Shange, Ntozake

For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf

Average customer rating:

It Ain't The Same If Your African American
I just about this today....
Wonderful
Amazing Stuff
A powerful hybrid of poetry and drama

For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf
Ntozake Shange
Manufacturer: Scribner
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Performing Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Art Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Fiction Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

All 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf (Broadway Theatre Archive)
Dutchman and The Slave: Two Plays
Woman on the Edge of Time
Colored Museum
The Cancer Journals: Special Edition

ASIN: 0684843269

Book Description

From its inception in California in 1974 to its highly acclaimed critical success at Joseph Papp's Public Theater and on Broadway, the Obie Award-winning for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf has excited, inspired, and transformed audiences all over the country. Passionate and fearless, Shange's words reveal what it is to be of color and female in the twentieth century. First published in 1975 when it was praised by The New Yorker for "encompassing...every feeling and experience a woman has ever had," for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf will be read and performed for generations to come. Here is the complete text, with stage directions, of a groundbreaking dramatic prose poem written in vivid and powerful language that resonates with unusual beauty in its fierce message to the world.

Customer Reviews:

It Ain't The Same If Your African American.......2006-12-12

This incredibly precious gem of a book was produced on Broadway back in the late 70's or early 80's but I was too young to see it at the time and probably would not have been able to relate to it anyway. In this prose poem, a "choreopoem" Shange depicts the hardships of African American Women in America. The different perspective of their lives is precisely and poignantly elucidated by the incredible and fascinating prose poetry of this book.

It is stunningly shocking that things that white Americans take totally for granted are just not part of the African American milieu in this country. Rape, pregnancy, domestic violence of the highest order, living in squalor and prostitution are all common place in so many of the African American communities of the 70's, 80's, 90's and now the 00's. Shange's representation of the perspective on rape is extraordinary. If an African American girl gets raped, she better not have ever been seen in public with the rapist, or there will be no conviction. Obviously it was invited. Not so with White Americans. But common place with African Americans.

A quick example of her wondrous lyricism are the following two lines that just give a glimpse of the different perspective that African American Women have toward American life:

"... we gotta dance to keep from cryin

we gotta dance to keep from dyin ..."

While the book is surely most meaningful to African American Women, it is recommended for all Americans so that the true reality of this dilemma and this shame can be absorbed and understood by all Americans. Perhaps if we all understood the conditions of the African American Women, something would be done about it. As of now, it is just not the same for people with black skin as it is for all other ethnic minorities in the United States of America.

I just about this today...........2003-02-11

I was Lady in Red in when my high school drama department lauched a production of this book. I had no idea how much it would change my life. So many times I have come back to this book and the women speak to me. It is real and it is riviting. Now that I am...mmore mature, I would love to do this play again. Anyone with a daughter or a neice should read this book. This is one that Showtime or HBO should consider for a movie.

Wonderful.......2001-12-12

This book is absolutely amazing. It speaks to all the aspects that a minority teen girl goes through. It should be a Christmas present for every teenage girl. I loved this book.

Amazing Stuff.......2001-11-27

When I was a little girl my mother was in a local acting group that traveled and put on this play. When I was about 13 years old I saw it in it entiretly for the first time. It was heartwrenching, funny, inspiring and contraversial. I loved every bit of it. Everyone especially women and men who love women should read it at least once, it provides an interesting perspective that you may be unfamiliar with. Being a black woman ain't always easy but it sure is beautiful, if you can find God in yourself.

A powerful hybrid of poetry and drama.......2001-09-19

"For colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf," by Ntozake Shange, debuted on Broadway in 1976. In her introduction to the book version, the author describes the work as "a choreopoem" made up of individual poems that form "a single statement." This work of literature is a powerful exploration of the lives of Black women.

"For colored girls..." does not have a conventional "plot" or characters. The parts of the choreopoem are performed by characters described as "lady in brown," "lady in white," etc. Together, these women talk about spirituality, violence, female sexuality, music, and the discovery of one's heritage. One particularly moving part of the choreopoem is a tribute to Haitian leader Toussaint L'Ouverture.

Book Description

What could make a smart woman ignore doctor's orders?

What could get a hardworking employee fired from her job?

What could get a black woman in hot water with her white boyfriend?

In a word...

When does a few ounces feel like a few tons? When a doctor advises a black woman to start an exercise program and she wonders how she can do it without breaking a sweat. When an employer fires her for wearing a cultural hairstyle that's "unprofessional," and she has to go to court to plead for her job. When she's with her man, and the moment she's supposed to let loose, she stops to secure her head scarf so he doesn't disturb the 'do.

<B>TENDERHEADED?</B>

Yes, definitely. All black women are, in one way or another.

