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Cultural Calendar Book Recommendations |
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Blues mamas & Broadway belters
by Masi Asare
Blues Mamas and Broadway Belters examines racialized embodied singing techniques and their transmission, dwelling with the ways that black women singers theorized the voice in US musical theater performances from 1900 to 1970. Approaching voice from a performance studies perspective, Masi Asare sketches biographies of singers such as Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, Ethel Waters, Lena Horne, Eartha Kitt, and others, focusing on the different types of training each performer received. Asare draws on her own experience as a composer, lyricist, playwright, and voice teacher to engage readers in a comprehensive singing lesson and practice of listening, offering analysis of vocal performances, critical theorization of voice pedagogy, and a series of creative voice exercises. As a black feminist voice study, Blues Mamas and Broadway Belters serves as a project to write black women and racially marginalized groups into the history of Broadway and musical theater.
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Picturing Black History
by Daniela Edmeier
A groundbreaking collection of photographs and essays that shed new light on the history of Black America, from the Picturing Black History project. In collecting these new photographic essays, this book furthers an ongoing dialogue on the significance of Black history and Black life, sharing new perspectives on the current status of prejudice and discrimination bias with a wider audience. Picturing Black History embraces the power of academic learning and scholarship to re-contextualize and dispel prejudices, while uncovering, digitizing, and preserving new archival materials to amplify a more inclusive visual landscape.
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How sweet the sound
by Kwame Alexander
A celebration of the history of Black music in America features artists including Miles Davis, Kendrick Lamar, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Beyoncé and more in a book that includes back matter providing more context and history. Illustrations.
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The girl who fell
by S. M. Parker
When Zephyr falls in love with a new boy in school, Alec, their passionate romance takes a dangerous and possessive turn when he begins manipulating Zephyr, causing her to lose control over her life.
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Grown
by Tiffany D. Jackson
When legendary R&B artist Korey Fields spots Enchanted Jones at an audition, her dreams of being a famous singer take flight. Until Enchanted wakes up with blood on her hands and zero memory of the previous night. Who killed Korey Fields? Before there was a dead body, Enchanted's dreams had turned into a nightmare. Because behind Korey's charm and star power was a controlling dark side. Now he's dead, the police are at the door, and all signs point to Enchanted.
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Bahâa'u'llâah and the new era by J. E. EsslemontA comprehensive introduction to the teachings of Baha'u'llah outlines the religion's early history, theology and spiritual practices while incorporating excerpts from Bahá'í scripture.
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February 28 - March 29 Ramadan |
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Between two moons
by Aisha Abdel Gawad
A deeply moving family story about identity, faith, and belonging set in the Muslim immigrant enclave of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn following three siblings coming of age over the course of one Ramadan. It's the holy month of Ramadan, and twin sisters Amira and Lina are about to graduate high school in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. On the precipice of adulthood, they plan to embark on a summer of teenage revelry, trying on new identities and testing the limits of what they can get away with while still under their parents' roof. But the twins' expectations of a summer of freedom collide with their older brother's return from prison, whose mysterious behavior threatens to undo the delicate family balance. Meanwhile, outside the family's apartment, a storm is brewing in Bay Ridge. A raid on a local business sparks a protest that brings the Arab community together, and a senseless act of violence threatens to tear them apart. Everyone's motives are called into question as an alarming sense of disquiet pervades the neighborhood. With everything spiraling out of control, how will Amira and Lina know who they can trust? A gorgeously written, intimate family story and a polyphonic portrait of life under the specter of Islamophobia, Between Two Moons challenges the reader to interrogate their own assumptions, asking questions of allegiance to faith, family, and community, and what it means to be a young Muslim in America.
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February 14 Valentine's Day |
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The no-show
by Beth O'Leary
Three women who seemingly have nothing in common find that they're involved with the same man in this smart new rom-com by Beth O'Leary, bestselling author of The Flatshare. Siobhan is a quick-tempered life coach with way too much on her plate. Jane is a soft-spoken volunteer for the local charity shop with zero sense of self-worth. Miranda is a tree surgeon used to being treated as just one of the guys on the job. These three women are strangers who have only one thing in common: They've all been stoodup on the same day, the very worst day to be stood up-Valentine's Day. And, unbeknownst to them, they've all been stood up by the same man. Once they've each forgiven him for standing them up, they let him back into their lives and are in serious danger of falling in love with a man who seems to have not just one or two but three women on the go.... Is there more to him than meets the eye? And will they each untangle the truth before they all get their hearts broken?
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February 17 Presidents' Day |
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African American Experience
The American Mosaic: The African American Experience (AAE) has the widest depth and breadth of information available of any online database collection on African American history and culture.
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New Hanover County Library
201 Chestnut Street, Wilmington, North Carolina 28401
910-798-6301www.nhclibrary.org |
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