The Read In, Black History Month Blog Hop, Blog Tours

Next month is the 23rd National African American Read In. This year I will be hosting an online read in with Edi from Crazy Quilts and Vasilly from 1330V. Today is the last day to head over to Vasilly's blog to vote.

In honor of Black History Month, there's going to be a Black History Month Hop hosted by Reflections of a Bookaholic and Mocha Girls Read.

Purpose: To give black authors, books and those who support them a month in the spotlight.
Before the hop the hosts site will open the link for entry. Your site can post anything related to the weeks topic. Your site must link to the host site and add the button to the post as well.

The Weekly Topics for the Black History Month Hop can be found here I am really looking forward to participating. Besides the Read In I can't wait to include my interview with Vaunda Micheaux Nelson about her newest release No Crystal Stair. I loved this starred Kirkus Review novel so much, which was illustrated by R. Gregory Christie.

Nelson sent me her answers today (very early) and she does a much better job of summarizing No Crystal Stair then I ever could.

"No Crystal Stair is a 15-year labor of love. It’s about two things near and dear to my heart -- books and family. It’s is the story of a remarkable man who was a pioneer in the struggle toward literary diversity, a pioneer in the efforts to make more African and African American literature available in America. The man was the Harlem Professor, Lewis Michaux, my great uncle. His National Memorial AfricanBookstore became a Harlem landmark -- a gathering place for scholars, politicians, activists,writers, artists, actors, and athletes -- until its closing in 1975."

Yesterday I finished Panther Baby by Jamal Joseph. Joesph joined the Black Panthers when he was 15. At 16 he was the youngest Black Panther arrested in the Panther 21 case in 1969.


There's a beautiful sensibility to the authors writing. This excellent adult memoir screams YA crossover. For much of the book Joseph is talking about his teen years as a Black Panther. Can't wait to review this one and link it to the hop. Read an excerpt, via publisher.

I have a change of heart regrading Blog Tours. In the past I was against them because I thought caused online overload for books on tour. Now I realize that authors have to do what they must to promote their novels. It's not easy for authors and its getting harder every day. Plus there are so many blogs it would be easy for an author to do a tour with little readership overlap.

My first interview of 2012 was with Jasmine Richards, was part of the author's blog tour for her wonderful debut The Book of Wonders. As is my second interview with Ashley Hope Perez. Perez's blog tour for The Knife and the Butterfly begins at Forever Young Adult on the 30th. I am glad I do not have to follow them. Their review is awesome and serious bonus points for slipping in a Golden Girl.

Another thing that helped change my opinion, are authors who show that not all blog tours are the same. Perez's blog tour schedule , she's visiting a lot of diverse blogs and thanks to the great teaser lines I know each day will offer up something new.

I managed to squeeze in four titles in this post, hopefully one has caught your eye. If not how about one of the six books in the African American Read In Poll

Jasmine Richards Interview

When I started reading Jasmine Richards, middle grade fantasy novel, The Books of Wonders I couldn't put it down. My review and you can read the first seven chapters, here but first please enjoy this interview with the author which I jumped at the chance to do.

Hi Jasmine, can you tell us a little about yourself and The Book of Wonders?

I am 30 years old and currently live in Oxfordshire although I grew up in London. I work at Oxford University Press as a senior commissioning editor which means, besides other things, I get to read books all the time. When I was little I always had my nose in a book . So I still can’t believe that I’ve found a job where I get paid to work with stories all day long.

My story addiction doesn’t end there, in the evening I am busy writing novels and The Book of Wonders is my first one.

Since the Books of Wonders is influenced by Middle Eastern folk tales, do you have a favorite Arabian Nights translation or tale?

It’s too hard to choose one, here are my top six!
The Fisherman and the Djinni
Aladdin and his Wonderful Lamp
The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor
The Adventures of Bulukiya
The City of Brass
The Ebony Horse
Usually when I finish a 400 page middle grade novel I can't help but think it could've been shorter. Though that wasn't the case here thestory moves at a great pace and every scene serves a purpose.

When you started writing did you have guesses as to the length of the story?

Doret, I have to agree with you and say that I feel on average middle grade novels could do with being a bit shorter.

I know Harry Potter was a game changing when it came to length forthis age group but it is still worth thinking about the reading stamina of the younger readers in the middle grade bracket.

However, the writing mind says one thing and the writing heart another. As hard as I tried this is the length that this story came out and I barely give Zardi and Rhidan a break the whole way through.

