The Magic Pencil

by Karen E. Dabney

The Magic Pencil, a powerful novel for young adults, is the story of Malcolm Bakersfield and the star of his latest and greatest dream, Nia Stellar. Nia is "the new girl" at Gillespie School. Malcolm quickly notices she's definitely different from all of the other kids he knows. Malcolm becomes as mystified as Nia is mysterious. Many wonderful things continue to happen with Nia on the scene. She challenges Malc to be better than his best and he soon discovers amazing things about himself and the world! We join Malcolm in his quest to discover the secret to the power of the pencil! And we'll uncover hidden powers within ourselves, along the way. The Magic Pencil is also for the young at heart and is appreciated by all ages. It is the only book explaining from a young African American boy's viewpoint, that everyone speaks differently depending on their present audience and situation. I wrote the book especially to attract "uninspired readers" and guide them toward improving literacy, self-esteem and problem solving. There are many ways to teach and everyone must do their part. I don't believe we should be aiming toward producing "cookie cut" children. But we can all be about tailoring toward their varying needs as a COMMUNITY. The Magic Pencil provides suggestions and effective strategies for positive results in an "edutaining" way!

244 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Karen Eileen Dabney is an author and artist residing in Detroit, Michigan. She has been featured as both in many publications.

Karen possesses a bachelor of fine arts from The University of Michigan and a bachelor of arts from the University of Detroit Mercy.

The Magic Pencil is her first published book for young adults. Karen feels her "...book is a vehicle that will drive youth to higher self-esteem." Her motto is: Promote Literacy...Keep a mind lit!"

Reviews

[Natalie]

I really enjoyed this book! I love young adult and even middle reader stories like this one, but I admittedly don't read diversely enough. The style, written in Ebonics, was still easy to understand as a white person. It just read so effortlessly as if written by a child, instead of an adult writing through their perceptions of what a child should sound like. I enjoyed seeing Malcolm learn about African-American culture and raise his peers throughout the story. I would have given this book five stars except for the very end which I felt was a stretch in trying to teach a moral lesson. Overall, an enjoyable, inspiring read.

[The Urban Book Source]

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Karen E. Dabney’s new book is more than just a book about a kid named Malcolm and a magic pencil. The Magic Pencil is a literary hand-basket of edutainment galore. Dabney’s literary treat is culturally refreshing, poetically amusing, and full of the Disney-like magic that will surely delight anyone who is interested in fresh and colorful reading.

Malcolm is at the center of this tale and is burdened with the arduous task of whether to do the right thing. He is hopeful, optimistic, even in circumstances that warrant a cynic’s pessimistic outlook. He is ultimately caught between the binary realities within the rambunctious context of family, friends, life, and what it all means to him.

Dabney’s characters are richly textured, and she worked extra hard not to surrender her characters to age-ole stereotypes, giving meticulous consideration to cultural detail, as well as a useful lesson (and critique?) on the Shakespearean question of colloquial language – to use it or not to use it. As a matter of fact, Dabney’s grasp of the colloquial language is so masterful that, at times, I felt as though I were reading a Geneva Smitherman book.

Given the quality of books rolling off the press these days, The Magic Pencil is a rare book. It is a marvelously didactic read, and can actually teach and instruct readers with good, sound, moral, philosophy. Haki Madhubuti once said that a book must engage the community. In that sense, Dabney’s book is accountable and responsible to the task of what this sort of book ought to achieve. That makes TMP a must-read. Good work, Dabney!

What did you like about the book?
It is cultural and entertaining.

What did you dislike about the book?
At times, the colloquial language was distracting and bothersome to the overall flow of the book. It limited the scope of the read to a degree, even.

What could the author do to improve the book?
Be careful when using colloquial language. Also, the author should pay attention to verbs and tenses, and be consistent with them.

[Joan Gosier]

What an awesome piece of cultural artwork all collectively assembled inside of a book.

As a parent, I loved the way LIVING black history is effortlessly integrated within the casual conversations
among peers and adults. I loved the way the adult characters are portrayed and provided such strength
in character, volition and beliefs.

Even the scenery doesn't infringe upon belief systems in anyway, Malcolm just explains things as he sees them without real judgement or disdain. The feelings he has about his brother's illegal activities give credence to how we ALL make our beds in life. We choose our options.

Two siblings with the same opportunities...see their choices in different ways for different reasons.

Yet Malcolm never gives up hope...even as he "sees" him on stage with him at the end...but he looks up to
his big brother as his protector from the streets at the same time.

So many of our children are in this scenario. Malcolm's mother's talents and dreams are sprinkled in and provide such an awesome foundation for his optimism on life's possibilities.

The manners, traditions and cultural experiences shared in the story are just timeless. The classroom anticipation and preparation of welcoming in a "Barack Obama" era are nicely incorporated. The characters are not stereotypes. They feel real and possible. Not just being bilingual as the characters describe their existence, but bi-cultural. The conversation that Nia and Malcolm had about mass media explains a great deal about the role of parenting and society can play in deciding "WE WANT MORE UNIQUE GIFTS PRESENTED TO THE WORLD AND NOT LESS!"

So many careful planted message seeds exist within Magic Pencil that it truly deserves a workbook/study guide!

Loved it and look forward to sharing with other "YOUNG STARS!" I am so pleased that it has been introduced to the world!

[Adra]

The Magic Pencil may be a fictonal read however, the points enclosed within this story line are so realistic. Malcom, a young African American male meets a dynamic little girl by the name of Nia. As class mates, they establish a true friendship which consist of them learning together, playing together, and attending special events together such as Ancestors' Night.

Malcom, a kid that just so happens to have both street and book smarts discovers that Nia may be too good to be true. Everyone she surrounds herself within the school makes a change for the better. Even the principal of the school has taken notice. There is something very amazing Nia's touch. Especially when it comes down to her touching the pencils that the students use to complete their assignments and daily school activities.

Aware of the old saying that you cant please everyone, some of the students begin to show jealously and hatred toward Nia for no apparent reason. Not allowing this to get in her way on her mission to continue to do good, towards the end of the story, Nia states very important message to the school. Spoken like a true hero, she encourages parents and teachers to become more involved in their children and students learning process, and administrators to do what they need to do to ensure that the students are successful within their learning environment.

Kudos to Ms Dabney for doing such a excellent job on this spectacular literary read.

[Harold Michael Harvey]

Karen Dabney's debut novel "The Magic Pencil" is a great edition to the children book genre. Malcolm, the narrator of this magical tale gives the reader, whether adult or child, a clear perspective of what it is like to grow up in a world of adults while maintain respect among his peers.

If you have ever wondered how to interpret kids speak, wonder no more. Dabney expertly breaks down the language of young people and explain how children quickly adopt to "code switching" when they are with their parents.

My only regret about The Magic Pencil is that it did not come along when I was raising my son. I highly recommend this book for children ages eight to sixteen and parents or soon to be parents.

[Karen E. Dabney]

"Karen's work is unrivaled in young adult literature." --Jimmy Santiago Baca, author of A Place to Stand

"[The Magic Pencil is] particularly interesting and valuable... It is a very clean and well-written book. Certainly one that I recommend..." --Dr. David Rambeau, Executive Producer of For My People/ProjectBAIT

SYNOPSIS
Malcolm Bakersfield's new classmate, Nia Stellar is "not your average girl." Exciting and fantastic events occur, seemingly to do with her and a scruffy, used pencil. Nia challenges Malc in many ways and he discovers new abilities and sides to himself. We join him in his quest to find the truth to to the power of the pencil.
And, like him, we just may learn a lot about ourselves.