Good Morning! Here’s the Monday Morning Blog!
Did you get a chance to touch base with that teen or young adult in your life last week? Be sure to check in with them and see how they are doing. Take an interest in what they are doing. Ask them about a book they are reading or an app they are using on their phones. It may start a great conversation.
February’s Theme – Black History Month
There are many people and events that have shaped the history of our country. Black History Month is a time when we highlight the achievements of Black Americans in our country’s history.
This month, I am centering the theme on my blogs and mentor page on a few of these achievements. Check out my mentor page and see how I am focusing on that theme Selma P. Verde – Mentor Page
Book of the Month
Books written about the experiences Black Americans have faced in our country are sometimes very hard to read. Not the actual words, but the story itself. As we have been learning recently, they have been put through a lot more pain and suffering than some of us could ever imagine. I am learning more and more each day about it. The novel I chose for the Book of the Month was an emotionally hard read. It is called The Darkest Child.
Selma’s Book Review
Book Title
The Darkest Child
Author
Delores Phillips
Type of Book
Young Adult/Adult Fiction
Author Background
Delores Phillips graduated from Cleveland State University and worked as a nurse in a facility for abused women and children in Cleveland. The Darkest Child was her debut and only published novel.
Summary of the book
Tangy Mae Quinn is the sixth of ten fatherless siblings. She is the darkest black child and to her mother, the ugliest. This story is about her growing up in a household where her mother Rozelle makes her and her siblings live in fear in their own home. Not to mention they live Pakersfield, GA in 1958 during a time when they are treated as servants and less than equal to the whites who live there. Tangy Mae is a very smart girl who learns how to survive at home and thrive at school. She is also given the opportunity to integrate with the all white school in town, which creates it’s own story.
Reaction to the book
Even though this was a hard read emotionally, it was a good book. Another one of the many stories showing what a tough time Black Americans had trying to make their way in the south during the 1950s and 1960s. It is an engaging story and the fact that Tangy Mae wants to go to school and wants to learn, despite the challenges being placed in front of her, made me root for her to make it.
I would recommend this book to young adult reader. I would also add trigger warnings for the language, abuse and sexual content found in the book. In my opinion, it is definitely for mature audiences only.
Link to the author
If you want to learn more about the author, here is a link to Wikipedia Delores Phillips
Link to the book
If you want to purchase a copy of The Darkest Child,, here is a link to Amazon – The Darkest Child. Or you can pick it up from one of your local bookstores or shop Bookshop.org and have the purchase credited to them.
Subscribe to my Email List
If you would like to learn a little more about me and what I do behind the scenes as an author, blogger and mentor, subscribe to my email list through my website. Emails arrive in your email box weekly and I have a couple of fun announcements this month. I also include a little blurb about the weekly blog post with a link to check it out. Here is a link to the blog page of my website for a place to sign up. Join my List
Have a great week!
