African American Award Winning Authors

African American Literary Awards 2009, Fiction

Dying for Revenge by Eric Jerome Dickey - Gideon, a professional assassin, is convinced that an old score with a former client from Detroit was settled a long time ago. But the lady from Detroit has never forgotten-or forgiven-Gideon, and with a crack team of hit-men, she's not letting him out of her sight. Now, Gideon's on the run again, embarking on a global chase that takes him from London to Nashville, and back to the Caribbean where those on both sides of this battle are dying for revenge.


African American Literary Awards 2009, Authors of the Year

The Best of Everything by Kimberla Lawson Roby - "Alicia has chosen to follow in the scandalous footsteps of her father, the womanizing spendthrift Reverend Curtis Black. Newly married to her father’s protégé, she routinely covers her shopping addiction by lying about her activities, and events rapidly escalate when she is robbed the same day several credit card statements arrive in the mail and her husband confronts her. In response, Alicia not only perversely spends even more, she also embarks on an affair with a drug lord. Refusing to admit that her marriage is in jeopardy, this reverend’s daughter behaves like a spoiled child rather than a responsible married woman living by the tenets of her faith." ~Booklist

Basketball Jones by E. Lynn Harris - AJ Richardson is living the good life. Thanks to his longtime lover, NBA star Dray Jones, he has a gorgeous townhouse in New Orleans, plenty of frequent-flier miles, and an MBA he’s never had to use. Built on a deep and abiding love, their hidden relationship sustains them both. But when Dray’s teammates begin to ask insinuating questions, Dray puts their doubts to rest by marrying Judi, a beautiful and ambitious woman. Judi knows nothing about Dray's "other life." Or does she?


Stephen E. Henderson Award for Fiction and Poetry 2009

Miss Crandall’s School for Young Ladies and Little Misses of Color by Elizabeth Alexander - "Twenty-four sonnets tell the story of Prudence Crandall and her efforts to educate young African-American women in Canterbury, CT, 1833-1834. The school began as a boarding school for white girls; when two black women inquired about taking classes and Crandall agreed, the townspeople withdrew their daughters. As she accepted more black students, the town became more vocal in its resistance, poisoning the school water supply, refusing to sell it supplies, and charging Miss Crandall and others with a variety of "crimes." The sonnet format is challenging but compelling. Each poem addresses an individual aspect of the story; therefore, the tone and cadence change depending upon the person speaking or the event being depicted. A heartfelt, unusual presentation, this book rewards patient readers." –School Library Journal


Essence Literary Awards, Fiction

The Pirate’s Daughter by Margaret Cezair-Thompson - In 1946, Hollywood’s most famous swashbuckler, Errol Flynn, arrived in Jamaica in a storm-ravaged boat. After a long and celebrated career on the silver screen, Flynn spent the last years of his life on a small island off the Jamaican coast, where he fell in love with the people, the paradisiacal setting, and the privacy, and brought a touch of Tinseltown glamour to the West Indian community. Based on those years, The Pirate’s Daughter imagines an affair between the aging matinee star and Ida, a beautiful local girl. Flynn’s affections are unpredictable but that doesn’t stop Ida from dreaming of a life with him, especially after the birth of their daughter, May. Margaret Cezair-Thompson weaves stories of mothers and daughters, fathers and lovers, country and kin, into this compelling, dual-generational coming-of-age tale of two women struggling to find their way in a nation wrestling with its own independence.


Essence Literary Awards, Memoir

Brother I’m Dying, A Memoir by Edwidge Danticat - From the age of four, award-winning writer Edwidge Danticat came to think of her uncle Joseph as her "second father," when she was placed in his care after her parents left Haiti for America. And so she was both elated and saddened when, at twelve, she joined her parents and youngest brothers in New York City. As Edwidge made a life in a new country, adjusting to being far away from so many who she loved, she and her family continued to fear for the safety of those still in Haiti as the political situation deteriorated. In 2004, they entered into a terrifying tale of good people caught up in events beyond their control. Brother I'm Dying is an astonishing true-life epic, told on an intimate scale by one of our finest writers.

February Recommendations for Kids

Fiction

Never Ask a Bear by Louise Bonnett-Rampersaud - Ten rules you will want to know before asking a rambunctious bear over to play.

Goldilocks by Ruth Sanderson - A fresh, heartwarming rendition of the story of a curious girl who visits her furry neighbors, and ends up with blueberry muffins.

Waiting for Winter by Sebastian Meschenmoser - Deer, squirrel, hedgehog, and bear are waiting and waiting for winter and the first snowfall. Hedgehog finds something white and wet and cold—but it looks suspiciously like a toothbrush, and a sky full of toothbrushes is not quite right!

Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy - Stephanie is just 12 years old when her eccentric uncle Gordon dies and leaves her everything. This is a bit of a surprise for Stephanie, and about to get stranger, when a mysterious skeleton-detective, Skulduggery Pleasant, enters into her life telling her that her uncle was actually murdered, and introduces a world of magic and intrigue which she never knew existed. Before long she is caught up in a magical, crazy adventure to save the world from an evil sorcerer who is trying to capture the Scepter of the Ancients and rule the world. Don’t let the “J” rating on this book fool you, it’s a sharp and intelligent book, propelled by quick dialog and great characters. Don’t miss this incredible beginning to the great “Skulduggery Pleasant” Series.


Nonfiction

You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Skyscraper Builder: A Hazardous Job You’d Rather Not Take by John Malam - Peppered by amusing illustrations, a description of building the Empire State Building during the Great Depression.