The issue is not only about looking good, but about feeling adequate in a society where the beauty standards are unobtainable for most women. Tenderheaded boldly throws open the closet where black women's skeletons have been threatening to burst down the door. In poems, essays, cartoons, photos, and excerpts from novels and plays, women and men speak to the meaning hair has for them, and for society. In an intimate letter, A'Leila Perry Bundles pays tribute to her great-grandmother, hair-care pioneer Madam C.J. Walker, who launched a generation of African-American businesswomen. Corporate consultant Cherilyn "Liv" Wright interviews men and women on the hilarious ways they handle "the hair issue" between the sheets. Art historian Henry John Drewal explores how hairstyles, in Yoruba culture, indicate spiritual destiny, and activist Angela Davis questions how her message of revolution got reduced to a hairstyle.

Tenderheaded is as rich and diverse as the children of the African diaspora. With works by Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, bell hooks, Henry Louis Gates Jr., and other writers of passion, persuasion, and humor -- this is sure to be one of the most talked-about books of the year.

Download Description

When do those few ounces of hair come to feel like the weight of the world? When a doctor advises a black woman to start an exercise program, and she wonders how she can do it without breaking a sweat. When an employer fires her for wearing a hairstyle that's "unprofessional", and she has to go to court to plead for her job. When she's with her man, and the moment she's supposed to let loose, she stops to secure her head scarf so he doesn't disturb the 'do. Tenderheaded? Definitely. All black women are, in one way or another. The issue driving the alternately provocative, comic, pregnant, and empowering writings in this unprecedented work is not merely about looking good, but about feeling adequate in a society where the beauty standards are unobtainable for most women. Tenderheaded boldly throws open the closet where black women's skeletons have been threatening to burst down the door. In poems, essays, cartoons, photos, and excerpts from novels and plays, women and men speak to the meaning hair has for them, and for society. As diverse as the children of the Diaspora, Tenderheaded is sure to be one of the most talked-about books of the year, and features an array of writers of passion and persuasion, both famous and unsung.

Customer Reviews:

Multiple Viewpoints.......2006-08-15

This is a wonderful book for anyone who would like to explore the issues that Black women face vis a vis our hair from a variety of viewpoints; not just the "politicaly correct" ones.

For sombody wanting to look deeper into Black hair..........2006-07-09

The book was all that, very positive, and at times emotional (I'm thinking of the passage where a father is trying to figure out how to braid his daughter's hair since her mother is across the country. His trying, and eventually getting it right, turned into bonding sessions for them. It was beautiful.) Of course the book had my favorite culture critic, bell hooks, and as usual she gave me a new persepective: to look at the whole "perm" phenomena as initiation into womanhood. Just about any Black woman who was on the brink of adolescence and was dying to get a perm should relate to that. I did. That's what this book does, it helps Black women to see just how similar our trials have been with our hair; and it's not just a generational thing. Black women from 50 to 80 years ago had the same issues and thoughts Black teenagers have today. Everyone remembers hot combs and Goody pink rollers and Royal Crown grease. Looking back many women had feelings of remembered pain, and not just from the burns on the tips of their ears and on their scalps, but inside their hearts for our collective struggle with an unattainable beauty standard.
What I also admired about this book was that it touched on the subject of hair and erotic intimacy. There was a whole section devoted to hearing the responses of Black women and men when confronted with the bedroom question: Can I run my fingers through your hair? It showed a depraved relation to our hair. In order to get and keep that salon fresh look, sleek and shiny, it must not be touched (by you and most especially your lover). Hair does not bring pleasure in the sense of us luxuriating in how it feels. How can you when it's not even yours? Weave. A woman tells the story of a young man with whom she was getting intimate with, and he wanted to run his fingers through her seemingly long shiny tresses. The moment was interrupted when he felt the hard tracks on her scalp before she could effectively slap his touch away. "You have to train these men early," another woman admonishes, "not to touch the hair." A man married for over 20 years complains of his wife's hair roller pins always poking him when she's "going down on him." He also hates, but has gotten used to, her wearing a head scarf anytime they make love. It is described in the book as Black folks having perpetual menege trios, he, she, and the head scarf. Another man wakes up to his girlfriend's "100% Korean Hair" all over the bed and floor after an especially heated night; he later ends up paying $200 dollars to have it all put back in again. The women speak of not even wanting to touch their own hair, refering to it being "hard as a rock" from gels and hair sprays. It's all in the name of a certain look, the processed one. (It's this look that lured their mates in the first place right?) It's sad that Black women talk about orchestrating certain sex positions around not messing up their fresh 'do. "You don't even think about it after while." They compensate not allowing their men to touch their hair with confidence and boldness in their performance, "It's so good he won't even be thinking about touching my hair."

