Binti / Nnedi Okorafor / 90 pgs

I really enjoyed Binti so much. It was a quick read, more of a novella than a novel, but the story was tight and not at all wasteful in the telling. I definitely want to read the two sequels that have come out now that I've read the first book in the series.

Binti is a human living in Africa sometime far in the future where interstellar travel is possible and many different alien races have been encountered. Binti is the first of her people to travel to Oomza University, on a distant planet, to study mathematics, and leaving home is both thrilling and difficult. However, her trip becomes a race for survival when an alien race known for its brutality boards the ship she is traveling on with other soon-to-be students. Binti has to call upon her strengths and the knowledge of her people in order to make it out alive.

The Color Purple / Alice Walker / 288 pages

One of the categories for the 2019 Read Harder Challenge is to read an epistolary novel. Epistolary novels are my favorite and I have already read tons, but I had no idea that The Color Purple, which I had never read, was a novel made up of letters. I had seen the movie a couple of times but had never read the book.

This is one of those books that I felt very torn about. I had a tough time with the book for the first half, but it got better and ended up grabbing my attention later. The story is told in a series of letters, first Celie's letters to God, then letters from her sister, Nettie, to her, then letters from her to Nettie. I think when those letters from her sister begin, about halfway through the book, that's when it finally got interesting and I ended up enjoying the latter half of the book far more than I did the first half.

Celie is a young black woman living around 1915 Georgia with her dad and mother. She is raped by her father and gives birth twice to children that her father takes away; she knows not where. Celie is not educated or good looking, unlike her younger sister Nettie, who is both of those things. Celie is given to an unnamed Mr. _____ to marry. He beats her and is obviously having an affair with Shug, a worldly beautiful singer. Meanwhile, Celie's sister runs away from home and a lifetime passes before they reconnect.

I'm glad I got to read this during Black History Month, as it is a good reminder of what life was like for African Americans in Jim Crow South. I recommend the book, but with the caveat that it's a tough read at first. Get through it and it gets better.

Underground Airlines / Ben H. Wilson / 327 pgs

Underground Airlines was an amazing ride! The book is set in 2016, but in an America in which the Civil War was never fought and amendments were passed in 1861 that would keep slavery legal in the United States for all time. Over the years, most states have chosen to abolish slavery, but there are still four left in the South that have not only maintained slavery, but incorporated it, where big corporations now own slaves, give them numbers, tattoos, and shuffle them around massive plantations. Another amendment to the Constitution requires ALL states in which an escaped slave is found to send them back to their owners, and the FBI is legally required to do all it can to track down escaped slaves. Our anti-hero, Victor, is one such escaped slave who the FBI kept to help track down other escaped slaves. He's a master of disguise and voices, doing all he can to infiltrate one group dedicated to helping escaped slaves make it to Canada. I found this book very thought-provoking and captivating. I think anyone who likes alternate history books, dystopias, science fiction, or thrillers will enjoy it. I haven't read Colson Whitehead's Underground Railroad yet, so I can't make a comparison, but I can't imagine I would like it more than Underground Airlines.

Forbidden/Beverly Jenkins/384 pgs

Though published in 2016, this is an old-school romance. And I mean that in a good way. Jenkins builds a community here with a wonderful cast of secondary characters who enrich not only the story, but the lives of the main characters as well.

I loved the premise of this story. The heroine Eddy is an independent woman who decides to move from Denver to San Francisco. While she encounters some kind and generous strangers along the way, she also meets a not-so-nice stranger and ends up stranded in Virginia City, Nevada. The hero Rhine is a former slave who fought for the Union Army in the Civil War. His mother was a slave; his father the slave owner. After the war, Rhine decided to pass as a white man and has built up his fortune and reputation in Virginia City.

As Rhine and Eddy fall for each other the main conflict is that he is supposedly white, she is black, and any relationship between them is fraught and marriage is illegal. I was hoping for an emotion-filled story that would include a gut-wrenching climax for this couple. Unfortunately that’s not what I got. I was underwhelmed by how their story played out and was hoping for much more for these characters I cared about.