Julie Andrews’ Collection of Poems, Songs, and Lullabies by Julie Andrews - Julie Andrews and her daughter have selected nearly 150 poems, lullabies, and songs into this rich and handsomely illustrated volume. The book includes a cd containing twenty one poems read aloud by Julie Andrews and her daughter, Emma Walton Hamilton.

February Recommendations for Teens

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher - Clay Jenson is the nicest guy in school, so why is he on the list? The list. Before Hannah Baker committed suicide, she created the list. The list contains the names of 13 people in Hannah’s life who contributed to her final decision. When Clay receives a mysterious package one day it doesn’t take him long to recognize Hannah’s voice detailing each horrible situation and how each person on the list played their own role. The story alternates between Hannah’s voice and Clay’s thoughts as he listens to her words which demonstrate how even the smallest actions have strong consequences. Hannah’s story is fascinating in that I’m-watching-a-train-wreck sense, but it is also thought provoking as Hannah’s message is one about how we relate to each other each day and how each day makes a difference.

Jumping Off Swings by Jo Knowles - Ellie desperately wants to find someone she can connect with, but instead she finds herself dealing with a series of meaningless hookups. Unfortunately, the fourth time this happens she finds herself pregnant and once again alone. With no support from her family, Ellie turns to her friends Caleb and Corienne to help her make the decision that will change the rest of her life: what does she do about the baby. Will she keep the life growing inside of her even though that would mean facing her classmates who have already turned her life to hell? Or will she choose a different path and end her pregnancy so that she can avoid the stares and nasty whispers that surround her?

Blood Ninja by Nick Lake - In Feudal Japan young Taro lives the life of a peasant and has the dreams of becoming a great warrior. All that changes when his father is murdered and a ninja saves Taro’s life. Suddenly he has so many questions: why was his father killed, who would want to kill him, and Ninjas? Taro and his friend Hiro are being protected by their ninja guide Shusaku through which they discover the connection between ninjas and vampires and find themselves being dragged into a bitter conflict between the rival lords ruling Japan. This story is full of rich detail of old Japan; bring it to life with all sorts of cool and crazy things. Finally a book that has Vampires but also NINJAS!

The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey - Will Henry is the 12-year-old orphan apprentice to Pellinore Warthrop, a brilliant and self-absorbed monstrumologist, who is a scientist who studies (and when necessary, kills) monsters. The world of New England in the 1800’s is dangerous, monsters do exist and it is up to Warthrop and his apprentice to understand and control them. The newest threat is the Anthropophagi, a pack of headless, shark-toothed bipeds, one whose corpse is delivered to Warthrop’s lab courtesy of a grave robber. Now Will and his master must struggle to understand this new beast, and find a way to contain them or possibly eliminate them…but how far must they go to do so and at what cost? This fantastic story is told as if reading from the journal of young Will, and will entertain you with grizzly details of monsters and intrigue.

February Recommendations for Adults

Celebrating Black History Month

Freedom By Any Means: Con Games, Voodoo Schemes, True Love and Lawsuits on the Underground Railroad by Betty DeRamus - "Much of what we think we know about African American history isn’t completely true," DeRamus states in the introduction to her extraordinary new book chronicling the ways enslaved and freed blacks used the courts to gain freedom and civil rights. Drawn from unpublished memoirs, census records, government reports, periodicals, books and other sources, DeRamus tells the stories of the African American experience before the Emancipation Proclamation. Entertaining and easy to read, DeRamus reaches beyond the famously heroic figures into the lives of the lesser known, enriching our collective knowledge on 19th-century African American daily life.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot - HeLa cells were the first "immortal" human cells grown in culture. They have been used in medical research for the last 50+years, laying the foundation for a multimillion-dollar industry that sells human biological materials. The cells of Henrietta Lacks and her family were used in crucial discoveries like the polio vaccine, AIDS, gene mapping, in vitro fertilization, and many other medical experiments, without their knowledge, consent or financial reimbursement. The birth of modern medical science is inextricably connected to the shadowy history of experimentation on African Americans. Skloot spent decades investigating the story of the cells harvested from Henrietta Lacks, who died in the poor ward of Johns Hopkins Hospital, capturing the beauty and drama of scientific discovery as well as its human consequences.

The Making of African America: The Four Great Migrations by Ira Berlin - Slavery, relocation, migration, and immigration have defined and created a complex, epic history. Berlin, one of our leading historians, offers a sweeping account of these passages and the distinct culture created by the African Americans during centuries of forcible and voluntary movement. Berlin challenges the traditional linear presentation of social change, offering instead an account of the fluidity of a dynamic culture responding to alternating eras of tradition and innovation in the quest for a sense of place and self-determination. A bold new account, exploring how a distinct black culture evolved and how those institutions in turn became global products. Certain to generate controversy on what it has meant, and means today, to be black in America.

Martin Luther King by Godfrey Hodgson - Hodgson, the director of the Reuters Foundation Programme at Oxford University, is one of Great Britain’s keenest observers of American politics. Describing King’s life as a series of struggles from the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott through the 1968 Memphis sanitation workers’ strike, Hodgson has written an excellent concise biography on King’s life and legacy. Of special interest is the British perspective on King’s battles with Presidents Kennedy and Johnson over legislation and the philandering that almost destroy the nonviolent movement.

A Mighty Long Way: My Journey to Justice at Little Rock Central High School by Carlotta Walls LaNier - Breaking her silence and sharing her story for the first time, Carlotta Walls and written and inspiring and thoroughly engrossing memoir, a testament to the power of one to make a difference. The journey of the "Little Rock Nine" would lead the nation on a turbulent path, breaking barriers and forever changing the social and spiritual landscape of America. Walls allows us an intimate look into the sacrifices made by families and communities as they found themselves at the heart of this watershed moment in civil rights history.