Zetta Elliott's Blog, page 96

model minority

It isn't easy being in the minority.  Last night I wrote a chapter about D's foster mother, a white woman who refused to leave her community when "white flight" went into effect.  Now she's the only white woman in a black neighborhood, and she fosters black children.  Does that make her courageous—or crazy?  I'm going for the former.

Ari sent me a link to The Dirigible Plum, and I wanted to give her a shout-out and express my gratitude for her sincere commitment to supporting authors of color.  This children's literature professor is doing everything she can to read more books by PoC, teach them in her classroom, and add them to her library's collection.  I'm truly honored that she'll be teaching Wish next year…

I feel like adding more books by authors of color to the syllabi of the courses I teach is one way that I can advocate for authors of color. Depending on enrollment in my courses, that's 30-60 more books that an author sells. I have also started requested more books by authors of color at my local library and purchasing books myself to donate to their collection.

…If anyone ever questions whether awards such as the Coretta Scott King Award or the Pura Belpre Award are necessary, they only need to take a look at the supposedly non-race-focused awards. For instance, of the 52 Printz Winners and Honor books, only 5, as far as I can tell, are by people of color–less than 10%.

When I look at the reading challenges I'm considering for 2011–the Amazon Best Books challenge; Australian Writers challenge; Steampunk challenge; Top 100 YA Novels challenge–how many authors of color are represented on those lists or in those genres?

…A couple of ideas for 2011:

1. Join the POC 2011 Reading Challenge.

2. Create other challenges like a Coretta Scott King or Pura Belpre Award Challenge.

3. Put in more time to research authors of color within the reading challenges I'm already planning to sign up for.

4. Commit to putting at least 75% of my book-buying budget into authors of color. Then consider donating the books to the library.

One more thing you can do to support writers of color is to join Ari's African American Read-In!  You've got five great books to choose from, and you can even pick the date for the February discussion.  The global read-in is an initiative of the Black Caucus of the NCTE and NCTE.

honoring MLK

I grew up seeing the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Before I ever *heard* his "I Have a Dream" speech, I saw a printed, framed excerpt hanging in my grandparents' home.  As a teenager, I was very upset when that framed speech went to my older sister; how could my grandmother give it to HER, when *I* was the one invested in social justice?  *I* was the one teaching my classmates about the struggle against apartheid.  *I* was the one who insisted my American History teacher not exclude the Civil Rights Movement from our class.  I couldn't understand my grandmother's decision then, but now it makes perfect sense.  I didn't need to have Dr. King's words on my wall.  I'd already had my "awakening," but my sister, it seemed, had not.  A couple of years later, my sister went away to college and for my birthday sent me this beautiful photograph of Dr. King.  We hardly speak these days, but I know she just bought a new condo and I'm sure the framed speech has a place of honor in her new home.  I hope those words mean more to her now than they did when we were teens.

Thanks to Qiana for sharing the link that led me to this brilliant clip:



be direct/or

Self-directed study.  Self-directed sexuality.  I've used these terms in various contexts, but I'm becoming increasingly aware of what it really means to "call the shots."  I worked myself into a fury this week over the media coverage of the first anniversary of the earthquake in Haiti.  I was raging for days, and then Rosa sent me this link—it's to an organization that's doing really important work in Haiti, and they were featured on PBS last night.  With others, Partners in Health is calling for NGOs in Haiti to LISTEN TO THE HAITIAN PEOPLE.  Billions of dollars in aid were donated after the earthquake, but we've seen very little progress and the Haitian people are not to blame b/c the money wasn't placed in their hands.  International aid is complicated—even here at home, we confront ethical issues when we choose to give to those in need.  I remember a friend once telling me that he "grilled" anyone who asked him for change in the street; he would scoff at me as I handed over my spare change—"You know that guy's just going to buy booze with that.  Look at his shoes—he's not homeless."  He was so sure he knew everyone's backstory—and as the donor, he felt he had the right to sit in judgment over the recipients of his aid.  This plays out in the welfare debate, and for centuries the "haves" have been careful to distinguish between the "deserving" and "undeserving" poor.  They turned poverty and distress into a moral issue, and then made recipients of aid conform to their sense of what is right and good.  I generally donate to Unicef, but I think for the next year I'm going to support Partners in Health; I especially want to support their mental health outreach efforts, since few NGOs seem able or willing to deal with the emotional trauma of the quake victims/survivors.  I hope you'll sign the petition to ensure that Haitians have a say and a role to play in the rebuilding of their country.  Swaziland sent rubble-crushers—hand crank rubble crushers, which enable individuals to clear the debris that still chokes their neighborhoods.  If anyone knows how to send more of those to Haiti, please let me know.  The power ought to be placed in THEIR hands.  Stand with Haiti.

