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Philip Hall Likes Me, I Reckon Maybe
Philip Hall Likes Me, I Reckon Maybe is a children's novel written by Bette Greene that was awarded a Newbery Honor in 1975. The book was published in 1974 by Puffin Books. It is the first of three novels to feature protagonist Beth Lambert and her friend Philip Hall. The sequels are titled "Get On Out of Here, Philip ...
The book is set in rural Arkansas in the late 20th century. Eleven-year-old Beth Lambert is second-best at almost everything in school, from math to sports. She doesn't mind, though, because she's second only to Philip Hall. Over the course of the novel, she begins to grapple with the idea that perhaps she's letting Ph...
What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day
What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day is the 1997 debut novel by Pearl Cleage. It was published by Avon on December 1, 1997 and was selected for the Oprah Winfrey Book Club in 1998 and was a New York Times Best Seller for nine straight weeks."What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day" marks Pearl Cleage's first publi...
The novel is separated into five parts: June, July, August, September, and November.
In the epilogue, Ava reveals that Imani's casts were removed and she's doing well. Frank and Mattie finally get caught by the police after committing several drug-related robberies. Since the Anderson's left town, the church inducts a new pastor, Sister Judith, who is received well by the community. With Sister Judith ...
The majority of the plot takes place in Idlewild, Michigan during the 1990s. The novel features social issues that were consistent with the time period and the type of story; these issues include violence, drug abuse, sexual abuse, teenage pregnancy, and an increased lack of access to education.
Concerning Cleage's discussion of gender relations, Barbara Valle has highlighted the portrayal of "cosmic confusion" between men and women In the same vein, Loverlie and Erin King interpret the novel as a "healing romance" because of its insistence on the idea that the healing of the challenges faced by African-Americ...
Authors, Erin King and Lovalerie King, praised Cleage's work for depicting a story about HIV/AIDS in a humorous way.
Timothy Lyle commends Cleage's work for bringing awareness to HIV positive African-American women.
In a feature in "Voice from the Gaps" at University of Minnesota, Cleage's work is praised for depicting an alternative representation of motherhood and the struggles that come along with it.
The novel received some critical response by Bryan Aubrey on the basis of Ava's character transitioning from an outspoken, unpredictable character to one who makes predictable decisions based on political and spiritual correctness. Aubrey compares the representation of Ava's newfound happiness in life to the ideology o...
The novel has been critically compared to "Animal Dreams" (1990) for characterizing a male protagonist as having very little flaws. Aubrey Bryan argues that the portrayal of Eddie Jefferson as a near perfect individual lends the novel to be more instructional rather than realistic with multi-dimensional characters.
Timothy Lyle critiques the novel's reliance on responding to adverse life situations with the response of heteronormative practices, "gender compliance," and "able-bodied productivity." Lyle also argues that Cleage's work reinforces problematic interpretations of blackness which set rigid expectations for what blacknes...
The novel closely associates rehabilitation with the idea of "coming-home" to one's place of origin in order to find love, community, and purpose amidst a threatening life situation.
The novel emphasizes finding happiness in the face of adversity. With Joyce experiencing the loss of a husband, Ava receiving an HIV positive diagnosis, Eartha's tragic loss of both her parents, and Eddie's struggle with violence and PTSD, the novel works to depict characters finding purpose and happiness in the face o...
In order to find happiness in light of these situations, Cleage implies the importance of the use of "spiritual practices" in order to reform one's personal issues into acceptance and find peace in the practice of compassion for others.
Cleage's portrayal of Ava's HIV diagnosis as well as its inclusion of sex-education has received some criticism for its inaccurate depiction of the realities of the disease as well as the logistics of preventing its contraction in HIV-discordant relationships, which are relationships where one partner is HIV-positive a...
In an analysis of Cleage's work, Timothy Lyle proposes that Cleage takes part in cultural sanitizing, a practice in which an author problematically molds a taboo subject into a socially acceptable narrative. Lyle attributes the success of the novel to Cleage's depiction of a heterosexual African-American with HIV into ...
Ayana Weekley argues that respectability politics, the phenomenon of dominant figures in marginalized groups aligning their values with the dominant values of the majority, mold the discourse of race, gender, and sexuality in relation to the interrogation of the HIV/AIDs epidemic in Cleage's work.
