave a hell of a speech, which I'm watching here.

Dear TNT, more TV mysteries please

I saw a commercial for the new TNT Mystery Movie Night, a great idea: original movies based on mystery novels. I hope the ratings are good and I hope they do it again next year. If you do, TNT, here are some books you need to read:

Casanegra. The Tennyson Hardwick series has three books now, but this is the first in a contemporary series about an actor-gigolo turned detective. Already has a TV star attached! Or do what NBC is doing with Walter Mosley's Easy Rawlins books and make it a series!

Black Orchid Blues. You say you "know drama"? This book is filled with it. And a great female protagonist (which you seem to like to) in society columnist Lanie Price.

Want something set out west? Try Robert Greer's CJ Floyd mysteries. The Devil's Hatband is the first in the series.

Or how about a teen detective? Check out Kimberly Reid's Chanti Evans, private school chick, daughter of a female cop in My Own Worst Frenemy.

Or, if you really want to make me happy (and why wouldn't a cable TV channel want to make this little blogger happy?), do a movie based on one of my favorite sleuth's: Barbara Neely's cleaning lady Blanche White would make an excellent movie heroine!

And those are only a few suggestions. This list of black mystery writers and the Myst Noir blog offers many more good ones. And bonus! one of them is also a TV writer! Just sayin'.

Readers, what mysteries would you like to see on TNT?

Round Up

Howdy folks. Checking in to let you know that I have two blog posts up on how writers cope with self-doubt, one on the Girlfriends Book Club and one on Writer Unboxed. Both posts offer great advice and inspiration for writers or anyone hoping to achieve a goal. As you may note, I quoted black authors extensively. It's part of my not-so-secret mission to make sure we get included when the topic is something other than race and diversity. I think you'll get a sense of the authors from their answers. If someone intrigues you, I hope you'll click the link to their site and check them out...even purchase one of their books.

In other news:

Jesymn Ward's Salvage the Bones was recently named a finalist for a National Book Award! Congratulations!

Last month Pym author Mat Johnson received the Dos Passos Prize, which "honors American authors whose mid-career works focus on American themes and the human experience, while embracing an experimental approach to literary form"!

On October 30th, #blacklitchat celebrates one year of talking with authors on Twitter! The anniversary celebration will be hosted by Tayari Jones. Congratulations Bernadette and Dee!

Jacqueline Luckett's forthcoming Passing Love got a rave review in Publishers Weekly!

Bernice McFadden has a couple of new releases coming in January. Dennis Lehane, author of Mystic River, says about Gathering of the Waters: "As strange as this may sound, Bernice L. McFadden has created a magical, fantastic novel centered around the notorious tragedy of Emmett Till's murder. This is a startling, beautifully written piece of work."

Martha Southgate, author of The Taste of Salt, recommended three books for finicky folks on NPR.

Tina McElroy Ansa is one of the storytellers for The Moth's 5th radio season. Go here to stream or to check to see if one of your local radio stations is broadcasting stories from The Moth. Or, if you've got a story to tell, hit 'em up!

Meet: Patricia Raybon

Today, I'd like to introduce you to my friend Patricia Raybon, another Colorado-based writer and author of one of my all-time favorite memoirs, My First White Friend: Confessions on Race, Love and Forgiveness. This Q&A discusses her two new books. (I was honored to receive copies of them and especially enjoy the lovely coffee table book Bound for Glory.) I think you'll get a real feel for her as a person and a writer here, and once you do, I know you'll want to check out her work.

White Readers Meet Black Authors: Tell us about your latest work(s).

Patricia Raybon: I write memoirs. My two new books, however, shake me out of that box. God’s Great Blessings is a One Year® devotional—or a daily study guide—published by the Christian publisher Tyndale House for its One Year® brand. It explores 52 virtues that God promises to bless. A life-changing project. I loved wrestling over this subject and writing it!

My second book, Bound for Glory, also from Tyndale, is a beautiful tribute to African American spirituals. A full-color gift book, Bound for Glory features the art of renown calligrapher Timothy Botts, with me acting as contributor. But Tim desired a Black voice on the pages, that is, so he invited me to collaborate. The book showcases 52 illustrations by Tim of 52 spiritual songs, plus his reflections on 26 of his pieces along with a Bible verse. For the other 26 illustrations, I wrote short reflections in free verse—a new format for me. More than anything, the book honors the African slaves in America who wrote this amazing music, and Tim did an astounding job telling this story through art. So it’s a stunning book. Great for showing off on coffee tables and book shelves. But the message inside is one of deliverance and hope. It’s truly a gorgeous book.

WRMBA: What are your goal(s) as a writer? Do you set out to educate? Entertain? Illuminate?

PR: I write to learn. Then I share what God is willing to teach me. With my first memoir, My First White Friend, I set out to learn how to forgive. The surprise? First I needed to forgive myself. Then with my second book, I Told the Mountain to Move, I vowed to learn how to pray. I grew up in church, but didn’t have a clue what prayer was. Writing a book to figure out a spiritual mystery—like prayer or forgiveness—changes my life. Readers tell me the books change their lives, too. My First White Friend came out in 1995. But people still read it to learn how to forgive. The same is true for Mountain regarding prayer. I give talks all over the country now on both prayer and forgiveness. Writing to learn has made all of that possible.