I love this book. It isn't just politics or just us behind closed doors. Every possible reference to what is done to our hair is mentioned, even going bald. A Muslim woman opened my eyes to how not showing her hair takes away from having to compete for attentions based on beauty standards of hair, by being above them. It reminds us that as women, we shouldn't let physical beauty define us, even though most times it does, and we let it. "Ms. Strand" tells her tale with humor, cultural criticism, African storytelling, and 'round tha way truthfulness, barring nothing from the conversation. Truly, Tenderheaded should not be passed over.

Disappointing.......2005-01-06

I expected to really enjoy this book, but was disappointed. Some of the stories/essays were very good, but some of them were poorly written and/or could have done with some serious editing. It might have been better if some of them had been omitted: the book would probably have been half as long, but the overall quality would have been significantly improved.

I was also disappointed by the way the book was laid out. It seemed jumbled and poorly conceived. Photos, illustrations and cartoons/comics were seemingly thrown in randomly, with little context or relation to the surrounding content. The graphic content of the book was good, but the layout just did not display it to full advantage.

The idea behind this book was a good one, but the execution could have been a little bit better.

worth reading.......2004-06-22

very good,worth reading,written by various people.....
enjoyable,gets you thinking,nice photographs too.
As you may or may not know African coyly hair is quite unique in vision, texture, behaviour and probably in chemical make up too. Coily haired women around the world, go to the most extremes in terms of spending.
(Spending time, spending pain and the spending price to have African coily hair styled)
A hairstyle that we believe looks good or will help us to become socially and economically advanced.
Or maybe for our own self-esteem and maybe to attract the charms of a love interest. Either way your hair is a reflection of the state of your consciousness, your internal beliefs and your relationship with the world.

This book is like having group therapy or interviewing other women,but it is not all black women's views.I am reviewng it because I think it is worth a read.

As you may or may not know African coily hair is quite unique in vision, texture, behaviour and probably in chemical make up too. Coily haired women around the world, go to the most extremes in terms of spending.
(Spending time, spending pain and the spending price to have African coily hair styled)
A hairstyle that we believe looks good or will help us to become socially and economically advanced.
Or maybe for our own self-esteem and maybe to attract the charms of a love interest.
Either way, psychologically and philosophically I believe that your hair is a reflection of the state of your consciousness, your internal beliefs and your relationship with the world.
What about exploring physics through african hair?
For example how much pressure, gravity and tension and tearing do we put our hair through by combing it?
let alone excessive harsh combing.
Mathematically speaking how many of you readers can tell me how many curls/coils per inch your hair has, and does it vary in coil and moisture?
Next question:When does the nature of the hair change and why?
(i know it does!)
It seems to me all these books on afro hair are good and I welcome it, but we still need to be more informed and they all seem to need better editing, just like Black American beauty magazines.I must campaign for better grammar and less air brushed photos!!!
It is as if we like to see ourselves falsely rather than the reality of what we are...
Black women need to demand more scientific reasoning from our books and be less competitive over black men which only fuels their egos and as a result probably creates more baby-mothers!!!
Sorry but I had to vent out my opinions.

I give this book four stars for the effort and time invested as a writer I know it takes time...
I maintain that it is still worth reading,more than any carcinogenic chemical so called hair treatment that you pay for.

Anyway what do I know I am a black african british woman!!!!
Most of you Americans think we in Britain have no trains or any kind of progressive development!!!
Anyway if I wrote my book answering my questions that I put to you how many of you would buy it?

All That You Want To Know.......2004-02-28

This is a very unique book. I have to say I LOVED IT! My being a young black woman, all the stories hit close to home. This book gave a non-bias look at black women's hair, and black culture all around the world including here in America. It gave many view points, from men women, blacks and even whites. I recommed this book to anyone who is confused about their hair and themselves. Nappy is defiantly Happy!!!! Peace.

Average customer rating:

I Will Purchase This Book
Black Is Beautiful
Has a great depiction of the male body as it should be seen.

Black Book
Robert Mapplethorpe
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Griffin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Collections, Catalogues & Exhibitions | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Photo Essays | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Portraits | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Art Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Fiction Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Nonfiction Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Robert Mapplethorpe And The Classical Tradition: Photographs and Mannerist Prints
Flowers
Mapplethorpe: A Biography
Mapplethorpe: Assault With a Deadly Camera
Robert Mapplethorpe: Ten by Ten

ASIN: 0312021666

Book Description

In Black Book, Robert Mapplethorpe presents an astonishing photographic study of black men today. In their diversity, impact, subtlety, technical virtuosity, erotic appeal, and deep humanity, these photographs constitute a stunning celebration of the contemporary black male."all my life they've been near me/these men" says Ntozake Shange in her Foreword, "i've been holdin your heart in/my hand since i was a child/cause i wanted what all you were/what all you are/now you're a man."