For book 2, which is provisionally called The Spell Scrolls and will be out in 2013, I am hoping to make the story a bit shorter but the characters do still seem to find themselves in a pickle!

I really like the cover. It’s a great reflection of the story within and I think it will appeal to boys and girls.

Who is the cover artist?

I adore the cover as well. Jeff Nentrup is the artist. His work is gorgeous and I count myself very lucky to have had him as the artist for my book.

One of my favorite things about Book of Wonders is its visual appeal,especially when Zardi is armed with her weapon of choice a bow and arrow. Did you have an opportunity to take any archery lessons?

I didn’t take any archery lessons but I did read archery books. I do think though it is important to try and experience some of the physical challenges you put your characters through. So I tried practising jumping from rampart to rampart in Morocco above a ragingse but I got scared so I had to come down again immediately! My boyfriend did it for me instead and I then got him to describe how it felt. I did better when I was on holiday in Thailand and handled a pretty big snake. That experience was invaluable as I came to understand a bit more about the texture and movement of snakes.

That's so cool that you got to visit Morocco and Thailand for "research". That's a pretty big snake, though compared to the many snakes Zardi and Rhidan faced it would probably be considered small.

Do you plan to publish The Books of Wonders in the UK?

I live in the UK and so I’m super keen to have this book available over here. At the moment publishers are considering it and so we’llsee what happens!

Can you tell us a little about your upcoming Skype tour?

It’s still in the very early stages of being organized but I am keen to try and visit as many schools in the US as possible. Because I live in the UK the only way I can really do this is via Skype. If you area school or library or bookshop that would like to host a visit I am available for free Skype Chats. I can talk more about what it is like to be an author and offer some writing tips and exercises. I think it could be a lot of fun, although undoubtedly there will be some hiccups! But if anyone out there is up for giving it a go, then so am I. Visit my website more details.

This next two questions are shamefully off topic.

What three American actors/actresses do you believe have the best and worst British accents?

I think Gwyneth Paltrow, Renee Zellweger and Johnny Depp all have great British accents

The worst would be Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins, Don Cheadle’s accent in Oceans 11 was pretty awful, and Anne Hathaway’s Sheffield accent in One Day was dire.

I must say though that their British accents are far better than my American one which one American friend has described as a strangled valley girl – charming!

What did you think of Meryl Steep's accent as Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady?

I thought Meryl Streep’s performance was incredible, simply incredible. I thought the film was good but Streep’s performance was almost bigger than the film – it is certainly the only thing people are talking about.

Jasmine thanks for humoring on those last two questions.Congratulations on a wonderful debut. I look forwarding to reading more of Zardi and Rhidan's adventures in The Spell Scrolls or by any other name.

Thanks so much for having me on your blog Doret, I had a blast.

The Book of Wonders - Jasmine Richards

The Book of Wonders by Jasmine Richards
13 yr old Zardi lives and her best friend Rhidan do everything together. The two live in Arribitha where magic is forbidden by the sultan. Anyone got using magic of any kind risk imprisonment or death. The sultan is cruel and vicious to his people, Zardi's father is the sultan's vizier, a kind of aid. This is position Zardi father hoped to keep some of the sultan's hideous acts to a minimum. However the sultan feels betrayed, and he takes Zubeyda, Zardi's older sister prisoner as his new praisemaker. All unwed girls risked being placed in a tower for a season. Once there time is up the sultan will hunt and kill them for sport. Zardi has 90 days to find a way to save her sister. Rhidan was left in Arribitha as a baby, he sets off with Zardi, in hopes of finding out where he's from. The one thing I would've changed was less references to Rhidan's hair and eye color. Though they were the reasons why he stood out, I felt they got refered too much. Zardi and Rhidan have a great friendship and work very well together. The two soon find themselves very far from Arribitha, unsure of who to trust, being hunted by the sultan with more questions than answers.
Once I started reading I couldn't stop. What I loved best about The Book of Wonders is the author never tries to do too much,simply lets the story unfold. The author has written a wonderful story that is inspired by Middle Eastern folk tales. The dialogue throughout is sharp, and all the action scenes are visually fun. Richard's is a senior editor at Oxford University Press Children's Books, I believe this helped her debut . It's as if The Book of Wonders was scrutinized by two pairs of editorial eyes. I am usually apprehensive about middle grade novels that are 400 pages long but this was not one of those times. There was no excess here, every scene served a purpose. This is an excellent debut, Richard's knows how to tell a good story.

Kirkus review and Publisher's Weekly review via author's site.

Read the first 7 chapters via HarpersCollins.