Jazz in Love!

Yesterday was the official release date for Neesha Meminger 's latest novel, Jazz in Love.  It's been getting RAVE reviews all over the blogosphere—check out Lyn Miller-Lachmann's review at readergirlz, Ari's take at Reading in Color , and The Rejectionist has only praise to offer as well.  So what are you waiting for?!  You can find a list of booksellers that carry Jazz here .  And don't forget to enter Edi's giveaway to win your own copy of Jazz in Love.  Busy as she is, Neesha graciously agreed to answer a few questions about the publishing process.


Q:  You named your new imprint "Ignite," which suggests this is the start of something big!  Can you tell us about your decision to self-publish–did you have reservations, and what are some of the risks and/or rewards?



A: Yes! I love the word "ignite," don't you? I won't say it was an easy decision to put JAZZ IN LOVE out on my own. I'd been mulling it over (as you know) for at least a year or so, going back and forth. When it became clear that JAZZ would not make it into the world unless I put it out there, I decided to stop waiting. So far, it has been exhausting (because I do everything myself), fun (because I have more control), humbling (because of all the warmth and support I've received from readers, friends, teachers, librarians, bloggers and the kidlit/YA community at large), revealing (because I would never know about this step in the creative/growth process if I hadn't taken this leap), and extremely rewarding (because my readers–the reason I decided to put JAZZ out on my own to begin with–now have access to another novel – something I would still be waiting for if I had not taken this step.
There are lots of upsides and downsides to being both published with a large house and going it on my own, and I've enjoyed both experiences in different ways. Not sure how I'll move forward after this, but for now, the exchange between author and reader can continue without being blocked, or left to wither on the vine. It's the exchange of ideas that's important to me; putting a work out and then participating in dialogue around it, seeing people reflect on their experiences in a new light, reframing things…this is what's rewarding, and what would have remained stalled had I continued to wait. The creative process needs to continue its flow in order to survive, and I was feeling all the creative energy within begin to wane. It's hard (at least for me) to continue to produce creative work without that feedback loop that's so important to creative expression. And I think that was what gave me the final push that I needed – that need to connect with my readers and complete a creative cycle. 

Q: In a guest post for The Rejectionist, you discussed the changes in the publishing industry.  You've also written extensively about the need for greater equity when it comes to marginalized voices.  When you look into the future, what do you see for yourself as an author/publisher and what does the literary landscape look like?

A: This is a good question, and it's one I think a lot of publishers and authors are asking. The landscape is shifting and changing at such a rapid pace that everyone is stumbling along, trying to keep up. My hope is that the changes will help level the playing field somewhat, that access to resources will allow new voices to emerge and empower authors to take more control over their voices and expressions. More and more quality work is coming out in ebook form and through independently published authors, more readers are buying e-readers like the Kindle, the iPad, and many people are reading books on their handheld devices now. It's an *entirely* different reading landscape than when I sold my first book. At that time, we didn't even think to fight for ebook rights. But we're not just looking at paperback vs. hardcover anymore. We're now dealing with things like DRM, digital rights, and audiobooks in addition to print.
In the past, authors self-published because their work was seen to have no readership – this translates, of course, to their work being of lesser value. W.E.B. Dubois, Terry McMillan, Tyler Perry, Virginia Woolf . . . all these authors self-published at some point in their careers because no one believed their work would sell, in other words, that no one would want to buy it. Who is this "no one," then? Women initially self-published in an industry controlled and dominated by men because women's writing was seen as being too "emotional" by the mostly-male publishers at the time. Again, the perception was that "no one" would want to read such emotional, insubstantial work. The issue is simply that there are certain markets that have never been noticed, acknowledged, or recognized. One of those markets is South Asian teens, and I happen to know it quite well. But if all my books were marketed only to the narrowly-defined markets some publishers are aware of, the books, of course, would perform poorly. It's not the right market for *these* books. It's like the "flesh-coloured bandage." So many publishers use the one-market-demographic-fits-all approach to give books a push. But when authors who know their audience go out and speak directly *to* that audience, there is a rapport. And *that*, to me, is the entire purpose of what I do.
I liken it a lot to independent film and music. (The artist formerly known as) Prince was a real inspiration for me when I was younger, because he produced his own first album. No one wanted to touch his music because he was doing stuff that was unusual, innovative, that hadn't been done, and he didn't fit neatly into any predefined niche. So, he just did it on his own. I remember when I first heard that story and, not fully understanding it, admired his chutzpah anyway. But that story is so common in film and music because there are established resources and outlets for independent artists. I think what we're about to see is the de-stigmatization of independent authorship. And that, to me, is very exciting.
Q: You show real daring in Jazz in Love, specifically around issues of sexuality.  Now that YOU are calling the shots as editor-in-chief, do you find you're more emboldened/empowered to take risks?