"I try to honor the dignity of that human spirit in my writing. So I try to give readers my best. To respect readers’ intelligence. To never talk down to an audience—whether they’re teen felons in a county jail or senior citizens in a church."

WRMBA: How does your faith inform your writing?

RP: It inspires me, first, to keep going. To stay with it. To finish the writing. To stay in the race—and if I fall out of my lane, to get back in it. This going the distance is central to the theology of Christianity. We follow a Savior who didn’t turn back, not from his calling—or even his crucifixion. In my own life, as a writer, the example of Christ inspires me to stay in the game. I love that about my faith.

Secondly, of course, my faith inspires what I write. My focus is spirituality, regardless of the topic. I did a piece on cleaning my windows for The New York Times Sunday Magazine, but the focus was spirituality. My faith is my life. As a writer, I aim to show that connection.

WRMBA: You went from journalism to writing books. Does your experience as a journalist affect your writing?

RP: It keeps me grounded. As a journalist, I wrote feature articles—called human-interest stories—most of my career. But even the feature pages of a newspaper focus on real life. And life is complicated. Life is hard. Life can be heart-breaking. But life is good! So people display amazing resilience, imagination, and downright sheer guts to make the journey the best way they can.

I try to honor the dignity of that human spirit in my writing. So I try to give readers my best. To respect readers’ intelligence. To never talk down to an audience—whether they’re teen felons in a county jail or senior citizens in a church. Both these groups deserve my best, from the story and message to the spelling and grammar. Journalism is a big part of why that matters to me.

WRMBA: I know you’re taught writing at the university level and you do workshops now. What advice would you give to a new writer?

RP: Figure out who you are. Your writing voice lives in that identity. In fact, your different identities—and everybody has several, depending on your life and where you are in it—is where your writer’s voice resides. I’m a journalist, yes, and I have written in that voice many times. But I’m also a wife and mom, and I’ve written and sold scores of personal essays about the complications and challenges of those relationships. In fact, my second memoir, I Told the Mountain to Move, is on prayer, but I wrote it as a wife—because the story takes place when my marriage is at a low point and, at the same time, my husband was critically ill. I had to learn to pray for my husband—but also learn again to love him—and write about it. Married Christian women really relate to that book!

A lot of aspiring writers run from who they are—and what they’re dealing with in life. But our stories reside in those places and spaces. Own up to your life! Walk in it. Write it!

WRMBA: What’s next for you?

RP: With God’s good help, I hope to develop a detective series with a faith angle. I finished a draft and got good suggestions back from my publishing house. So I’m excited to rework it—to start fresh and give it another go.

I’m also starting to blog again about life as a black writer of faith who works at home. I love every part of that description. So stay tuned.

Meantime, I’m having fun releasing my new books.

WRMBA: What’s the best book (or who’s the best writer) that not enough people know about?

RP: Great question! Surprising answer? The Holy Bible. I finally read it all. After a lifetime in church, I finally read the whole thing. And what did I learn? That everything I wanted to know about writing, and about life, is right there. Highly recommended!

Blessings and thanks to you, Carleen. Much peace and love.

WRMBA: Thank you for Patricia for your time! Can't wait to read that detective series!

Banned Books Week

It's easy to be righteous about banning books until you run across a book that is offensive to you personally. Last year, I was running around wearing my I Read Banned Books bracelet when the brouhaha erupted about the handbook for pedophiles being sold on Amazon. (Google it if you're curious. I'm not going to link to it.) There was no way to possibly to defend the sale of that book...except that there was no way to possibly argue for banning it without that same argument applying to other books.

It made me really think about how far I'm willing to go to defend freedom of speech. Ultimately, I didn't get caught up in the online hysteria because I just didn't believe the book was being read by anybody (I think Amazon had reported 1 or 2 sales), and pretty quickly the author idiot who wrote the book was arrested. I didn't follow if he was successfully prosecuted or not.

I attended a panel discussion this summer in which there was lots of discussion about how to "save" black books. The conversation turned to the types of authors and books that the attendees and panelists felt were hurting the industry. But here's the thing: I'd bet a lot of money that in another room somewhere this year was a similar panel and a similar discussion, only that conversation centered on the kinds of books that were written by the panelists I was listening to. I'd also bet someone, somewhere has railed against the kinds of books I write. Though, dang it, nobody has tried to ban or challenge them that I know of.

I know most of the readers of this blog don't like the street lit. And that's cool. I'm glad to have connected with people who like the kind of books I like. But as I've said before if we're really going to be all gooey-hearted about supporting banned and challenged books, it's going to include standing behind some books we don't necessarily like.

Enough lecture. The fun part about Banned Books Week is being able to read a book that you like or think you might like knowing that it's pissing somebody off. In fact, think of this week as Books That Will Piss Somebody Off If You Read Them Week.

To get you started, here's a list of the 100 most frequently banned or challenged books 2000-2009, including Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers (#11-yay Mr. Myers!), a whole lot of Morrison and Walker, and Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor.


Let freedom ring. What are you reading for Banned Books Week?