Kindred / Octavia Butler / 264 pgs

Kindred is one of those books I've been meaning to read the last couple of years and only finally got around to it. The story involves Dana, a 26 year old, newly married black woman in 1976 Los Angeles who inexplicably, and without warning, travels to a 1815 Maryland plantation owned by slaveholder, Tom Weylin. In her first trip, Dana saves Tom's son, Rufus, and quickly returns to her own time. After a second trip where Dana saves Rufus' life again, she realizes a few things. First, Rufus is her ancestor. Second, Dana seems to travel to the past whenever Rufus' life is in danger. Third, Dana can only get back to the present when her own life seems to be in danger. Fourth, no matter how much time has passed in the past, only a few minutes or hours pass in the present. Fifth, being a black woman in the antebellum South is a very dangerous.

Although it ultimately took me 4 days to finish this book, it really was very hard for me to put it down. I was completely enthralled with Octavia Butler's writing. She made the whole story come alive and I found Dana to be a complete heroine, someone I could identify with despite the fact that I am not black, and have never experienced the kind of bigotry she does. I think it was more Dana's spirit and direct approach that I enjoyed. I highly recommend. Best book so far in 2017.

IQ / Joe Ide / 321 p

Isaiah Quintabe was a 16 year old urban teen in LA with a great future. Teachers were already beginning to talk about Ivy league school applications when Isaiah's brother and guardian was killed by a hit and run driver. From that point on Isaiah had two goals - stay out of the foster care system and find his brother's killer. He drops out of school and by chance helps someone in the neighborhood solve a mystery. He realizes that his Sherlock Holmes-like deduction skills can be used to help others and support himself. He calls himself IQ. Soon he is being inundated with requests for help.  Unfortunately, the people who need help. Years later, a sketchy friend from his past hooks him up with a famous rapper who barely escaped a murder attempt. IQ must find who is trying to kill him and somehow keep himself out of the hit-man's cross-hairs. As IQ gets closer to solving the mystery, the author weaves in IQ's backstory and we learn why he funnels most of his money to a young Hispanic teen who is disabled with a traumatic brain injury.

This book would be a good recommendation for those who liked the Girl With the Dragon Tatoo books. The language is gritty and not for those wanting a cosy mystery. I suspect we might be seeing more IQ books in the future.

The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat/Edward Kelsey Moore/369 pgs.

Odette, Clarice, and Barbara Jean were the best of friends in high school during the late 1960s; they were dubbed "The Supremes" and the name stuck, even though forty years have passed since that time. These African-American women have married and remained in Plainview, Indiana, and have been there for each other, through thick and thin. The novel focuses mainly on one year in the Supremes' lives with all its laughter and sorrow. It's a very heartwarming, entertaining novel--with secrets, humor, and a feel good ending. Highly recommended!

The Invention of Wings / Sue Monk Kidd / 373 p.

Multiple reviews and several recommendations led me to this title.  I was also familiar with Kidd's popular title The Secret Life of  Bees. When I spied this audio version on the shelf, I decided to give it a try.

This book is beautifully written; beautifully read. This fictionalized account of the sisters Grimke illuminates both what has been worst and best in our country's history. I was totally unaware of the important role the sisters played in the history of our country. Born into Southern aristocracy in the midst of slavery, Sarah and Angelina became staunch, out-spoken abolitionists and leaders in the push for women's rights. The story is told by Sarah and by fictionalized slave, "Handful." The two actresses narrating the story do a fabulous job with Kidd's flowing style.

Readers who liked Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker by Jennifer Chiaverini would also enjoy this title.

A Lesson Before Dying / Ernest J. Gaines / 256 p.

Wrong place and wrong time? Or guilty as charged? Doesn't matter. For a young black man in the South in the late 1940's the outcome of the trial was a forgone conclusion. Jefferson has been sentenced to die. Then a young teacher, Grant Wiggins, has been asked to help mentally prepare the young man for his execution.  Despite having gained an education, Grant feels the weight of inequality and oppression and questions his ability to help this young man--or any of his students for that matter. 

One Crazy Summer / Rita Williams-Garcia / 218 pgs.

"In the summer of 1968, after traveling from Brooklyn to Oakland, California, to spend a month with the mother they barely know, eleven-year-old Delphine and her two younger sisters arrive to a cold welcome as they discover that their mother, a dedicated poet and printer, is resentful of the intrusion of their visit and wants them to attend a nearby Black Panther summer camp." - From Catalog.

This is a very sweet tale of three young girls, who spend their summer attending a Black Panther summer camp.  The story introduces to the readers the issues of  African Americans in the late - 60's, as the girls are learning more about their culture and issues that their race is facing at the camp.  They (and the reader) also see that there were many facets to the Black Panther movement, and not everyone in the group held extreme radical beliefs.  Informative, charming, and entertaining; I would recommend this book for elementary / junior high school age.    