Customer Reviews:

I Will Purchase This Book.......2006-08-22

I will buy this book soon as a private tribute to a dear friend of mine, Jeff Gray, who is one of the models in the book. I remember him showing me the photos which Robert Mapplethorpe had taken of him. At the time, he doubted that they would ever be published. I did see the book later, but didn't purchase, but I was impressed.

When Jeff was lying in bed in a hospital in San Francisco, I called to inform him that the book had indeed been published. He was thrilled to know that he had been immortalized, for he was dying of AIDS. Jeff never saw the book and didn't have anything negative to say about Robert, whom I never met. I still own a pair of leather pants and a vest Jeffrey designed and made for me.

Black Is Beautiful.......2005-04-14

Published in 1986, Robert Mapplethorpe's BLACK BOOK remains one of my favorite books of photography. Nothing had been published like it previously; nothing comparable has been published since. The book is devoted entirely to shots of black men, some of them naked, some of them not. There are portraits included here as well-- one of my favorites is the stunning portrait of Roedel Middleton on page 70. Some of the images are outrageously beautiful. Many of the models' bodies take on the quality of polished ebony. The four nude photographs of someone named Ajitto in a classical pose-- as are many of the images-- at the beginning of the book are as beautiful as any you will ever see.

It is common knowledge of course now that some of these photographs have been declared obscene (by the likes of Jesse Helms et al.) and racist by some African Americans.(Some of the black men making these allegations, to paraphrase the black poet Don Lee, talk black but sleep white.) According to a less-than-scientific survey by this Caucasian male, there are about 94 photographs included here, only six of them are of body parts-- and I'm not talking here of feet and hands or even behinds here-- 27 are of male nudes with their genitalia exposed, and only in five of them is the model unnamed. Mapplethorpe may well have been a racist, but I fear his critics may have to look elsewhere for proof. An observation or two: his models appear to be willing subjects as no one is tied up or seems to be shot unawares. Secondly, the nature of the male animal of all colors being what it is, there's a good possibility that people having little to offer may have been unwilling to make the sacrifice of giving the viewer the full monty. The artist obviously loved black men and had many black friends as well as lovers. Finally the poet Ntozake Shange has written a beautiful poem as an introduction to this book. Apparently she had no problem with Mapplethorpe's creative vision.

Many of these photographs will last.

Has a great depiction of the male body as it should be seen........1999-06-03

Mapplethorpe, with his great photographic potenial produced a riviting book that dignifies the male, black body to the next zenith. He was able to capture the very essence of what it is to be a male and to be viewed as "God's" art or creation and not a male "pig." This book demonstrates the power of the camera when the beholder knows what he/she is doing. The images in this book do not apal me, afend me nor do they disgust me. I enjoyed reading and flipping through this book as a ligitimate art reviewer and as a academic scholar.

The Love Space Demands: A Continuing Saga

Average customer rating:

The Love Space Demands: A Continuing Saga
Ntozake Shange
Manufacturer: St Martins Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Fiction Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

A Daughter's Geography

ASIN: 0312058926

Average customer rating:

Fell in love
Artful synergyý.

I Live In Music
Eric Baker , and Linda Sunshine
Manufacturer: Welcome Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Art Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Fiction Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Life Doesn't Frighten Me
May I Feel Said He (Art & Poetry)
Shape Of My Heart (Art & Poetry Series)
Dance Me to the End of Love (Art & Poetry)
Over The Rainbow (Art & Poetry Series)

ASIN: 0941807096
Release Date: 1994-09-01

Book Description

Shange's lyrical poem is a tribute to the language of music and the magical, often mystical, rhythms that connect people. Music defines who we are as individuals, the places where we live, and how we exist within our communities. Music is life.

Written in a syncopated style that has its own melody, the poem is perfectly married to twenty-one extraordinary and diverse works from Romare Bearden who once said, "I paint in the tradition of the blues."

Here is a unique and visionary book that speaks, indeed sings, to both children and adults and is, at once, compelling, profond, and entertaining.

Customer Reviews:

Fell in love.......2003-09-23

Someone read this book to me when I was young. Ever since then I've been inspired to write. I love this book. The word use by Ntozake is refreshing. Her poetry is very original. She has accomplished a lot, because it's suitable for all age groups.

Artful synergyý........2001-03-17

Ntozake Shange's poem, "i live in music", along with Romare Bearden's collages are presented together in this appealing book. The text and the visuals are skillfully paired and they feed each other's expressions.

"i got 15 trumpets where other women got hips

& a upright bass for both sides of my heart"

Shange's words are in turn playful, soulful, artful. The music she describes is encompassing and tangible - a real thing to be felt and true part of our beings.