A: It was definitely very different this time around when final say rested on my shoulders. I still struggled with the internal editor in my head, and I did do a round of revisions with an editor, but ultimately, I made the final decision on what would go into the book, what the cover would look like, what the interior design and layout would be. I also knew exactly where review copies would be sent, if and where I submitted to certain awards, which formats I wanted the book released in. And now I know exactly how many copies have sold in each format. I can also make changes if I want to, at any point in the process.
The biggest risk, I would say, has been to write a book that was funny, light (mostly) with romance elements that placed characters of colour at its center, without apology or explanation. I felt very strongly about this. I wanted to write a book that teens could read and enjoy, without worrying incessantly about earning out an advance, without having such a focus on needing to make sales–without that pressure of knowing that if this book didn't sell well I might not get another book deal (and even if it *did* sell well, there would be no guarantee). I wanted to think only about my readers and the story I wanted to share with them – the teens who needed to see themselves as they are on an everyday basis. Struggling with racism and misogyny and the socio-economic scaffolding of their lives, but also just being teens and navigating the landmine territory that comes with adolescence.
It has been an empowering process that has left me with even less sleep hours than I'm used to (and I was already sleep-deprived!), but I've loved every minute of it. I'm looking forward to whatever the next adventure will be on this roller coaster of a ride .

the winners!

Congratulations to Rita Williams-Garcia and all the other winners and honorees announced at today's ALA midwinter meeting!  You can find a list of all the winners here; to read more about Rita's motivation for writing the Coretta Scott King Award-winning (and Newbery Honoree) One Crazy Summer, check out my three-part interview (Part One, Part Two, Part Three).  Bryan Collier won the Caldecott Honor Award, and Eric Velasquez won the Pura Belpre Illustrator Award.  Congrats everyone!

priorities

Patience is a virtue I haven't fully developed, but when tragedy strikes I always feel like I'm right to push myself and/or my agenda as hard as I do.  At lunch today my friend and I discussed our ideal lives and what it would take to make that dream a reality.  Acts of violence strike women down far too often, and that's just another reason to GET YOUR WORK DONE.  I need to reach 14K by the end of today, but wanted to take a moment to thank Claire Light for including Wish in her guest post at the Aqueduct Press blog, "The Pleasures of Reading, Viewing, and Listening in 2010:"

Some of my favorite middle grade books when I was a kid were the Connecticut Yankee-style stories of kids being zapped back in time to experience history first-hand. This YA does them one better, by raising the stakes on the protagonist's involvement in the past. An African American girl growing up poor in Brooklyn makes a wish and wakes up during the American Civil War draft riots. She's badly beaten by a mob, and falls in with an abolitionist group. Elliott doesn't make the mistake of retconning anachronistic views of race onto the white abolitionists; they are complex and heavily burdened with bigotry. But it is her nuanced handling of the protagonist that makes the novel so good: the more subtle forms of racism this teenaged girl experiences in the present are illuminated by her trip to the past, and she loses her innocence in more than one way. The book ends with a cliff-hanger, and I can't wait for the sequel!

Claire's book, Slightly Behind and to the Left, was included in io9′s Best Speculative Fiction of 2010 list.  They describe it as, "A set of powerful short stories and a few ultra-short 'drabbles,'" that "showcases the dark, sometimes satirical imagination of a writer who isn't afraid to take her characters to truly disturbing places."  I think I need to read *only* speculative fiction for the first six months of this year—that way I can catch up on all these amazing books by people of color!

Is science fiction a luxury?