Mama Day is the third novel by Gloria Naylor. The story focuses upon the tragic love affair of "star-crossed" lovers Ophelia "Cocoa" Day and George Andrews. The setting of the novel is split between New York City, where George was born and raised and Ophelia has recently moved, and Willow Springs, a fictional community...
Sapphira Wade – Mama Day's great-grandmother, who is known on the Island as the mystical "great, great, grand mother." The legend of her life is murky, but she is known to have been a slave woman who married Bascombe Wade, bore seven sons, and by some mysterious means gained the deed to the island of Willow Springs fro...
Miranda (Mama) Day – Mama Day is a witty old lady and the matriarch of Willow Springs. Mama Day is Cocoa's great-aunt and the sister of Abigail. She is a woman who believes in heritage, family, and a deep understanding of the power of nature. Mama Day is often meddling in Cocoa's life and truly wants to see her happy. ...
Abigail Day – Cocoa's grandmother and Mama Day's sister. She is respectful, even-tempered and the peace maker of the family. Abigail Day is a doting grandmother who spoils Cocoa.
Ophelia (Cocoa) Day – The last living Day of her generation. She is headstrong and stubborn. When the novel opens she has been living in New York City since leaving Willow Springs to go to school seven years earlier, but she goes back to visit for two weeks every August. It is in New York that she meets George Andrews.
George Andrews – Cocoa's husband. George is an orphan who grew up in a shelter and knows nothing about his family or ancestry. Hardened by life he takes everything one day at a time, and carefully calculates all of his decisions and actions. He doesn't rely on anyone but himself to do things for him. He works at an eng...
Dr. Buzzard – The charlatan of Willow Springs. He brews moonshine and creates other "remedies" for various problems and ailments which he sells to the people of Willow Springs. Dr. Buzzard thinks that he and Mama Day are rivals, but Mama Day does not believe that they hold similar powers, or even that his powers are re...
Ruby – Ruby is a family friend who is overweight, insecure, jealous and practices voodoo. She uses her powers to manipulate Junior Lee into marrying her.
Junior Lee – Married to Ruby. Likes to drink and party, a shiftless individual.
"Mama Day" is a novel whose subgenres include legend, folklore, mystery, and fantasy. It contains a multitude of narrative voices that include the following:
1st person narration – Cocoa's and George's first person narration, which is displayed as a conversation to one another about events that have occurred, is the other narrative voice. It switches between the two characters without any evidence other than a brief space between the two sections. It is read as if the reade...
Because of what Rita Mae Brown feels is a lack of "self-restraint" in Mama Day, keeping up with the plot of the novel and who is speaking, the reader is suggested to "press on doggedly….[So they can realize] that a plot is developing through these fragmented viewpoints."
Mama Day includes allusions to classical Shakespeare plays such as "King Lear" which is referred to many times by both Cocoa and George; "Hamlet", which houses a female character by the name of Ophelia; and "The Tempest", which includes a female character with the same name as Mama Day – Miranda. Like Miranda from the ...
Liliane: Resurrection of The Daughter is a novel by Ntozake Shange. It was originally published by St. Martin's Press in 1994. The novel tells the coming-of-age story of a young Black woman, Liliane Parnell, through the numerous voices of childhood friends, family, lovers, acquaintances, conversations between Liliane a...
The novel opens with a conversation between Liliane and her psychoanalyst. These conversations become regular interval points within and throughout the novel as the story unfolds. Liliane expresses concern about her current situation, professing that she cannot breath and that she is looking for somebody and it does no...
As the novel continues, Liliane's character is developed through the lens of those around her with whom she is close. The reader learns that Liliane grew up within a wealthy and prominent Black family that was part of the Talented tenth. Liliane's father pushes her to pursue a husband who will "'...have the backbone to...
The novel's form is seemingly unique as it is divided into chapters narrated by important persons in Liliane's life and conversations between Liliane and her psychoanalyst that occur in between each chapter. These chapters feature anecdotes about the narrating character's interactions with Liliane, usually providing il...
A central theme in the novel concerns the project of Racial Uplift within the African-American and Black community. Liliane's social standing within an upper middle class prominent Black family seemingly conforms to the model of racial uplift promoted by figures such as W. E. B. Du Bois, who advocated for the instructi...
The exploration of Female Sexuality is featured heavily in the novel. Despite her father's attempts to instill Liliane with a sense of obligation to the project of Racial Uplift, and his encouragement of Liliane to become the wife of someone who has the potential to be a powerful leader in the Black community, Liliane'...