Bearden's collages and paintings are vivid, engaging images of African American life and culture. The images are expressive and rich illustrations of musicians and singers. "Show Time" and "Fancy Sticks" are nearly audible - one can see the rhythm and song.

Shange and Bearden's talents complement each other so well one would think this had been a concurrent, collaborative effort rather than subsequent assemblage.

Along with i live in music, I highly recommend all the books in this series by Stewart, Tabori & Chang's Art and Poetry series:

"Life Doesn't Frighten Me", poem by Maya Angelou, paintings by Jean-Michel Basquiat..... "may i feel said he", poem by e. e. cummings, paintings by Marc Chagall...... "Dance Me to the End of Love", poem by Leonard Cohen, paintings by Henri Matisse

Each one would be a wonderful gift for a teacher, art lover, musician, poet,.... or anyone seeking inspiration. Treat yourself to one - or all.

Book Description

In a reflective tribute to the African-American community of old, noted poet Ntozake Shange recalls her childhood home and the close-knit group of innovators that often gathered there. These men of vision, brought to life in the majestic paintings of artist Kadir Nelson, lived at a time when the color of their skin dictated where they could live, what schools they could attend, and even where they could sit on a bus or in a movie theater.

Yet in the face of this tremendous adversity, these dedicated souls and others like them not only demonstrated the importance of Black culture in America, but also helped issue in a movement that "changed the world." Their lives and their works inspire us to this day, and serve as a guide to how we approach the challenges of tomorrow.

Customer Reviews:

Transcendent.......2006-05-18

You know this is a memorable book right away.

On the flyleaf, young Ntozake Shange (born Paulette Williams in Trenton, New Jersey on October 18, 1948) sits on a grand piano, clutching precious black vinyl, while overhead hangs a detail of a picture from the harlem Renaissance.

You turn to the first page of text, and, against robin's egg blue, inside a darker blue background, Shange begins her story: "It hasn't always been this way. ellington was not a street." On the facing page of this oversized book is a picture so beautiful you could frame it, a street scene of umbrella'd people walking under a street sign signifying "ELLINGTON ST," with fog-locked but luminous buildings seen in quarter-profile.

She continues:

robeson no mere memory
dubois walked up my father's stairs...
...dizzy's hair was not always grey

Kadir Nelson's powerful, evocative images accompanying the prose poem. Big Paul Robeson, actor, singer, writer, activist, exile, towers over young Shange, in an entryway filled with color and art and taste. (Shange, indeed, came from an upper middle class background; her father a military surgeon and her mother an educator and psychiatric social worker.)

The elderly Dubois, cane in hand, walks with dignity in the handclasp of her welcoming father, approaching a stately grandfather's clock and young Shange, clutching her doll.

Percussionist Ray Baretto and trumpet player Diizy Gillespie greet her on the porch, autumn leaves echoing the autumnal colors of the brick and wood house, while Dizzy holds one finger to his lips and fills his cheeks, all to the curious delight of the little girl.

One by one they gather, these legends re-visited through magical grace of Shange and the mastery of Kadir Nelson. It's a time when animated conversation ("politics as necessary as collards/music even in our dreams") belies the current "DON'T WALK" sign now commanding the street. "Our house was filled with all kinda folks..." (this is no elitist reminiscence) "our doors open like our daddy's arms held us safe and loved" until finally all the guests assemble in a full family portrait: Robeson, Diz, Ellington, the doo-wop group "The Clovers," Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, former Presient and Prime Minister of Ghana, the doo-wop singer Earlington "Sonny Til" Tilghman, as well as the "Clovers" ("Love Potion No. 9"), and others, looking straight out at us, daring us, to paraphrase writer Stephen Leacock, to close fill the gap between what we aspire to and what we achieve.

*****
The book references the most famous visitors with capsule biographies on a penultimate two-page spread, and the last page, the color of indigo, repeats the entire text in poetry form. As for the "truth" of the book...

This book is art without announcing itself as art. Its feelings are true and understandable by anyone with an open heart, no matter what the background. Does it matter whether all these people came one by one, let alone gathered together one momentous day at her father's house? I feel like I've come to know Charles Mingus, Duke Ellington, James Joyce, Charles Mingus, Thelonious Monk. We say, after all that someone's work "speaks" to us, though we've never heard them. For the record... We know (from a 1986 interview with Brenda Lyons) that visitors to young Ntozake Shange's house included, among others, Dizzy Gillespie, Walter White (Executive Secretary of the NAACP from 1931-1955), Paul Robeson, Miles Davis, Chuck Berry, and W. E. B. Du Bois. For the record...An exhilarating book, a work of uncompromising beauty.

