September 26, 2021

Series Sunday: 100 Real-Life Tales of Black Girl Magic

(Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls) 


Series Sunday is a bookish meme hosted by Literary Marie. I encourage all of my fellow book bloggers and bookhearts to play along.
  • Read an installment of a series.
  • Share your review/recommendation below.
  • Include the title, author and series name.

My Series Sunday pick is 100 Real-Life Tales of Black Girl Magic, a book in the Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls series edited by Lilly Workneh. One hundred (100) barrier-breaking Black women and girls are showcased in the spirit of Black Girl Magic. It begins with a foreword by CaShawn Thompson, originator of the hashtag #BlackGirlMagic. Over 60 Black authors, illustrators, and editors collaborate on incredible stories from the past and present.

This series launched in 2016 and I am just having the pleasure of reading an installment. It is very inspiring and powerful to read about Black entrepreneurs, poets, activists, artists, filmmakers, politicians, sports figures and more. This book introduced me to quite a few that really are Black Girl Magic—a phrase to uplift and praise the accomplishments of Black women. 

Highly recommend for good night stories to yourself or to the little magical girl in your life.

Happy Early Pub Day! 100 Real-Life Tales of Black Girl Magic will be available Tuesday, September 28.

Disclaimer: An advance copy was received directly from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions are my own and would be the same if I spent my hard-earned coins.

Editor: Lilly Workneh
Published: September 2021
Pages: 240
Edition: Galley
Rating: πŸ–€ πŸ–€ πŸ–€ πŸ–€ πŸ–€

September 24, 2021

First Lines Friday


First Lines Friday is a bookish meme hosted by Literary Marie. I encourage all of my fellow book bloggers and bookhearts to play along.
  • Grab your current read(s).
  • Share the first line(s).
  • Include the title and author.


"We are the earth, the land. The tongue that speaks and trips on the names of the dead as it dares to tell these stories of a woman's line. Her people and her dirt, her trees, her water."

~ The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois by HonorΓ©e Fanonne Jeffers

September 19, 2021

Series Sunday: Kamala Harris

(Little People, Big Dreams) 


Series Sunday is a bookish meme hosted by Literary Marie. I encourage all of my fellow book bloggers and bookhearts to play along.
  • Read an installment of a series.
  • Share your review/recommendation below.
  • Include the title, author and series name.

My Series Sunday pick is Kamala Harris, a new book in the Little People, Big Dreams series. The bestselling series explore the lives of outstanding people; all of them achieved incredible things that started as big dreams. As children, we always choose what we wanna be when we grow up. The vast majority rarely become what they planned. But there are others that live out their dreams. Kamala Harris is one!

"First of color to..." ~ 50%

First woman, first Black, first South Asian American to be elected Vice President of the United States. Little Kamala accompanied her parents to civil rights marches. They would walk and push her in the stroller. As a little girl she dreamed of being a lawyer to help people. Later, she earned a law degree to make sure the most vulnerable people were protected by justice. Her dreams became true when she became a politician.

Kamala Harris is intended for beginning readers. You may also read it to babies and toddlers. Inspiring stories should start before they can even walk. The illustrations are stylish. The sentences are simple. The extra facts are educational and the historical photos add to context. 

This wonderful children's book inspires younger generations to dream big! Goals are attainable! Most of all, little people can change the world! I recommend gifting Kamala Harris to the young girl or boy in your life. If you are not surrounded by little people, purchase a copy and donate to your local library.

Happy Early Pub Day, Vegara and Semmer! Kamala Harris is now available.

Disclaimer: An advance copy was received directly from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions are my own and would be the same if I spent my hard-earned coins.

Author: Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara
Illustrator: Lauren Semmer
Published: September 2021
Pages: 32
Edition: Galley
Rating: πŸ–€ πŸ–€ πŸ–€

September 7, 2021

Three Girls from Bronzeville


"Sometimes you have to step back to see what up close tends to distort." ~ 14% 

Three Girls from Bronzeville: A Uniquely American Memoir of Race, Fate, and Sisterhood lives up to its title. Dawn, Debra and Kim live in Chicago's historic Bronzeville community. Their lives are shaped in the three square miles that are the epicenter of Black business and culture. Doctors, lawyers, street vendors, Black entrepreneurs and impressionable children make up its residents. In this coming-of-age memoir, forces bring three black girls closer while other events cause their friendship to falter at times. Dawn chronicles the dramatic turns their lives take over the decades. 

"When it's time to move on, you simply do." ~ 55% 

Parts of this memoir brought back memories. Dawn Turner's writing is so descriptive that when she mentioned "bags of sawdust for absorbing vomit," my mind immediately went to the distinct smell and circumstance because I was that kid that vomited with every migraine in school. I couldn't always make it to the waste bin or restroom fast enough. Hence, the sawdust.

Another memory sparked when Dawn would describe the close-knit community of Bronzeville. I have a close friend that lives there now and it all sounded familiar through her words. She crafted a story for fellow city girls to relate and reminisce of their own best friends and sisters growing up. 

Yet Three Girls from Bronzeville lacked the riveting factor that the summary promises. There were more slow parts than interesting. But ultimately the miss for me was the distant narrative. For the author to be one of the main girls, it felt very outside-looking-in-ish. Perhaps the author had to distance herself from the memories in order to write about them but it unfortunately came across as an observer's judgment rather than recalling own experiences. Nevertheless, whether you are a black city girl or like to read memoirs, then try reading it.

Happy Pub Day, Dawn Turner! Three Girls from Bronzeville is now available.

Disclaimer: An advance copy was received directly from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions are my own and would be the same if I spent my hard-earned coins.

Title: Three Girls from Bronzeville
Author: Dawn Turner
Published: September 2021
Pages: 336
Edition: Galley
Rating: πŸ–€ πŸ–€