Liliane is very much emotionally conflicted as a result of her family's past secrets, her desires for herself, and her father's desires for her. Like her mother, Liliane struggles with choosing between honoring herself and the project of Racial Uplift that her father is heavily invested in. Additionally, Liliane is hea...
Elijah of Buxton is a children's novel written by Christopher Paul Curtis and published in 2007. The book won critical praise and was a Newbery Honor book and the winner of the Coretta Scott King Award. It also was a children's book bestseller
"Elijah of Buxton" is about an eleven-year-old boy, Elijah Freeman, who lives in Buxton, Canada. It was started as the Elgin Settlement, a refugee camp for African-American slaves who escaped via the Underground Railroad to gain freedom in Canada. Elijah is the first free-born child in the settlement, and has never liv...
"Elijah of Buxton" has been well received. "School Library Journal" called it "an example of everything Curtis does well. His historical research is superior. His characters heartwarming. His prose funny and heart-wrenching in turns." and "A great book and well deserving of any buzz it happens to achieve." "Kirkus Revi...
"Publishers Weekly" wrote, "The arresting historical setting and physical comedy signal classic Curtis (Bud, Not Buddy), but while Elijah's boyish voice represents the Newbery Medalist at his finest, the story unspools at so leisurely a pace that kids might easily lose interest." and "The powerful ending is violent and...
It has won a number of awards including a 2008 Newbery Honor, the 2008 Coretta Scott King Award, the 2008 Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction, and the 2008 Canadian Library Association Book of the Year for Children Award
Oscar Micheaux's The Forged Note: A Romance Of The Darker Races is a 528-page novel published in 1915. It was republished in 2008 by Kessinger Publishing, LLC. The story pertains to a racially motivated lynching in Atlanta.
Blackout is a young adult novel written by Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, and Nicola Yoon. The book follows six interlinked stories about Black teen love during a power outage in New York City. The book is set to be released on June 22, 2021.
Dhonielle Clayton is credited with the initial idea for the book. The authors expressed their desire to write a book about Black love and joy rather than about police brutality. The book was announced via Twitter in November 2020. Clayton described the novel as "our love letter to love, to New York City, and to Black t...
The North American rights to the book were secured by HarperCollins after a twelve-way auction. The novel was also acquired by Egmont in the U.K. for six figures.
"Blackout" follows thirteen teenagers in six interlinked stories which celebrate Black love. After a summer heatwave causes a citywide power outage in New York City, Black teens explore love, friendships, and hidden truths over the course of a single day. Among the characters are exes who have to bury their rivalry to ...
Middle Passage (1990) is a historical novel by American writer Charles R. Johnson about the final voyage of an illegal American slave ship on the Middle Passage. Set in 1830, it presents a personal and historical perspective of the illegal slave trade in the United States, telling the story of Rutherford Calhoun, a fre...
Johnson, Charles R. Middle Passage. New York, NY: Scribner Paperback Fiction, 1998.
The Known World is a 2003 historical novel by Edward P. Jones. Set in Virginia during the antebellum era, it examines the issues regarding the ownership of black slaves by both white and black Americans.
The book was published to acclaim, which praised its story and Jones's prose. In particular, his ability to intertwine stories within stories received great praise from "The New York Times".
The narration of "The Known World" is from the perspective of an omniscient figure who does not voice judgment. This allows the reader to experience the story without bias.
The novel won a National Book Critics Circle Award and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2004. In 2005 it won the International Dublin Literary Award, one of the richest literary awards for a novel in the English language. It was a finalist for the 2003 National Book Award.
In 2009, website "The Millions" polled 48 critics, writers, and editors; the panel voted "The Known World" the second best novel since 2000.
The Women of Brewster Place (1982) is the debut novel of American author Gloria Naylor. It won the National Book Award in category First Novel.
It was adapted as the 1989 miniseries "The Women of Brewster Place" and the 1990 television show "Brewster Place" by Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Productions.
"The Women" explores the lives of both men and women in an urban setting and examines relationships, both in terms of friendship and romantic love, including homosexual relationships.
In each of the "Seven Stories" of its subtitle, one or more of the seven women are involved with the main character of that particular story, such as Mattie appearing in Etta Mae's story or Kiswana showing up in Cora Lee's.