Ellington was Not a Street.......2005-10-01

Excellent illustrations, this would be a good review of early 20th century black history. It doesn't tell you anything new and is not the story on Ellington that I was looking for. Still well done, just very short.

Ellington Was not a Street should have won the Caldecott .......2005-01-20

I think Ellington Was Not a Street should have won the Caldecott because it had very realistc and large drawings. The drawings also helped tell the story because there were very few words on the page. I would reccomend this book for ages 9 to 19.

This Book Should Have Won The Caldecott!.......2005-01-20

Dear Reader, I thought Ellington Was Not a Street would win the Caldecott. I thought wrong. This book's illustrations can easly catch your attention.Illustrater Kadir Nelson makes the illustrations beautiful and colorful. Next time recommend this book!

Classic for our children's library.......2005-01-15

I have been a fan of Ntozake Shange since seeing the play "For colored girls..." as a teen. Her writing and passion has always been vibrant and found its way to the heart of you. This book is a beautiful reflection of what & who shaped her as a child. She knew some of the fore most revered African-American minds and talents when as a child as friends "play uncles." They influenced her and now she uses her history and past to mold and shape young readers. This book is a tribute to their memories as well as tool to teach the younger generation about the past. I am greatful to her for this book and all her other books. Every library should have this book for their children. We have read this to our daughters and will most assuredly read it to our son. I can't say anymore regarding Kadir Nelson except "Masterful." He has the portraiture down to a science. W.E.B. DuBois leaps off the page.

Sugar in the Raw: Voices of Young Black Girls in America

Average customer rating:

Feminine Pride Shines in "Sugar in the Raw"
Coming of Age Stories
Excellent book for african-american girls
Sugar in the Raw is a really great book.

Sugar in the Raw: Voices of Young Black Girls in America
Rebecca Carroll
Manufacturer: Three Rivers Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

African-American & Black | Ethnic & National | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Teenagers | Parenting | Parenting & Families | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Biographies | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Parenting Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

My Sisters' Voices: Teenage Girls of Color Speak Out
Things I Have to Tell You: Poems and Writing by Teenage Girls (Betsy Franco Yas)
You Hear Me?: Poems and Writing by Teenage Boys (Betsy Franco Yas)
Smart and Sassy: The Strengths of Inner-City Black Girls
Names We Call Home: Autobiography on Racial Identity

Accessories:

Health o Meter HDC100-01 "Grow with Me" Teddy Bear Scale for Babies and Toddlers
Braun IRT 4020 ThermoScan Ear Thermometer

ASIN: 0517884976
Release Date: 1997-01-14

Amazon.com

Conducting interviews for Sugar in the Raw, Rebecca Carroll traveled to 12 cities across the country, and talked to more than 50 girls. From that number, she selected 15 who tell their stories in their own words in this stereotype-breaking book. Nicole, a 17-year-old biracial girl living in Vermont, tells us she checks the boxes for every race category on census forms. "You can call me whatever you please," she says, "but I'll still be Nicole." Elsewhere, Laninka, also 17, from Birmingham, Alabama, tells of her love for ballet and African dance, while Sophie, 20, who lives in Freehold, New Jersey, tells of growing up in her adoptive white family and her search for her black identity. Throughout, the girls show their strength and their determination to make a way for themselves in a world that does not always appreciate them.

Book Description

With raw candor, elicited by Rebecca Carroll's perceptive questioning, 15 black women between the ages of 11 and 18, from places as diverse as Brooklyn and Seattle, Alabama and Vermont, speak out about their inner and outer lives. What they say about identity, self-esteem, the role of race in their perceptions and treatment, personal values, and their hopes for the future is both enlightening and moving. 144 pp. National pubilcity. 15,000 print.

Customer Reviews:

Feminine Pride Shines in "Sugar in the Raw".......2001-12-07

This small, paperback captures the emotional tales of young, African American girls from across the United States. Discussions of self-esteem, identity, racism, prejudice, and relationships permeate throughout Rebecca Carroll's book. Readers of all ages amd races come away with a profound understanding of what it means to be Black and female, but most importantly, the pride and strength that these young women carry within themselves in order to survive in America's society. Young girls of this culture will undoubtedly regard this book as a treasured resource since these humorous, personal and frank stories connect them to a sense of comaraderie, support and confidence. Carroll only reveals fifteen of fifty stories, which leaves you wanting and wondering about the rest.

Coming of Age Stories.......2000-10-31

SUGAR IN THE RAW is an inspiring collection of essays written by 15 African American young women who, as the backcover asserts, "refuse to be ignored."

These girls may share a racial ancestry but their stories are as unique as they are. This thin volume contains essays from young women of all walks of life: from a bisexual homegirl in Portland trying to keep it together to a biracial girl in lily white Vermont coming to terms with who she is, the reader of SUGAR will share in all the girl's excitement, fears and triumphs.

