The Word on Street Lit No. 8
Vanessa J. Irvin Morris, Drexel Univ., Philadelphia -- Library Journal, 11/13/2008 10:34:00 AM
Themes of second chances and second looks dominate the books in this month’s column, starting with Sister Souljah’s Midnight, which depicts her protagonist of the same name working hard to understand his adopted culture in the United States in a deeply textured tale. Rollie Welch took a first look at Midnight in The Word on Street Lit No. 7. Now I offer up a female perspective, and in the Dec. 4 edition of BookSmack! I'll share my interview with Souljah
Also in this column, Kiki Swinson’s popular "Wifey" series titles are being reissued in trade paperback, and Meesha Mink and De’Nesha Diamond drop another title in their "Hoodwives" series.
Joy King’s Superstar reveals how second chances are created in black Hollywood, while Dream Jordan’s debut, Hot Girl, is a testament to bad girls gone good. These titles tell heartfelt stories about how the trials of living life in the hood (and beyond) can spur women and men alike to embrace the magic of the second chance.
Pick of the Month
Souljah, Sister. Midnight: A Gangster Love Story. Atria: S. & S. 2008. 512p. photogs. ISBN 978-1-4165-4518-7. $26.95. F
Verdict: Just as Sister Souljah set the bar for quality urban fiction almost a decade ago with her groundbreaking classic, The Coldest Winter Ever, her new installment to the Winter Santiaga story raises the bar for the genre again. Tenderly yet honestly written and illustrated with striking photographs depicting the main characters, this multimodal book deserves to be studied for its cultural importance in high school English classes throughout America and promises to be edifying readers for years to come. Essential; buy multiple copies to be shelved as YA and/or adult fiction. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 6/15/08.]
Background: In this prequel to TCWE, readers get the full backstory of Midnight, the elusive yet intensely loyal right-hand man to Ricky Santiaga, Winter’s drug kingpin father. With connections to upper-class Africa and inner-city America, Midnight knows what it means to be an outsider. Growing up in Sudan, Midnight is raised as a skilled warrior by his father, a high-ranking political figure. When war breaks out, Midnight’s family flees to America, but his father stays behind. Now the man of the family at the tender age of 13 and living a private, Sudanese lifestyle in the projects of Brooklyn, Midnight works to get out of the hood, educates himself, trains in martial arts, and fearlessly guards his pregnant mother and young sister. He eventually falls in love with a beautiful artist, whose culture is interwoven with his own. Midnight’s adolescent years are an authentic testament to the rigors of reconciling an immigrant identity with an American experience.
King, Joy. Superstar. A King Production. 2008. 200p. ISBN 978-0-9755-8114-8. pap. $15. FVerdict: In this tie-in novel, King (who also writes the "Bitch" series, as Deja King) brings the characters from Dirty Little Secrets and Hooker to Housewife together in a complicated love quadrangle that will leave her legion of fans satiated. The action is a bit slow, but this will be in demand; along with the companion titles, it should have a place in your urban fiction collection.
Background: Hollywood celebrity drama becomes reminiscent of hood drama when Andre leaves Chantal Morgan at the altar in favor of her archenemy, superstar actress Tyler Blake. Chantal snaps and tries to run them over with her car. She continues to create drama only to have it all backfire on her, while T-Roc, a leading man trying to advance his career, employs shady tricks to try to win over the love of his life, Tyler. Both Andre and T-Roc are in love with Tyler, and she’s exhausted by all the theatrics. But it is Chantal who finally calls a truce to the craziness by offering a deal to T-Roc that he cannot refuse. And it’s a romp getting there!
Mink, Meesha & De’Nesha Diamond. The Hood Life: A Bentley Manor Tale. Touchstone: S. & S. Jan. 2009. 352p. ISBN 978-1-4165-7709-6. pap. $14. FVerdict: After Desperate Hoodwives and Shameless Hoodwives, Mink and Diamond introduce us to the male side of ghetto life in Atlanta’s Bentley Manor Projects in this third series installment. They present the protagonists as four characterizations—the pimp, the playa, the drug dealer, and the killer—but add depth by exploring motives. We learn that no one is born a pimp, a playa, a drug dealer, or a killer. Here’s hoping for more of Bentley Manor. Highly recommended.
Background: Miz Cleo and Miz Osceola are back on the stoop, watching, waiting, and praying for the residents of Bentley Manor to move beyond the hood. Kaseem is a drug dealer with a conscience, and when his wifey is about to be killed, he realizes that their lives are bigger than the game. Rhakmon plays his game so smoothly that he gets a woman to take a murder rap for him, but justice has a way of catching up with even the best of playas. Tavon’s life as a pimp spirals out of control when his teenage daughter moves in, and Demarcus, the killer, is consumed with anger and violence and cannot stop inflicting pain.
Coming in Mass Market Paperback
Swinson, Kiki. I’m Still Wifey. Jan. 2009. ISBN 978-0-7582-2902-1.Swinson, Kiki. Life After Wifey. Mar. 2009. ISBN 978-0-758229-03-8.
ea. vol: Dafina: Kensington. 320p. pap. $6.99. F
Verdict: Dafina is reissuing the second and third books of Swinson’s best-selling "Wifey" trilogy. Readers will enjoy reacquainting themselves with Kira’s adventurous life after the incarceration of her husband, Ricky. Multiple copies of both titles in addition to the original Wifey are strongly suggested.
Background: In I’m Still Wifey, Kira’s life becomes even more complicated, with a new love in her life and a baby on the way—and it’s not her husband’s baby! Ricky is in jail, but word on the street travels fast. How will Kira keep the pregnancy a secret from Ricky? Lives are lost as Kira keeps playing the game of survival of the fittest. In Part 3 of the trilogy, Life After Wifey, Kira’s cousin Nikki uses Kira’s example to motivate her to move on with her own life as a wifey of the drug dealer Syncere. Realizing that Syncere is involved with a ruthless higher-level cartel of thugs, Nikki tries to get out of Dodge and save her own life. However, others die while the cartel is tracking Nikki down, and she’s scared straight when the crossfire hits too close to home. Confronted with another shock that actually saves her life, Nikki finally makes it out of town, but she becomes attracted to the new game in her new location.
YA Pick
Jordan, Dream. Hot Girl. Griffin: St. Martin’s. Nov. 2008. 224p. ISBN 978-0-3123-8284-1. pap. $9.95 FVerdict: Teen readers will relate to the smart, strong-willed protagonist, Kate. A foster child since she was a baby, Kate comes of age when she lands in a stable foster home (after 12 tries). Jordan’s thoughtfully rendered characterizations and explanations for Kate’s behavior are refreshingly authentic. This novel has the makings of a YA classic, and every YA collection should have a copy. Readers will hope for a sequel.
Background: Fourteen-year-old Kate, who’s living in Brooklyn, has a huge crush on her childhood friend, Charles. When her best friend goes to South Africa for the summer, Kate is left in the hood to fend for herself. She hangs out in the library, takes pictures with her foster father’s digital camera, and works on her "life book." When Kate befriends a "hot girl," a wifey in the making named Naleejah, Kate’s old demons begin to resurface. As Kate tries to deal with her feelings for Charles, Naleejah betrays her in the worst way. At summer’s end, Kate reclaims her esteem and forgets her need to be a "hot girl."