That was the last question asked at today's panel—which I almost missed because The Graduate Center has moved since I was there last and so I went to the wrong address.  Which means I missed my former prof's paper on African Canadian autobiography, though she was kind enough to give me a copy.  Luckily, Leslie was on the same panel as Marleen S. Barr, and as promised, I'm going to share my notes from her paper, "The Laugh of Anansi: Why Science Fiction Is Pertinent to Black Children's Literature Pedagogy."

Barr began by sharing her amazement at a Kindle commercial that featured a black boy telling his grandmother how anxious he was to read about zombies and wizards; the child wasn't yearning to be a civil rights activist, and slavery in no way figured in his fantasy life.  So why are black children being offered so many civil rights and slavery narratives?  Barr broke her discussion into three parts: Realism, Sci-Fi: Powerfully Black, and Laugh of Anansi (a summary of the NYU A Is for Anansi conference, cut short due to lack of time).  Barr read a passage from Walter Mosley's 1999 essay, "Black to the Future" (you can read an excerpt here), and argued that the "elitist walls" separating sci-fi from the classroom be torn down.

Realism has become, in some ways, a trap for black children—and it is black women writers who have, according to Barr, found a way out.  Citing Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, and Octavia Butler as early speculative fiction writers, Barr named Nnedi Okorafor and Alaya Dawn Johnson as leaders of the next generation.  Barr noted that as a young woman, she was drawn to speculative fiction because powerful women characters in and writers of realistic fiction often wound up dead (Sylvia Plath, Virginia Woolf); the same is likely true for young black readers, Barr concluded—Malcolm X was assassinated, and kids raised in the era of Obama are "not native" to the world of Richard Wright.

Science fiction offers black children an alternative way of dealing with "legacy, tradition, and memory."  Barr cited Virginia Hamilton as an important and acclaimed black speculative fiction writer who nonetheless continues to be overlooked by scholars in the field.

Barr concluded by discussing the A Is for Anansi conference, noting how she found the theme of speculative fiction recurring across the various panels.  She shared the responses given by three boys on the children's panel, all of whom crave fantastic tales and are tired of reading books about "problems."

At some point Barr also mentioned a 1914 book by Elizabeth Gordon, Watermelon Pete (cringe, right?).  Her main critique of the story was that "Blacky," the fairy-like creature, was depicted as more of an insect or vermin—nothing like the dainty Tinkerbell image created by Disney.  No mention was made of racial stereotypes, which I found odd (ETA: Barr contacted me to clarify that she *did* twice refer to the book as "terrible" and didn't elaborate on the racial stereotype due to lack of time).  There was also a reference to Princess Tiana, but I missed that…sorry!

The best part of the day came when Leslie, a professor at York University in Toronto, assured me she was committed to working on a multicultural children's literature conference that will take place in 2012—hurray!  I was just counting my pennies, seeing if I could afford to pull it off myself, but I'm relieved to know that others are willing to help make it happen.  And now, back to my novel…

big fish, small pond

When I think about the Canadian publishing industry, that's generally the phrase that comes to mind: a few black writers take up a whole lot of space, and are fed (with opportunities, award, grants, etc.) until they choke the pond and make it impossible difficult for new writers to emerge.  Now, the question is: whose fault is that?  The handful of successful black writers?  Or a system that prefers to create an exclusive club by rewarding only a few talented people?  According to the ALA site, it was never the stated intent of the Coretta Scott King Award to increase the number of black authors and illustrators working in the field of children's literature:

Given to African American authors and illustrator for outstanding inspirational and educational contributions, the Coretta Scott King Book Award titles promote understanding and appreciation of the culture of all peoples and their contribution to the realization of the American dream of a pluralistic society.

The award is designed to commemorate the life and works of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and to honor Mrs. Coretta Scott King for her courage and determination to continue the work for peace and world brotherhood.

But shouldn't widening the field be one of their primary goals?  Does it make sense to promote the same authors and illustrators over and over again?  Ari is asking these and other provocative questions over at Reading in Color; check it out and contribute to this conversation…

In other news, One Crazy Summer won the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction—congratulations, Rita Williams-Garcia!!!

cooking the books

Many thanks to Jenn Brissett for posting this on the CBS list: "Science fiction scholar Marleen S. Barr will present the paper "Why Science Fiction is Pertinent to Black Children's Literature Pedagogy" at the "State of African American and African Diaspora Studies Conference" held in New York on January 8. Barr is scheduled to present at 10:15 AM in room C-205 at the CUNY Graduate Center."  I live in NYC; I teach Black Studies—I should be going to this.  But until I saw Jenn's post, I had no idea this conference was even taking place!  Maybe I've spent too much time reading and writing lately, though mega-conferences don't generally appeal to me.  Still, it is my field…a former prof of mine from Toronto is on the same panel, so I'll definitely be there on Saturday.

