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Rites of Passage: Stories About Growing Up by Black Writers from Around the World
Seventeen stories about the experiences of young people of African descent around the world, by such authors as Toni Cade Bambara, John Henrik Clarke, Njabulo Ndebele, and Barbara Burford
- GenresShort Stories
240 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1994
2 people are currently reading
39 people want to read
About the author
Tonya Bolden
79 books188 followersAuthor and publisher Tonya Wilyce Bolden was born on March 1, 1959, in New York City to Georgia Bolden, a homemaker, and Willie Bolden, a garment center shipping manager. Bolden grew up in Harlem in a musical family and loved to read; she attended Public M.E.S. 146, an elementary school in Manhattan, and then graduated from the Chapin School, a private secondary school, in Manhattan in 1976. Bolden attended Princeton University in New Jersey, and, in 1981, obtained her B.A. degree in Slavic languages and literature with a Russian focus. Bolden was also a University Scholar and received the Nicholas Bachko, Jr. Scholarship Prize.
Upon graduating from Princeton University, Bolden began working as a salesperson for Charles Alan, Incorporated, a dress manufacturer, while working towards her M.A. degree at Columbia University. In 1985, Bolden earned her degree in Slavic languages and literature, as well as a Certificate for Advanced Study of the Soviet Union from the Harriman Institute; after this she began working as an office coordinator for Raoulfilm, Inc., assisting in the research and development of various film and literary products. Bolden worked as an English instructor at Malcolm-King College and New Rochelle School of New Resources while serving as newsletter editor of the HARKline, a homeless shelter newsletter.
In 1990, Bolden wrote her first book, The Family Heirloom Cookbook. In 1992, Bolden co-authored a children’s book entitled Mama, I Want To Sing along with Vy Higginsen, based on Higginsen’s musical. Bolden continued publishing throughout the 1990s, releasing Starting a Business from your Home, Mail-Order and Direct Response, The Book of African-American Women: 150 Crusaders, Creators, and Uplifters, And Not Afraid to Dare: The Stories of Ten African-American Women, American Patriots: The Story of Blacks in the Military from the Revolution to Desert Storm and The Champ. Bolden became editor of the Quarterly Black Review of Books in 1994, and served as an editor for 33 Things Every Girl Should Know, in 1998. Bolden’s writing career became even more prolific in the following decade; a partial list of her works include:, Our Souls: A Celebration of Black American Artists, Maritcha: A Nineteenth Century American Girl, MLK: Journey of a King, Take-Off: American All-Girl Bands During World War II, and George Washington Carver, a book she authored in conjunction with an exhibit about the famous African American inventor created by The Field Museum in Chicago.
(source; http://www.thehistorymakers.com/biogr...)
Upon graduating from Princeton University, Bolden began working as a salesperson for Charles Alan, Incorporated, a dress manufacturer, while working towards her M.A. degree at Columbia University. In 1985, Bolden earned her degree in Slavic languages and literature, as well as a Certificate for Advanced Study of the Soviet Union from the Harriman Institute; after this she began working as an office coordinator for Raoulfilm, Inc., assisting in the research and development of various film and literary products. Bolden worked as an English instructor at Malcolm-King College and New Rochelle School of New Resources while serving as newsletter editor of the HARKline, a homeless shelter newsletter.
In 1990, Bolden wrote her first book, The Family Heirloom Cookbook. In 1992, Bolden co-authored a children’s book entitled Mama, I Want To Sing along with Vy Higginsen, based on Higginsen’s musical. Bolden continued publishing throughout the 1990s, releasing Starting a Business from your Home, Mail-Order and Direct Response, The Book of African-American Women: 150 Crusaders, Creators, and Uplifters, And Not Afraid to Dare: The Stories of Ten African-American Women, American Patriots: The Story of Blacks in the Military from the Revolution to Desert Storm and The Champ. Bolden became editor of the Quarterly Black Review of Books in 1994, and served as an editor for 33 Things Every Girl Should Know, in 1998. Bolden’s writing career became even more prolific in the following decade; a partial list of her works include:, Our Souls: A Celebration of Black American Artists, Maritcha: A Nineteenth Century American Girl, MLK: Journey of a King, Take-Off: American All-Girl Bands During World War II, and George Washington Carver, a book she authored in conjunction with an exhibit about the famous African American inventor created by The Field Museum in Chicago.
(source; http://www.thehistorymakers.com/biogr...)
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 13, 2019
Love, love, love this wonderful collection of short stories about growing up. Each story touches me, especially The Mountain.
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October 4, 2015 Rites of Passage by Tonya Bolden is a book that has many stories in it by African American writers. One of the stories is about a kid who has amazing artistic skills. The boy one day painted a picture of Jesus on the cross but the Jesus was black. The district manager who was white hated this picture and was going to hit the kid but the principle stopped the manager. The principle took all the blame for it. Another story was about a girl turning into a women. The moms took the girl to a secret place and did a ritual on the girl to "officially" turn her into a women.
Rites of Passage was a well put to gather book. Some of the parts was hard to understand because of the old English. I wish the book had more happy stories. Each story of the book was easy to make out the purpose of the story. Those are my opinions on the book Rites of Passage.
On the book it said kids ten and up. But I highly disagree. Some of the stories were hard for me to understand so the odds of a kid three years younger than me can understand it. I do recommend this book to kids twelve and up who want or are a writer. The book over all may change your thoughts.
Rites of Passage was a well put to gather book. Some of the parts was hard to understand because of the old English. I wish the book had more happy stories. Each story of the book was easy to make out the purpose of the story. Those are my opinions on the book Rites of Passage.
On the book it said kids ten and up. But I highly disagree. Some of the stories were hard for me to understand so the odds of a kid three years younger than me can understand it. I do recommend this book to kids twelve and up who want or are a writer. The book over all may change your thoughts.
April 2, 2017
"Rites of Passages" is a collection of coming of age short stories by Black writers. My favorites are the ones by John Henrik Clarke, J. California Cooper and Eugenia Collier.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews