Cornered: 14 Stories of Bullying and Defiance

Cornered: 14 Stories of Bulling and Defiance edited by Rhoda Belleza
I assumed most of the stories in this collection would feature the bullied.  While there are stories with thebullied as the main character, there is much more.  In The Shift Sticks by Josh Berk,the main character Bryan, was a bystander in elementary school while, Tiffany, another student was being bullied.  Bryan runs into Tiffany,when visiting family in another town.  There was something very real about Bryan and Tiffany voices.  In  How Auto- Tune Saved My Life by Brendan Halpin, students in an elite private school have to contend with a teacher using his position to mock and bully students.  One great lesson learned from this very fun story is that auto tune remixes don't just make songs fun, they can also jazz up a story quite nicely.  In Sweet Sixteen by Zetta Elliott, two very different worlds collide when a teenage prostitute and girl who has grown up on a secluded compound meet.  They have very different experiences,however, both are being used and  each girl has the courage and the desire to survive.

 Along with being well developed, none of the stories are bogged down by lessons to be learned.  Much kudos to Belleza the editor for putting this collection together. The first story is Nemesis by Kirsten Miller. the main character is a former victim turned vigilante.  Followed by On Your Own Level by Sheba Karim. Shabnam the main character, is kissed by a boy at a party, and then is bullied by the girl who likes the boy.  The third story is Berk's. All three were very good and set the tone for this collection.  

Cornered was released in paperback and is only $9.95.
An excerpt

Blogger Credibility, Women's History Month & A Guest Post

This week Zetta Elliott's newest book Ship of Souls was released, my review. I loved the characters she created and the dangerous adventure they went on. Later this month Neesha Meminger's has a novel coming out called Into the Wise Dark. I will be reviewing this one soon. I loved the second half of the novel, and it help me appreciate all the world building in the first part.
While I look forward to mentioning both of these titles whenever I can (like I do all books I've enjoyed) I am not blind to the fact that my neutral credibility can come into question with both authors. I suppose I should've thought about not reviewing them (but I didn't, well unless I didn't like them that is) If you haven't notice in author's of color who write children's and young adult do not have it easy, and that's why it never crossed my mind to bypass reviewing Ship of Souls or Into the Wise Dark.
Some will question my neutrality as it relates to both of these reviews, which is cool because I would be a bit suspicious but all I can do is add a disclaimer and move on.

Last year Margo Tanenbaum, of The Fourth Musketeer, and Lisa Taylor, of Shelf-employed started Kidlit Celebrates Women's History Month. There were guest post by bloggers and authors throughout March. All are which are archived on the site and are definitely worth checking out. This month I am looking forward to reading new post recognizing the contributions of women in history.
Last Month author Carleen Brice was kind enough to let me post an interview I did with author Vaunda Micheaux Nelson about her newest release No Crystal Stair at her blog White Readers Meet Black Authors. Later this week I will be posting an interview Brice did with Barbara Wright about her middle grade debut Crow. Prior to that I will share my review of Crow and since I am opening up my space for the interview, I hope it goes without saying that I enjoyed the novel.

Ship of Souls - Zetta Elliott

Ship of Souls by Zetta Elliott
After 11 yr old Dmitri, who goes by D loses his mother to cancer, he's placed in foster care and goes to live with Mrs. Martin. Just happy to have a place to live, D is on his best behavior. D's only indulgence is bird watching in the park and he keeps to himself at school. D's status as a loner is challenged after he finds himself hanging out by chance with two of the popular kids, Hakeem and Nyla.

D's life changes forever after coming to the aid of a Bird that is anything but, its a being that goes by the name Nuru can take on any shape of its choosing. D has been selected has a host to assist Nuru in bringing peace to millions African American souls by providing them with a way to finally pass over. Though the friendship is newly formed Hakeem and Nyla will not let D do this alone.

When I finished it the first time I thought it was good. I loved the characters. They made the story for me. One of the things I love about Elliott's writing is she knows how to craft dimensional characters. Even the walk- ons, will leave an impression. Though at times this skill can lead the reader astray. I found myself being wanting to know more about the characters that were meant only to make a quick appearance. A good example of this was the eclectic group of kids that sit at Nyla's lunch table and embrace their freak status.

While this is D's story from beginning to end, Elliott still makes room for Hakeem and Nyla, sharing enough about both to paint a clear picture. Much of the appeal for all three characters comes from the fact that they easily come across as real teenagers, with distinct voices. The three had good chemistry together and I would've liked at least another chapter in which they got to know each other better.

The guiding spirit that goes by the name Nuru has the task of helping the dead who want to pass over to find eternal peace. Though Nuru has been held captive for 100 of years and unable to help the souls of many African Americans that died around the time of the American Revolution cross over. Nuru elects D has is host to complete this quest. When Nuru first appears I didn't know if D could trust this being or if it was simply using D has a host to accomplish its mission without any concern for his well being. I liked not knowing, it kept me on my toes.

