Review-My Name is Marcus by Geoffrey Philp

In My Name is Marcus, Philp, a longtime Garvey scholar has written a factual account of Garvey’s life that is powerful as it is unsentimental. Boldly illustrated by a talented creative team (Shaquille Cross, Marcel Hemmings, Richard Kentish, Djet Layne, Mikel Miller, Davia Morris, and Michael Robinson), My Name is Marcus is a first-person narrative …

YA Review-Frying Plantain by Zalika Reid-Benta

I have to thank Ann Marie Harvey, Librarian at the Enoch Pratt Free Library, for bringing this book to the top of my reading list on which it has been languishing since it was first published last year. Ann Marie invited me to a virtual book club meeting which I would not have been able to attend …

Review-Stir It Up!

Thirteen-year-old Anjali is first-generation American. Her parents are from Trinidad and they live in the Indo-Caribbean neighborhood of Richmond Hill where her father owns a roti shop. Anjali’s grandmother also works and Anjali helps after school. Anjali has a strong passion for cooking and a dream to take part in a national kids’ cooking show. 

Review – With Grace

Written in Hillhouse’s strong poetic voice, With Grace spins a magic-laden story of the universal battle between good and evil. But it is far from ordinary. An involved tale, With Grace takes the reader on a series of twists and turns as Hillhouse explores the limits of human capacity for tolerance and meanness. Hillhouse skilfully evokes her …

YA Review – Down to Dirt (Dirt and Stars Book 1)

Recommended read. Mara was born and raised on Tombaugh, a space station inhabited only by the brightest and best humans and where these humans live uncontaminated by earth’s gravity, sun, and polluted atmosphere. So she’s very unhappy when her parents force her to spend time with her aunt, uncle, and cousin on Earth, or ‘Dirt,’ …

Barberry Hill – Review

No, I’m not reviewing my own book. I just received the Kirkus review of Barberry Hill and was quite pleased with the reviewer’s thoughtful comments. I glowed on reading “She skillfully captures Jaden’s grief, anxiety, feelings of abandonment, fear, and other stormy emotions, as well as the rhythms of friendship and dialogue among teenage boys…. …