Kibkabe Araya's Blog, page 7

Here’s Why Dollar Store Inflation Affects Literacy Access

Hardcover and paperback editions of some of the top-ranking books of the last few years have flooded dollar-store shelves. The phenomenon of finding a best-seller in new condition for about a dollar is due to publishers over-ordering copies of a particular book, and in its retail life cycle, that surplus bypasses bookstores and ends up at discount stores. Though the books are still coming to shelves, consumers who buy necessary items from a Dollar Tree, Dollar General, or 99 Cents Only store, for example, may leave the deeply discounted books behind with shrunken budgets and the price hikes recently put in place due to inflation. Inflation is the general increase on goods and services across the market. As prices go up at gas stations and in supermarkets, the average consumer budget saved for shopping at dollar stores may just zero in on the essentials, and not on education materials like books. The top four categories for items bought at dollar stores are food products, personal care items, party supplies, and home goods, according to GOBankingRates. No mention of books in the financial outlet’s survey, but with summer translating to pool time, the pack of soda and the blow-up floats will […]

Book Review: ‘Zyla & Kai’ by Kristina Forest

*Given a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review* Zyla & Kai by Kristina Forest is a young adult romance bringing together two teens who think they are too different but find enough common ground to develop a relationship that always seems threatened by outside factors.  The story starts with the title characters going missing from a school ski trip, but it really starts the summer before where the two are lowly amusement park employees trying to earn extra cash for college.  Hezekiah “Kai” Johnson is working at Sailor Joe’s Amusement Park over the summer when he and his on-and-off-again girlfriend Camille start arguing in front of customers. Camille approaches Kai over his alleged flirtatious behavior with other girls on the job. Kai denies the allegations, but the hullabaloo has almost cost them their jobs. Once Kai gets home to Aunt Brenda and Uncle Steve, they tell him he needs to swear off girls until he graduates high school and matriculates at the family alma mater Morehouse College, the historically Black men’s college in Atlanta. His father and Uncle Steve are college alumni while his mother and Aunt Brenda attended the Black women’s college next door, Spelman […]

Simon & Schuster Loses Publisher to Book Deal

SHE LIT: Simon & Schuster Loses Publisher to Book Deal 📚 Dana Canedy, the first Black person to hold the prized position, was hired with diversity in mind but was criticized for acquiring Mike Pence’s book. View this email in your browser 📚 Join the #shelitbookclub on July 31 as we discuss the novel Red Clocks by Leni Zumas amid the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Details can be found here. The most high-profile Black woman in publishing leaves post to write second book Simon & Schuster announced this week that its senior vice president and publisher Dana Canedy is leaving the position she’s held for two years. After her 2008 memoir was turned into a film last year, she says she plans to write a follow-up. But with her hiring coinciding with the racial unrest of 2020 and coming into question in last year’s controversy over the acquisition of former vice president Mike Pence’s memoir, Dana’s departure still feels like a blow to diversity and inclusion in book publishing. Directed by screen legend Denzel Washington, A Journal for Jordan opened in theaters Christmas Day 2021 starring Michael B. Jordan playing the late U.S. Army First Sergeant Charles Monroe King, […]

Book Review: ‘Shine Bright’ by Danyel Smith

Shine Bright: A Very Personal History of Black Women in Pop by Danyel Smith explores how Black female music artists have impacted the world and in particular the author’s world as she navigates her unstable childhood in 1970s California.  Were there champagne toasts with Mariah Carey on a private island off the coast of Antigua? Yes. Was I backstage with Beyoncé in Philly, in Paris, in Cleveland, in Brooklyn? All of it. Have I cruised the Upper West Side in a vintage Cadillac convertible with Queen Latifah? Yes, indeed. But, though I chalked it up to not wanting to get too close to creatives, I would have to cover as a writer or an editor—I actually did not feel worthy of such friendships. Danyel Smith is a music entertainment journalist titan who’s most famous for her editor in chief stint at Vibe magazine at the height of hip-hop domination. With the quote above from the book, her work has sparked friendships with the Black celebrities forever shaping our culture. (Mariah Carey describes Danyel’s 2005 novel Bliss as such on the cover: “The music business can be an enchanted snake pit, but Danyel tells her heroine’s story with an insider’s knowledge, […]

What Files You Need at Your Fingertips While Querying

The art of querying is hard to define. The exhausting process of emailing multiple agents asking for representation for your book in order to become a traditionally published author means you have to be a queen of preparation. With many literary agents and their agencies asking for various documents to support your plea, there is a way to make sure you have everything at your fingertips to make the process a bit easier. Query The letter that’s usually around 400 words and fills one double-spaced page is the main component of the process since it tells the literary agent what your book is about. The secret is to describe your book in the way you would want to see it on a dust jacket: What would pull in the reader cruising bookshelves? That’s the mindset for the quintessential query letter. Successful examples can be found on The Writer’s Digest. Synopsis The synopsis describes the story in a longer format up to three double-spaced pages. Brief synopsis The brief synopsis can be a page-long or 500 words. Sometimes, literary agents ask for this version instead of the full synopsis. First 10 pages The first 10 pages paired with the query is […]

