Take care. Do it because you want to stay well, upright, away from illness. Eat right, swallow your vitamins and hydrate, keep good habits and hygiene, and cross your fingers. Take care as much as you can because, as in the new book, “Love, Rita” by Bridgett M. Davis, your well-being is sometimes out of your hands. It was a family story told often: when Bridgett Davis was born, her sister, Rita, then four years old, stormed up to her crying newborn sibling and said, ‘Shut your… mouth!’ Rita, says Davis, didn’t want a little sister then. She already had…
Author: Terri Schlichenmeyer
c.2025, Wm. Morrow $30.00 320 pages Three hundred thirty-six little pockmarks. Placed atop a thick sliver of wood, the ball they’re on presents a challenge. Whack that dimpled sphere into 18 holes in the ground, do it in as few swings as possible, and you can ace the game. Do it and, as in the new book, “Together We Roared” by Steve Williams and Evin Priest, you could be a champion of a different stripe. When the first call came, Steve Williams thought it was a prank. It was a late spring night in 1999 and the voice on…
“The Trouble of Color: An American Family Memoir” by Martha S. Jones c.2025, Basic Books $30 315 pages “Last Seen: The Enduring Search by Formerly Enslaved People to Find Their Lost Families” by Judith Giesberg c.2025, Simon & Schuster $29.99 309 pages Who do you think you are? That’s a question that can be taken a multiple of ways. It’s in-your-face, aggressive, angry. Or it’s inquisitive and open, asking for introspection. Where did your family come from, and who do you think you are? Or, as in these books, is that question to be answered? For author Martha S. Jones,…
Mom and Grandma know a lot of things. They know what you like for breakfast and for lunch. They help you find the coolest clothes and the best toys. They’re really good at telling stories, teaching you chores, and giving you hugs. You know they do great things and so have other women throughout history – so grab these great books and learn more… March is Women’s History Month and learning about it is easy when you have “The ABCs of Women’s History” by Rio Cortez, illustrated by Lauren Semmer (Workman, $18.99). From artists and activists to Zora Neale Hurston,…
The anticipation is high. Your soon-to-be-graduate has been checking every day to see if there’s good news or bad news from the college of their choice, and to determine if they need a change of plans. It’s an unnerving time, but also one of hope. So why not be prepared, and read these great books about education in the Black community… More than 70 years ago, something happened in rural Tennessee that was almost lost to history: three people – one of them, a white man – joined forces to help Black southerners get past Jim Crow laws and vote.…
Check your work. When you were in school, you probably heard that a lot. Look over that math equation. Be sure your spelling is right. Reexamine your answers. Doing those things should result in rewards, then, right? Unless, as in the new business book, “Qualified” by Shari Dunn, someone’s over-checking you. In her experience as a consultant, Shari Dunn firmly acknowledges that being an employee is complicated and not-so-easy. For Black employees, though, there’s additional level of difficulty, “competency checking,” or the constant need to prove themselves and their intelligence. Says Dunn, the demand for competency checking can start before…
You march to the tun of your own drummer because you like the beat. It’s the same cadence you carry in your heart and soul, and it sets your pace and your path. No one else’s pulse matches yours, no one else’s rhythm will do. You march to your own drummer and as in the new memoir, “Fearless and Free” by Josephine Baker, translated from the French by Anam Zafar and Sophie Lewis, you dance to it, too. When he first met Josephine Baker in 1926, journalist Marcel Sauvage suggested that she might want to write her memoirs and the…
Your mother tells you stories. She talks about things that happened before you were born; Grandpa does it, too, and you like to hear every tale. So why not have these stories about Black History on your shelves? For the boy who loves looking good, “Saturday Morning at the ‘Shop” by Keenan Jones, illustrated by Ken Daley (Beach Lane Books, $18.99) is a great book to have around. One day each week, everything happens at the barber shop, and not just haircuts! This is a fun read and a cultural touchstone for boys ages 4 to 8. Young cooks will…
“Slavery after Slavery: Revealing the Legacy of Forced Child Apprenticeships on Black Families, from Emancipation to the Present” by Mary Frances Berry c.2024, Beacon Press $27.95 184 pages Your kids will have a better life than you had. You’ll make sure of it, saving for their education, demanding excellence from them, requiring discipline, and offering support for their dreams and desires. Their success is your dream and, as parents did in the new book “Slavery after Slavery” by Mary Frances Berry, you’ll fight to see that it happens. In the years after the end of the Civil War, some Southern…