The women of Brewster Place are "hard-edged, soft-centered, brutally demanding, and easily pleased". Their names are Mattie Michael, Etta Mae Johnson, Lucielia "Ciel" Turner, Melanie "Kiswana" Browne, Cora Lee, Lorraine, and Theresa. Each of their lives are explored in several short stories. These short stories also ch...
A new musical adaptation of "The Women of Brewster Place" was commissioned for the stage. The musical premiered at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, GA on September 12, 2007, the same theatre that also co-produced the show itself. It was directed by Molly Smith. "The Women of Brewster Place" toured several cities, openi...
Dark Princess, written by sociologist W. E. B. Du Bois in 1928, is one of his five historical novels. One of Du Bois's favorite works, the novel explores the beauty of people of color around the world. This was part of Du Bois' use of fiction to explore his times in a way not possible in non-fiction history. He express...
The book is divided into four large chapters: "The Exile," "The Pullman Porter," "The Chicago Politician," and "The Maharaja of Bwodphur". The sections deal with different stages in the protagonist's life, moving from his self-imposed exile in Germany late in life, to his early employment as a porter on the railroads, ...
The plot follows a character named Matthew Townes, a college student in his junior year at the University of Manhattan studying to be an obstetrician. Early in the novel, Townes is told that not only is he barred from pursuing his career aspirations, he is not allowed to finish his academic studies. His status as an Af...
Townes is devastated and goes to Germany in a kind of exile. There he meets Princess Kautilya of Bwodpur, India, daughter of a maharajah. She reassures Towns of the importance of the history of people of color in the world, and of their presence and impact of their beauty worldwide. The Princess takes him from his drea...
The relationship between Townes and the princess develops; she bears his child, who by birthright is the Maharajah of Bwodpur. Townes had not thought it possible that an African American man might have such a connection to royalty.
Du Bois explores internationalism and international racial solidarity, as well as corruption and violent radicalism within African-American culture.
"Dark Princess"’s subtitle, "A Romance", points to the narrative’s double valence. As Michèle Mendelssohn argues, "it is the story of a love affair, as well as the story of an ideological romance that challenges one of the United States’ most cherished ideas about itself, the notion that it is a land of progress and po...
Some critics believe that the book was inspired by the 1911 First Universal Races Congress in London, which Du Bois had attended. In developing the character of Kautilya, Du Bois has been discussed as possibly drawing inspiration from a few historical figures. Scholars have speculated that these may include an unnamed ...
Late in life, Du Bois described this as his favorite work.
One Crazy Summer is a historical fiction novel by American author Rita Williams-Garcia, published by Amistad in 2010. The novel is about Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern, three sisters, visiting their mother in Oakland, California, during the summer of 1968.
In the year of its inception, the book was a National Book Award finalist for young people's literature. In 2011 it won the Coretta Scott King Award for its author, the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction, and was a Newbery Medal Honor Book.
During the day, the three sisters go to The People's Center run by the Black Panther Party for breakfast and day camp, where they meet Sister Mukumbu. Here the three sisters get taught about the movement, which she explains what the movement does like feeding the poor, helping poor African Americans, and protecting Afr...
After a day trip to San Francisco, the sisters return home to find their mother Cecile and two members of the Black Panther Party being arrested. Cecile tells the police she has no children, for she doesn't want the girls to be involved, so the girls pretend to live next door. Soon a friend from the Center, Hirohito, c...
The time of the rally arrives. During the talent show portion, the girls perform a poem their mother wrote, which they found while cleaning the kitchen after her arrest. After their recital, Fern takes the microphone and tells the Black Panthers how she saw one of their most vocal members, (Crazy) Kelvin, interacting a...
At the rally, the sisters see their mother has been released from jail, and return home with her. Though Delphine and Cecile's relationship remains strained, Cecile tells Delphine how she lost her mother at the age of eleven and had a rough life thereafter. She tries to explain why she left her children, but Delphine i...
There is a multitude of themes to be found in this book. 1968 is a radical time for black history, and the portrayal of the Black Panther ideals helps to prompt discussions of Civil Rights, injustice, black pride, and racial prejudice.
The power of names is another strong idea in the book. Cecile changes her name to Nzila, a Yoruba name meaning "the path." It is also suggested that Cecile left her children because she could not name Fern "Afua." Delphine ponders why her mother would want to change her name since names are how we identify ourselves.