I'm not that creative in the kitchen but I do love designing a new course!  Lately I've been gathering ingredients resources for the course on neo-slave narratives that I'll be teaching this spring.  I *think* I've narrowed down the reading list, though I'm still adding supplementary articles:

Prince, Mary.  The History of Mary Prince (1831).

Douglass, Frederick.  Narrative (1845).

Jacobs, Harriet.  Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (1861).

Butler, Octavia.  Kindred (1979).

Morrison, Toni.  Beloved (1987).

Gerima, Haile.  Sankofa (1993).

Spielberg, Steven.  Amistad (1997).

Jones, Edward P.  The Known World (2003).

Mosely, Walter.  47 (2005).

Christiansë, Yvette.  Unconfessed (2006)

James, Marlon.  The Book of Night Women (2009).

Perkins-Valdez, Dolen.  Wench (2010).

Dungy, Camille.  Suck on the Marrow (2010).

I might add Equiano to the mix, but then you have to talk about the controversy around his birthplace…and I don't have a play, which isn't good—every course needs a little drama.  Friends urged me to teach Wish, but I don't think it's fair for the prof to ask her students to critique her own book—not when their grade depends on it!  Anyway, I'm going to postpone my administrative duties and try to write today…nearing 12K words.

brand spankin' new!

The new year's off to a good start—below is a list of all the black US-based authors who have a book coming out in January, February, and March.  Why not add some to your TBR list, request them at your library, and ask your favorite bloggers to post reviews?  We've got to show support for these books or the number of published black authors will never rise…as always, thanks to Ari, Doret, and Edi for doing the hard work of putting the new releases list together.

Camo Girl by Kekla Magoon (January 4/MG): A poignant novel about a biracial girl living in the suburbs of Vegas and the friendships that grow out of, and despite, her race.

***

Joseph's Grace by Sheila Moses (Janurary 4/YA) : Joseph's sophomore year is about to begin, but his new start is a false one. At his father's request Joseph moved in with Aunt Shirley, Uncle Todd and cousin Jasmine over the summer, to distance himself from his mother's drug problems and the dangerous characters she interacts with. But efforts to keep Joseph safe have had tragic results for Jasmine: Momma's boyfriend Bow, on one of his regular rounds lurking around the neighborhood, shoots through a wall and kills Jasmine on the spot. As Joseph contends with his own grief, his mother's persistent pleas for money, and the distance between himself and his father in Iraq—not to mention schoolwork, making the tennis team, and a new relationship—he's learning what's most important to him, and what sacrifices he'll have to make to become the person he needs to be.

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Eliza's Freedom Road by Jerdine Nolen (January 4/MG): It is 1852 in Alexandria, Virginia. Eliza's mother has been sent away and it is Abbey, the cook, who looks after Eliza, when Eliza isn't taking care of the Mistress. Eliza has the quilt her mother left her and the memory of the stories she told to keep her close. When her Mistress's health begins to fail and Eliza overhears the Master talk of Eliza being traded, Eliza takes to the night. She follows the path and the words of the farmhand Old Joe, " … travel the night … sleep the day. Go East. Your back to the set of the sun until you come to the safe house where the candlelight lights the window." All the while, Eliza recites the stories her mother taught her along her Freedom Road from Maryland to St. Catherine's, Canada.

***

Slice of Cherry by Dia Reeves (January 4/YA): Kit and Fancy Cordelle are sisters of the best kind: best friends, best confidantes, and best accomplices. The daughters of the infamous Bonesaw Killer, Kit and Fancy are used to feeling like outsiders, and that's just the way they like it. But in Portero, where the weird and wild run rampant, the Cordelle sisters are hardly the oddest or most dangerous creatures around. It's no surprise when Kit and Fancy start to give in to their deepest desire—the desire to kill. What starts as a fascination with slicing open and stitching up quickly spirals into a gratifying murder spree. Of course, the sisters aren't killing just anyone, only the people who truly deserve it. But the girls have learned from the mistakes of their father, and know that a shred of evidence could get them caught. So when Fancy stumbles upon a mysterious and invisible doorway to another world, she opens a door to endless possibilities….