The first time in I felt Ship of Souls had a few unexplored threads but there was still a lot to like about it. Beyond the characters its visually amazing. When the kids finally found the room where the African American souls were trapped, Elliott had my heart. She describe sorrow with such beauty. Also Elliott's writing is strong and crisp. There are moments and lines that are hard not to be moved by. The first time in I wished Ship of Souls was longer. However when I read it again I was more okay with the length (though I still wanted an extra chapter in which the three friends get to know each other better) and everything came together better.

Everything I enjoyed the first time was still there and I found a few more things to appreciate. Ship of Souls is claffisified as YA but comes across as more MG. Ages 11 up. The chapters are short making this an excellent choice for reluctant readhers. The cover wasn't final until around mid or late Janurary I believe but I think it was well worth the wait. I really like it and believe it has some serious eye appeal.

An excerpt
Starred Booklist review
Edi's review

Disclaimer aka putting it all out there - I am friends with the author and she sent me a review and finished copy from the author. Since some will think the line might be a bit blurred (which is understandable) I plan to link to more reviews of Ships of Soul once they become available. Though if you are worried about this reviews credibitility (though I hope you aren't ) I highly recommend reading the excerpt, the booklist review and the few reviews on amazon.

Sunday - A Little of Everything

There are a lot of great links to share.

On May 1st, Guys Lit Wire announced their third annual Book Fair. This year all donated books will be going to Ballou Senior H.S. in Washington D.C.

"There are probably more books in my house then Ballou has in this video and that is wrong in so many ways that I don’t even know where to begin.

At the time the video was made early this year there were just over 1,150 books on the shelves at Ballou; there are over 1,200 students in the school. So there was barely one book for each student (the ALA standard is 11:1)"

Carol Rasco had two guest bloggers last week over at Rasco From RIF for El Dia de los libros
Illustrator John Parra - His latest project is Waiting for the Biblioburro by Monica Brown

"Creating and illustrating Waiting for the Biblioburro, was a tremendous pleasure. As I painted the book’s many scenes, I would get lost in the characters and landscapes that made this story special to me."



And author/illustrator Eric Velasquez - 2011 Pura Belpre winner for Grandma's Gift

Part of the fun of illustrating books is that sometimes the images mean more to the illustrator than to the people who read the books and other times if you are lucky the images mean more to the reader than to illustrator or the author, because they add their own back-story to the characters based on their own life experiences.



Librarian and Blogger Edi Campbell recommends a few titles for Asian-Pacific Heritage Month

"I love blogging! It gives me such an opportunity to learn! I was going to do, am doing, a quick and easy post on Asian- Pacific American Heritage month, but in gathering photos to spruce up my verbage, I found out that"

Congratuations to author Zetta Elliott and illustrator Shadra Strickland, their book Bird was this year's winner for West Virginia Children's Choice Book Award

Literacyhead is an organzation that believes in teaching literacy through art.

"A Literacyhead is someone who is intensely serious about exercising creative literacy, making connections across multiple literacies, pursuing thoughtful literacy as an individual and as a teacher, and constantly searching for ideas. Literacyheads may have expertise in different areas of literacy, but all are committed to children's literacy, passionate about the arts, incessant thinkers, and display a propensity for having fun. "



The Guardian linked to one of my post last week it was very exciting. Though the irony is they selected one of my few bookseller post and very soon on the 15th I will no longer be a bookseller, store is closing. I considered changing my blogger name but I decided againist it, I've earned my moniker.

One of my favorite novels this year ( and its not a YA crossover) is Please Look After Mom by Kyung- Sook Shin.


Usually with translated titles I feel as if I've missed something, this was not the case. I loved this book so much.

Vasilly wonderful review of Please Look After Mom.

Sunday - A Little of Everything

I got a very nice unexpected gift . Edi sent me an authographed copy of

A Nation's Hope: The Story of Boxing Legend Joe Louis by Matt de la Pena, illus. by Kadir Nelson. Edi shares some pictures from a recent conference, where she meet a few authors including Matt de la Pena.

On Monday, my Kidlit Celebrates Women's History Month post went up. If you haven't already check it out, Women of Color Make Their Presence Known It turned out really well. I loved my beginning.

Much of the credit goes to organizers Margo Tanenbaum and Lisa Taylor. I am very happy they didn't listen to my suggestion about which covers to show. What they did is so much better. I never would've thought to include the video interview with Paula Yoo. The link to the video, yes. That one extra step could mean the difference of someone buying Shining Star.

Author Esther Friesner's Kidlit Celebrates Women's History Month post - Haunted by History Friesner has an historical fiction novel coming out called Threads and Flames about the 1910 Triangle Fire, which killed over 140 workers thanks to unsafe working conditions. Friday, March 25 was the anniversary of the fire. On Friday morning I read Friesner's Haunted by History

In the evening I read author Zetta Elliott's post about the Triangle Fire Elliott links to the PBS film and I will do the same here . After reading two separate post about the Triangle Fire, I didn't hesitate to watch the film.