Controversy Mars ‘Where the Crawdads Sing’ Film

SHE LIT: Controversy Mars ‘Where the Crawdads Sing’ Film 🎬 The novel became a runaway hit in 2018. Now, it’s getting the book-to-film treatment as the author’s past is creeping back into cyberspace. View this email in your browser 📚 Join the #shelitbookclub on July 31 as we discuss the novel Red Clocks by Leni Zumas amid the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Details can be found here. Delia Owens’ alleged involvement in killing resurfaces as movie aims for box office gold Where the Crawdads Sing became a runaway hit in 2018. Now, it’s getting the book-to-film treatment with its theater-only premiere this Friday. But the author’s past is creeping back into cyberspace while the filmmakers including celebrity book club queen Reese Witherspoon are getting the side eye for supporting the book after the allegations came to light. Delia Owens wrote nonfiction books about wildlife conservation with her now-estranged husband Mark Owens. They lived and worked in different African countries with Mark’s son Christopher Owens. Their second book focused on their battles against elephant poachers. In 1995, an alleged poacher or trespasser was killed while the Owens lived in Zambia protecting elephants, according to media reports. And the killing was […]

Book Review: ‘Speak’ by Tunde Oyeneyin

Speak by Tunde Oyeneyin is a memoir about discovering body positivity and navigating a purposeful journey that’s vividly told by the popular Peloton instructor. Growing up in Katy, Texas, Tunde is the only daughter out of three children of her Nigerian parents. At a young age, she’s considered overweight, and the shady comments she would hear about her prettiness being dimmed by her size marks her upbringing. A hard worker, she takes on multiple jobs in college, including one behind a department store makeup counter. This leads her to gaining clients who take note of her makeup application skills. She eventually moves to Los Angeles for a chance to groom her budding career until tragedy strikes. She loses her younger brother, and a few years later, her mother, then her father. The back-to-back deaths of her immediate family send her into a depression. But opportunities keep coming her away that pull her out of the abyss and bring new urgency to live her life with purpose. As she focuses on her mental and physical health, she develops a passion for cycling after taking a class. The inspirational shouting to keep moving forward sends her on a new career path. After […]

‘Proud Family: Louder and Prouder’ Reboot Champions Black Literature

If you’re not looking closely, you may be missing the parade of nonfiction and fiction titles by Black authors being shown to the next generation of Proud Family viewers. Originally debuting in 2001, The Proud Family became a fixture on the Disney Channel and ABC’s One Saturday Morning featuring an African American 14-year-old middle schooler named Penny Proud as she navigates friendships and family in the Los Angeles area. Disney+ rebooted the cartoon this year with 10 episodes streaming now under the title The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder. And this is giving the creators more freedom to get their racial justice message across screens to a wider audience witnessing the Black Lives Matter and the #BlackStoriesMatter movements. The voice of Penny Proud since the show’s inception, Kyla Pratt is the star, with her cartoon doppelgänger, but for the new series Keke Palmer joins the cast to voice Maya, a social activist who’s a new transfer to their Willy T. Ribbs Middle School. The school is named for the first Black driver to qualify and race in the Indianapolis 500. The Easter eggs of activism are really hidden in Maya’s book choices throughout the episodes. We’re introduced to Maya in […]

From the Editor: Leni Zumas’ ‘Red Clocks’ Is She Lit Book Club’s July Pick

Nationwide legalized abortion came to an end two weeks ago, and the repercussions are in motion as states move to either allow or ban abortion between their borders. When the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the almost 50-year-old ruling of Roe v. Wade and 30-year-old affirmed ruling of Planned Parenthood v. Casey in last month’s ruling on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the pro-abortion and anti-abortion movements went into full drive. Those advocating for a person’s right to reproductive choices are scurrying to make sure remaining access is shared with the individuals who want and need the access while those fighting against abortion are celebrating a win and working to make it permanent. Due to the country’s division over abortion, we will be reading Red Clocks by Leni Zumas on July 31 at 11 a.m. EST online. More details can be found here. The 2018 novel tells the stories of five different women in an Oregon fishing town who all have different perspectives on their reproduction in a country where abortion became illegal again, along with in vitro fertilization, in a federal law granting every embryo rights to life, liberty, and property. Their lives intersect as one woman goes on […]

In Female-Dominated Publishing Industry, Pay Gaps Persist

SHE LIT: In Female-Dominated Publishing Industry, Pay Gaps Persist A union representing hundreds of employees from a major publisher vote to strike in an effort to raise pay and promote diversity. View this email in your browser 📚 Join the #shelitbookclub on July 31 as we discuss the novel Red Clocks by Leni Zumas amid the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Details can be found here. HarperCollins employees say diversity and inclusion is not prioritized at publisher Unionized employees of HarperCollins Publishers voted to strike earlier this week, citing concerns with low pay as a result of the book industry leader not promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion the way it promised. Returning from the three-day July 4 holiday weekend, the Local 2110 of the UAW union said its 250+ members voted to authorize a strike as it negotiates a “fair contract” with the publisher. Members include employees in editorial, sales, publicity, design, legal, and marketing departments. They say they want higher pay, better family leave benefits, stronger union protection, and a real commitment to staff diversity and inclusion. The average female employee at HarperCollins earns an annual $55,000 with a starting salary of $45,000, according to the union’s press release […]