Chicago Teens Use Nooks to Read Street Lit Books

Chicago Librarian Media Specialist, KC Boyd, has a book club of high school students who read Street Lit. As part of a grant project, KC has introduced the teens to reading their books on the Nook. The video below shows the students talking about their book club and reading experiences. Enjoy!

A Stacie Brisker Review: Swing Lowe, Sweet Chariote (2010)

SWING LOWE SWEET CHARIOTE  [Paperback]

Stella D Hall (Author)

Paperback: 238 pages

Publisher: Blacpanther publication (March 12, 2010)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0615352138

ISBN-13: 978-0615352138

Price: $13.95 USD

Swing Lowe Sweet Chariote is a chariot ride thru the city streets of Cleveland from the New Jack era of 1988 to the mid 1990’s. The readers of this book should find the character of Charoite Lowe to be a complicated mix of good girl gone bad. This “good girl gone bad” identity is a common theme in street lit, but somehow in the hands of a talented writer like Stella Hall, Charioted Lowe’s characterization is deeply textured and keeps the reader engaged to learn just what went wrong in this protagonist’s life.

Chariote is a straight laced, straight “A” student with a bright future ahead of her. Raised by her grandmother, Chariote is more than aware of the “game”. Her mother, Harriett, was a former prostitute and her late father was her mother’s pimp. Gram became a praying grandmother who tried to instill the value of a good education in Chariote and keep her on the right track. For Chariote, it was school, clothes, hanging out with her two girlfriends, Lilly and Shannon, and most of all, avoiding the neighborhood bad boy, Ace.

The drug game was weed and the money was good, but the game was about to change.  Maybe it was the death of her one of her girlfriends, her background, or the lure of the street, that changed Chariote. Whatever the cause, she’s ready for it. Like a fresh succulent peach swinging on the tree, Ace smells the nectar and he picks Chariote.  He pulls out what must have been festering inside of Chariote for a long time; the lust for power. Soon, Chariote is running the show, pulling the trigger and singing to her victims “Swing Low Sweet Chariot.” She handles her business her way and soon she garners more respect than Ace.

Not only is Hall’s novel a look at a young woman’s transformation, but it mirrors the decline of the inner city. “Swing Lowe” poignantly portrays the inner city’s transition from a weed based economy to a crack one during the New Jack era. -- Reviewed by Stacie Brisker, Librarian, Cleveland (OH) Public Library System, May 9, 2012.

Note: This novel is readily available for purchase via Amazon.com.

Presentation: Street Literature in the 21st Century

Greetings;

Today, May 10, 2012, I presented a presentation entitled, "Street Literature in the 21st Century" at the Maryland Library Association's Annual Conference held in Ocean City, MD.

I am providing the presentation here to share with you.

Street Literature in the 21st Century

View more presentations from Vanessa Irvin Morris.

For Your Consideration: Urban Style Comics

I came across this website that exhibits beautiful graphic novels featuring African American superheroes such as Dreadlocks, Queen Sheba, and Bloodstone, to name a few. The books are inked beautifully with amazing plot lines about magic, superpowers, ancestors, and science fiction. I can't imagine any comic or graphic novel enthusiast not attracted to this line of books. For educators, you can order the books right from the Urban Style Comics website, along with posters for display purposes. 

You can follow Urban Style Comics on Facebook and Twitter, too. Enjoy!

Note: Another noted African American graphic novelist to check out is Jaycen Wise at: http://jaycenwise.deviantart.com/.