Sunday - A Little of Everything

On Monday, I nominated four titles for Nerds Heart YA including three I mentioned in a previous post. The other book I nominated was What Momma Left Me by Renee Watson. You until March 7th to nominate books for Nerds Heart YA

Congratulations to author Shaun Tan for winning an Oscar for best animated flim for The Lost Thing. If you've never read Tan your missing out, his work is ridiculosuly good.


Author Neesha Meminger stopped by The Book Smugglers this week.

My biggest inspirations and influences were feminist writers. But wait – let me go back a bit. When I was younger, I really loved the tikki-tikki-tembo story. It’s the first story I remember really loving. I heard it in the library when I was, maybe, in third grade. The librarian read it aloud to the class and I was absolutely immersed. Could be because the story was about a boy with a name no one could pronounce, a name that was long and weird and foreign (like mine), but I completely related to that boy in the story.

If you plan on buying Jazz in Love please don't buy a used copy. The author doesn't get any credit for that resale. Self publishing is hard enough without authors having to contend with people selling a book for a profit. Jazz in love is only $11.00 new. Yet some people are selling their copies for more then that.

Don't forget to stop by Kidlit Celebrates Women's History Month , to read the daily post by authors and bloggers.

So far my favorite post was by Colleen,

Since then I have read about many women involved in aviation; one of the most obscure (and interesting) was early 20th century parachutist Elizabeth Shepherd. "Dolly" was a waitress at the Alexandra Palace in London when she met balloonist Auguste Gaudron who was looking for a girl parachutist for his act. In 1904 being a parachutist meant rising in the balloon basket to at least 2,000 feet then dropping down over the side and hanging from a trapeze bar to which she was attached with a safety strap. When she was ready to let go (and Dolly liked to go quite high) she would let go of the bar, releasing the strap. At that point all of her weight would be placed on the ropes attaching her to the parachute which hung limp from the balloon. If all was right, the parachute would open and Dolly would fall slowly back down to the ground.

There's a recent article at the School Library Journal called The Civil War: Beyond the Battlefield. Several titles are recommend. I was very disappointed that A Wish After Midnight by Zetta Elliott wasn't one of them. Even more so when I noticed there was a section called Looking Backward: History, Crafts, and Time Travel . In A Wish After Midnight, 15 yr old Genna loves to make wishes, one wish transports are back to civil war era Brooklyn.

I know its an irrational thought but I couldn't help but wonder if only I did a little more for A Wish After Midnight, the right person would've heard about it and it would've been included.

I recently finished and loved Learning to Swim by Sara J. Henry. I picked it up because of the cover by the second chapter, I wanted to hug the book. It was my kind of mystery. I even left a fan gush comment on the author's blog. Something I don't do often. read an excerpt

One YA novel I am really looking forward to reviewing when it gets closer to the release date is Huntress by Malinda Lo. It was so good. I loved it. For once a story lives up to its beautiful. cover.

Give Autographed Books (Support the Economy & Authors of Color)

It's no surprise that many books by children's authors of color have to be ordered. So why not order an autographed copy for the holidays

Tuesday December 7, this Tuesday, YA author Caridad Ferrer will be signing her newest book When the Stars go Blue @ Third Place Books - (206) - 366-3333

When the Stars go Blue is so very good and visually beautiful. I loved the main character Soledad Reyes. This contemporary YA retelling of the Carmen is a great gift for any one who loves the arts.

A personalized copy of When the Stars go Blue would make a wonderful gift for a music or dance instructor.

On Monday December 13th,

Authors - Zetta Elliott, Christopher Grant, Kekla Magoon and Rita Williams -Garcia will be signing @ Daddy's Basement Bookstore - (347) 770-8114
This line up is some serious WOW.

If you've been visiting my blog for awhile now, you know I love Zetta Elliott's A Wish After Midnight - my review when it was re released by Amazon Encore this year, I talked about A Wish After Midnight again will pretty much mention AWAM whenever I can. Its that good.

Teenie is Christopher Grant's YA debut. Its very good. It was such a pleasure to read a hard to put down, contemporary YA novel featuring a Black female character with Caribbean roots.

The Rock and the River is Kekla Magoon's wonderful, award winning middle grade debut. It's historical fiction novel set in 1968 Chicago. 13 yr old Sam must decide which path for change will work better from him. I believe this is the first MG novel that deals with the Black Panthers. (about time). The Rock and the River is very good and shouldn't be missed.

One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams Garcia was a 2010 National Book Award finalist. It's 1968, three sisters will be spending the summer with their mother in Oakland. The sisters spend most of their time at a local committee center run by The Black Panthers. This is one of my favorite middle grade novels of the year.

Every once in awhile, someone on the news will talk about ways to help improve the economy. I have yet to hear anyone give the most obvious answer. Don't Do All Of Your Holiday Shopping Online.

Sure Amazon can give you free shipping, but can Amazon give you a personalized gift? NO!

So order some autographed books for the Holidays. If you do, you'll be supporting the economy, authors of color and giving some great gifts. Everyone wins.