Run: A Novel / Ann Patchett / 295 pages

   I read this on the recommendation of Lisa Kimmel at Kisker Road. We had been talking about how much we enjoyed Bel Canto when Lisa said I must read this novel. I tried something different this time. I read the book at home and listened to it when in the car. I will repeat this experiment in the future.
   Bernard Doyle is the former mayor of Boston and he has two sons named Tip and Teddy. They were adopted at birth and 18 months. Tip is the older one. Doyle has decided his adult children will have a role in politics and towards that end he has brought them to hear Jesse Jackson speak. On a very snowy night, the Doyle family meet in an auditorium. Tip is looking for a way to get back to his job. He doesn't want to attend the reception and begins walking away, not watching where he is going. The next thing he knows there is an SUV and an unknown woman pushing him out of the way. With the appearance of this woman, the life Tip and Teddy and even Doyle know begins to unravel in ways they can not imagine.
   I was drawn into this story. It takes place over a 24 hour period. The characters and their individual stories were very compelling and heartbreaking. I felt I could go and see these people, sitting down in their living room and picking up the story. The older brother Sullivan and his life was a plot line that could have been filled out a little more - making the reader understand why he reacted the way he did. That really is my only quibble with the book. Coincidence and fate in one's life are discussed - why the choices we make effect other people we don't even know. I think this is a great book for a discussion group.

Six degrees of reading: The Dead by James Joyce, The Color of Water by James McBride, Hood by Emma Donoghue.

Singing in the Comeback Choir / Bebe Moore Campbell 372 p.

Highly successful producer of a TV talk show, Maxine McCoy returns to her childhood roots in Philadelphia to help her grandmother, Lindy.  Lindy, once a successful jazz singer, refuses to give up her cigarettes and alcohol and her home in a declining neighborhood after suffering a stroke.  Bebe Moore offers insights into the life of a TV producer as the shows encounters many issues.  She is facing the delight of a child as well as trust issues with her husband after his infidelity.  She moves mountains to get rifts healed so that Lindy gets the musical support Lindy needs to be featured on a show.  Moore creates interesting characters with believable modern situations.

Ghetto Cowboy / Greg Neri 218 p.

Suddenly, Coltrane finds himself dumped in a rough neighborhood in north Philadelphia. At her wits end, his mother has turned him over to his father, a man he has never met, when he ditches school for an entire month. This Detroit pre-teen is surprised to see a horse. Harp, his father, sets him to work in the stable-- a job Cole vows to do until he can get back to his mother. His father runs this stable full of retired racehorses which acts as a safe haven for the neighborhood kids. Everyone who works gets to ride a horse. Cole sees his father in a new light as he struggles to keep the stable open.

Based on a true story of inner-city horsemen in north Philadelphia.

2012 Notable Children's Recordings

Perfectly Prima / Whoopie Goldberg / 152 pages

Another good Sugar Plum Ballerinas book. This time, the character featured is Jerzey Mae, one of the triplets. She seems to have a mild obsessive-compulsive disorder and really wants to always do things in a particular way and to always dance perfectly. This, of course, is the problem. She is so obsessed that she can't even dance without messing up.

Without spoiling the plot, the answer for her comes via her little brother, the basketball fanatic. This is another really good plot that is also helpful for some of those little perfectionists out there that stress out a lot. These books are "co-written" by Deborah Underwood and I want to say that she does a really good job of writing. I only have one more ballet book to go.

Sugar Plum Ballerinas: Toeshoe Trouble/ Whoopie Goldberg/ 136 pages

This the second in the series and is just as good as the first book. This book focuses on Brenda instead of Al as in the last book. The friends are still all together at the ballet school. The focus of this book is Brenda's cousin Tiffany. Brenda is jealous of her rich cousin and in order to top her, she tells a stupid lie which leads her to make the stupid decision to steal the special autographed ballet slippers of her dance teacher. The book deals with the drama and consequences of stealing and lying. Unlike the Wimpy Kid, this girl has integrity and doesn't justify it or "oh well" it. She knows it is a bad thing, she feels guilt and remorse, and even though she tries to correct the problem without her mom finding out, she does the right thing in the end because she basically has a good moral base and will not even let a stranger take the fall for her. I really like these books as they are funny and entertaining. Now I like them because they also show good values in a day when they seem to be lacking.