The theme of women's liberation and advancement in society is also presented in this book. After one of the younger sisters gets a stomach ache, Delphine goes to the store with their Chinese food allowance and cooks real food in the previously forbidden kitchen. This causes an exchange between Delphine and Cecile in wh...
Other themes include family, forgiveness, and growth.
"One Crazy Summer" is the first book in the Gaither Sisters Series. The second book, "P.S. Be Eleven" was published in 2013, and features the girls returning to their home in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. The third book, "Gone Crazy in Alabama" was published in 2015 and features the sisters visiting their relatives in ...
This book is recommended for ages 9–12. It has a Lexile of 750L.
According to the critics, "One Crazy Summer" is a powerful and humorous story that is highly recommended. Teri Markson, writing for "School Library Journal",states that it is "emotionally challenging and beautifully written" for children about ethnic identity and personal responsibility. Tricia Melgaard from "School Li...
Shifting between multiple perspectives, The Street uses extensive flashbacks to reveal its plot. Lutie Johnson has an eight-year-old son, Bub, to support. Separated but not legally divorced from Bub's father, Jim, Lutie feels that Jim's inability to find employment, her decision to work as a domestic for a wealthy whit...
Lutie moves into a small apartment on 116th Street in Harlem. Taking an immediate dislike to the super, Jones, she decides to take the apartment, agreeing to pay about thirty dollars a month in rent.
Jones becomes sexually obsessed with Lutie; recalling his youth in the Navy, Jones remembers his feelings of loneliness and sexual frustration while aboard ship, a condition that worsened as he began working and living in basement apartments and boiler rooms. Jones resents his live-in girlfriend, Min, due to her lack o...
Min, meanwhile, increasingly fearful of Jones, seeks out a practitioner of hoodoo. After getting a referral from Mrs. Hedges, Min finds David The Prophet. Surprised and comforted by how closely David listens to her, Min pays for a cross, some powder, some drops for Jones' morning coffee, and some candles to burn at nig...
One night, Lutie has drinks at Junto's. After entertaining the crowd with a song, Lutie makes the acquaintance of Boots Smith, a bandleader and an employee of Junto's. Insincerely promising to help her establish a singing career, Boots convinces Lutie to take a ride with him. Lutie, who has already decided not to sleep...
Sometime after Lutie begins singing, Jones attacks her in the hallway, attempting to drag her into the basement. Lutie screams for help and Mrs. Hedges comes to her rescue. After inviting her inside for tea, Mrs. Hedges tells her of Junto's interest in her. Junto also tells Boots the same thing, making him promise not ...
After Mrs. Hedges tells him yet again that he can't have Lutie, Jones angrily decides to get even with her. He convinces Bub to steal mail, paying Bub a few dollars. Bub, who initially refused Jones' offer, is eager to work; after hearing Lutie (who has just realized that she won't be paid for her singing) loudly cursi...
Bub is caught stealing the mail and sent to the Children's Shelter until he can be seen in Children's Court. Desperate to get Bub out of custody, Lutie consults a lawyer. Not knowing that she doesn't need a lawyer for the upcoming hearing, she agrees to pay two hundred dollars for the man's services.
Despairing of coming up with the money on her own, Lutie decides to ask Boots for help. Boots promises to get the money for her the next night. The next day, Lutie visits Bub at the Children's Shelter but is unable to ask him about the letters. That night, Mrs. Hedges once again reminds her that Junto is interested in ...
After a half-hearted attempt to convince Lutie to become Junto's mistress, Boots makes a sexual advance on her, kissing her and grabbing her breast. He slaps her twice when she pulls away. Lutie grabs a heavy candlestick and beats Boots to death with it. Lutie steals Boots' wallet, deciding to use the money inside to p...
Parable of the Talents is a science fiction novel by American writer Octavia E. Butler, published in 1998. It is the second in a series of two, a sequel to "Parable of the Sower".
It won the Nebula Award for Best Novel.
"Parable of the Talents" is told from the points of view of Lauren Oya Olamina and her daughter Larkin Olamina/Asha Vere. The novel consists of journal entries by Lauren and passages by Asha Vere. Five years after the events of the previous novel "Parable of the Sower", Lauren has founded a new religious community call...
The novel is set against the backdrop of a dystopian United States that has come under the grip of a Christian fundamentalist denomination called "Christian America" led by President Andrew Steele Jarret. Seeking to restore American power and prestige, and using the slogan "Make America Great Again", Jarret embarks on ...

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