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Posts tagged with ‘African American Writers’

SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER, by Grace Octavia

May 6, 2012

MAGNIFICENTLY ENTERTAINING SOAP-OPERA tale of a woman finding a secret society/support group for spurned wives.

Grade: B PLUS

SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER
Kensington/Dafina
2011

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ASSUMPTION, by Percival Everett

March 28, 2012

LITERARY MEETS NOIR in Percival Everett’s latest novel, a complex and playful twist on police procedurals.

Grade: B PLUS

ASSUMPTION
Graywolf Press
2011

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LOST IN LANGUAGE & SOUND, by Ntozake Shange

January 16, 2012

BEAUTIFULLY NUANCED, POETIC essays on art, life, culture, and a black woman’s experience from Ntozake Shange.

Grade: B PLUS

LOST IN LANGUAGE & SOUND: OR HOW I FOUND MY WAY TO THE ARTS
St. Martin's
2011

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SALVAGE THE BONES, by Jesmyn Ward

October 29, 2011

UNFORGETTABLE, VIVID, POETIC tale of a teenage girl’s hardscrabble Mississippi life as Hurricane Katrina hits.

Grade: A MINUS

SALVAGE THE BONES
Bloomsbury
2011

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LONG SHOT, by Sylvia Harris

May 5, 2011

PIONEERING AFRICAN-AMERICAN JOCKEY shares her inspiring story of facing mental illness, addiction, homelessness.

Grade: B PLUS

LONG SHOT: MY BIPOLAR LIFE AND THE HORSES WHO SAVED ME
HarperCollins
2011

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ROOT AND BRANCH by Rawn James Jr.

January 18, 2011

CIVIL RIGHTS PIONEER Charles Hamilton Houston, mentor to Thurgood Marshall, profiled in engaging book. B PLUS

ROOT AND BRANCH: CHARLES HAMILTON HOUSTON, THURGOOD MARSHALL, AND THE STRUGGLE TO END SEGREGATION
Bloomsbury USA
2010

Grade: B PLUS

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LIFE IS SHORT BUT WIDE by J. California Cooper

May 25, 2009

20th-CENTURY FABLE of a black family and community in Oklahoma, told in rich, lyrical language. Vivid characters. A MINUS

LIFE IS SHORT BUT WIDE by J. California Cooper
New York: Doubleday
March 2009

Grade: A MINUS

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