The only drawback is the the book is so short. The editor interviewed over 90 girls from around the country but only 15 are included here. SUGAR can be easily read in one sitting and will leave you wanting more. Hopefully, a SUGAR II is in the works.

All in all, this book would make a great gift for a young woman of any race.

Excellent book for african-american girls.......1999-07-13

Just a short note to say that I purchased this book for two young women (12 & 14). They received the books as christmas gifts. Yes, they would have preferred clothing or cash, but once they started reading they couldn't put it down.

This is the type of book that initiates conversations, questions and thoughts on some of life's harder issues.

Sugar in the Raw is a really great book........1998-06-12

Sugar in the Raw is such a great book. I am a 13 year old girl. Before reading this book I had the idea that all teen girls, no matter what skin color, are going through the same thing. Now that I have finished reading the book, I've learned that black girls are going through the same thing plus more. They have to deal with a lot of prejudice.They must try to prove everyones image of a black girl in America wrong. This image is all wrong and comes from Americas history. Slavery started something that hasn't competely gone away yet. This wrong idea is that white people somehow should rule over black people. That we are somehow better. I don't know how the color of your skin can determine who is better than who. The truth is everyone is unique. Everyone has at least one quality about them that is better than someone else.You can be whatever you want.The only person that determines what you are like is you.

Average customer rating:

Spoken word artists must peep this...
My favorite book in the entire world

nappy edges
Ntozake Shange
Manufacturer: Amazon Remainders Account
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Bargain Books | Stores | Books

For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf
Sassafrass, Cypress and Indigo: A Novel
Betsey Brown: A Novel
Three Pieces
Liliane.

ASIN: B000F4LMOO

Customer Reviews:

Spoken word artists must peep this..........2004-10-09

NAPPY EDGES by Ntozake Shange is a collection of poetry written during the
Seventies on a myriad of issues in the poet's trademark style. Shange creates
a rhythm that leaps from the page and lyrically dances around the room. The
words beg to be spoken aloud, and the emotions implore you to feel them.

Shange's message is often pro-woman as she deftly builds phrases that
sometimes seem unrelated to form a heavy lesson. Also included in this
collection is a speech that she gave to a conference in which she discussed the
poet's right to individual expression. She challenges readers to know their
poets and to know what their individual sound or flow is like.

It's hard for me to pick one favorite poem from this compilation. Each poem
speaks to a different place and a different time. Nonetheless, this is a
volume of poetry that needs to be on the shelves of all verse lovers and on
the lips of all those who strive to express themselves lyrically.

Reviewed by Diane Marbury
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

My favorite book in the entire world.......2000-01-19

Ntozake Shange is a genius, a goddess, but above all else, a poet. This book revolutionized the way I viewed poetry. As she says, "A poem shd fill you up with something/ make you swoon, change yr mind or make it up/a poem shd happen to you like cold water or a kiss." My favorite poems in here are "Advice," "Between a Dancer and a Poet," and "An Invitation to My Friends." She makes connections between music and poetry and I came away (never really away- the book is always in my soul) with new spirit and passion that was inside me all along, but then it resonated, "Yes, yes, yes."

For colored girls who have considered suicide, when the rainbow is enuf : a choreopoem

Average customer rating:

FIND A PIECE OF YOURSELF
A book that celebrates woman even when she is weak. Rich!
wonderful work displaying the joy, and pain of colored girl

For colored girls who have considered suicide, when the rainbow is enuf : a choreopoem
Ntozake Shange
Manufacturer: Bantam Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Similar Items:

Long Day's Journey into Night
American Buffalo
A Streetcar Named Desire
Glengarry Glen Ross

ASIN: 0553133071

Customer Reviews:

FIND A PIECE OF YOURSELF.......2005-01-20

This is her best book in my opion!! It has something for everyone. Full of colorful characters that everyone can relate to with a no holding back choice tongue. Travel through experiences from a woman sick and tired of hearing her man's apologies to another woman's dilemma of watching her vietnam tortured boyfriend drop their children out the window. I think the beauty of this choreopoem is that every woman finds her little gold at the end of her own rainbow. Enjoy.

A book that celebrates woman even when she is weak. Rich!.......1997-11-14

Shange's imagery is hypnotizing. She immediately creates a realm of intimacy between you, her word, and colored girls. Shange takes you through a personal journey of yourself through the girls.

wonderful work displaying the joy, and pain of colored girl.......1997-02-24

shange uses the arts of poetry, music and dance to create a spectacular rainbow of beauty,sorrow , joy and pain brought to the reader in a sometimes funny , sometimes serious manner in "laugh but don't laugh" imagery she creates. it's a celebration of life, struggle and woman

Average customer rating:

Simply, one of my favorite books in the world
Wasn't ready for it to be over...
Lyrical form
a read I long remember
My Favorite Christmas Book!