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Drama High: The Meltdown by L. Divine (January 25/YA): Jayd Jackson hopes her magical Mama has a spell to chase all her cares away…Jayd needs time to recoup from her dramatic school year, but time is the one thing she doesn't have. She's said yes to becoming a debutante, and now she has to deal with her girl Mickey's jealousy–on top of babysitting, hair braiding, cheer camp, and a summer writing class. With the stress of Jayd's hectic schedule, strange visions, and insomnia, luckily Mama returns from her vacation in time to help Jayd and her crew avert real drama. Mama's convinced something sinister is at play, and they both need a plan to get Jayd her swagger back before it's too late…

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Fabulous by Simone Bryant (February 1/YA): The students at the exclusive private school, Pace Academy in Saddle River, NJ, have everything any teen could ever want or desire at their fingertips–designer clothes, high tech gadgets, chauffeur driven luxury cars, their parent's platinum credit cards, wealth, and fame. Forget silver, the spoons in their mouths are platinum and encrusted with diamonds. Even with the best things in life money can buy, there's still drama to be faced by all teens–be they rich or be they poor: rival cliques, gossip & rumors, jealousy, first loves, and first heartbreaks.

***

Mystify (Mystyx #2) by Artist Arthur (February 1/YA): Sasha Carrington has grown up feeling like an outsider, and her parents are too concerned with scaling the Lincoln, Connecticut, social ladder to even notice her. They'd be really horrified to know about the supernatural abilities Sasha and her friends Krystal and Jake possess. But as part of the Mystyx, Sasha has found her place. Now her parents have suddenly taken an interest in everything she does, and their timing couldn't be worse. Sasha's father wants her to become BFFs with snooty Alyssa Turner, who hates Krystal for stealing her boyfriend. Then there's Antoine Watson, the boy Sasha has liked forever, the boy her parents would never approve of. But with the dark side getting more dangerous by the day, and the Mystyx's own powers growing in unexpected ways, Sasha is facing choices that could affect her friends, her love life—and even her destiny….

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Kick by Walter Dean Myers & Ross Workman (February 1/MG): Kevin Johnson is thirteen years old. And heading for juvie. He's a good kid, a great friend, and a star striker for his Highland, New Jersey, soccer team. His team is competing for the State Cup, and he wants to prove he has more than just star-player potential. Kevin's never been in any serious trouble . . . until the night he ends up in jail. Enter Sergeant Brown, a cop assigned to be Kevin's mentor. If Kevin and Brown can learn to trust each other, they might be able to turn things around before it's too late.

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How Lamar's Bad Prank Won a Bubba-Sized Trophy by Crystal Allen (February 22/MG): Thirteen-year-old Lamar Washington is the maddest, baddest, most spectacular bowler at Striker's Bowling Paradise. But while Lamar's a whiz at rolling strikes, he always strikes out with girls. And his brother, Xavier the Basketball Savior, is no help. Xavier earns trophy after trophy on the basketball court and soaks up Dad's attention, leaving no room for Lamar's problems. Until bad boy Billy Jenks convinces Lamar that hustling at the alley will help him win his dream girl, plus earn him enough money to buy an expensive pro ball and impress celebrity bowler Bubba Sanders. But when Billy's scheme goes awry, Lamar ends up ruining his brother's shot at college and every relationship in his life. Can Lamar figure out how to mend his broken ties, no matter what the cost?

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Act of Grace by Karen Simpson (February/YA): When Grace Johnson, a bright, perceptive African American high school senior, saves the life of a Klansman named Jonathan Gilmore, everyone in her hometown of Vigilant, Michigan wants to know why. Few people, black or white, understand her act of sacrifice especially since rumor holds that years ago a member of the Gilmore family murdered several African-Americans, including Grace's father. Grace wants to remain silent on the matter; however, she discovers the decision to speak is not hers to make. Ancestral guides emerge in visions and insist she bear witness to her town's violent racial history so that all involved might transcend it.

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Upgrade U by Ni-Ni Simone (March 1/YA): Life is poppin' and seventeen-year-old Seven McKnight is rockin' Stiles University's hottest baller, Josiah Whitaker, on her arm when it all falls apart. With groupies threatening her basketball wife status and Josiah's dreams of the NBA blowing up his ego, Seven finds herself in a tailspin…should she stay or leave?