Sassafrass, Cypress and Indigo: A Novel
Ntozake Shange
Manufacturer: Picador
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Mothers & Children | Women's Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Sisters | Women's Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf
nappy edges
The Salt Eaters
Betsey Brown: A Novel
Corregidora

ASIN: 0312140916

Book Description

Sassafrass, Cypress and Indigo is the story of three "colored girls," three sisters and their mama from Charleston, South Carolina: Sassafrass, the oldest, a poet and a weaver like her mother, gone north to college, living with other artists in Los Angeles and trying to weave a life out of her work, her man, her memories and dreams; Cypress, the dancer,who leaves home to find new ways of moving and easing the contractions of her soul; Indigo, the youngest, still a child of Charleston-"too much of the south in her"-who lives in poetry, can talk to her dolls, and has a great gift of seeing the obvious magic of the world.

Customer Reviews:

Simply, one of my favorite books in the world.......2005-10-21

This is more than a book to me, Sassafras, Cypress and Indigo opened doors in thought and creativity in me that I wasn't aware existed. These three taught me things of my culture, (after all, I am a Geechee), men, family and love. This book is your Mama's cooking, Christmas morning, sprituality outside your door, and the man you've been looking for, all in one place. I have cried with this book, written poetry with this book, loved with this book. I know that I should probably go into the storyline, the characters, and all that, but the only thing I really want to say is, BUY THIS BOOK! Read it and be prepared to love it.

Wasn't ready for it to be over..........2004-10-21

This is my first time reading anything from Ntozake and I am very impressed with her writing. I like her literary style, content and excellent character development. I like the magical, mythical, poetic, familial, spirtitual and culinary elements delivered in this book. Highly recommended for avid readers of black authors...excellent for you library.

Lyrical form.......2003-03-13

One of the best books I have ever read. From the first page I was drawn into this world completely and never looked back. One of those rare books that I was devastated to have end, and moped around for months afterward with nothing to read because I knew nothing would be able to equal it. Miz Shange's lyrical prose is incomparable, beautiful and devastating in it's ability to make an intimate connection with the reader. I consider it a 'Must' read.
If you ever have a chance to see Ntozake Shange read in person, which I have, don't miss the opportunity. She is as rare and wonderful as her writing.

a read I long remember.......2001-09-26

this book left a lasting impression on me, and as I was just reminded of it, I wanted to excite other people's interest in a joyous read. after and while reading about the lovely 3 sisters, my daughter and I invented 3 puppets and called them by the sister's names. Perhaps I remember and recommend this book because it is one you can enjoy with an adolescent.

My Favorite Christmas Book!.......2000-12-03

A gift from Mama, one from their dead Father, and one from Santa, each found through a kind of scavenger hunt by clues left for each child under the Christmas tree, and each savored by the individual Child privately, free of "rivalries, jokes, and Christmas confusions."

What a marvellous, inventive Christmas tradition. If I had family, I would initiate this idea. The Christmas chapter is my favorite in this whole book. I also enjoy the recipes scattered throughout the book! I've tried a few and they're great!

I'm not going to analyze this book and try to guess at what the author was trying to do. Seems to me only the author could do that, anyway. All I can do is review this book based on what I got out of it. Besides a new Christmas ritual and some great recipes, what I got out of it was, a beautiful story about a mother and her three daughters, each with their own unique gifts: Sassafrass the weaver, Cypress the dancer, and Indigo the voodoo priestess/midwife. Their mother, Hilda Effania, wants the best for her girls, but she knows they each have to make their own way in the world; and when at the end of the story her three grown girls are reunited in the celebration of the newest member of the family, she lets them know that no matter what, they can always come home. I think this is a beautiful message, and I'm surprised this book hasn't become a movie by now. Not that being on video would improve the story, far be it; in fact, most movies based on books are so intent on sensationalism that it ends up being nothing like the book (think Waiting to Exhale). It's just that, if done right, it could become the type of touchy-feely message film that Touchstone films or even Hallmark should have jumped on long ago.

This is my favorite book, and I don't own/enjoy a lot of fiction. I've had this book about ten years now, my book has a better cover, and I enjoy pulling it down every Christmas just to read the Christmas day story again and again.

I'm seeing some references to this book as reading for grade schoolers. I think that may be a mistake. I wouldn't recommend this book for a young (prepubescent) child; the drug scenes and the passages involving sexuality are a little intense, I think, even though today's children are a lot more worldly about such things thanks to cable!

Authors:

Authors

Authors