Book Review

By Angela Haigler

by Rita Woods

In her second novel, Rita Woods explores family traditions involving messages from the past and connections to the present and the future. Things begin to get clearer for Layla when her mother dies. She can then begin healing the rift that had torn the family apart before her mother’s death. The nightmares she had suppressed her whole life take on a new meaning when she realizes the dreams are her gift. “The Last Dreamwalker” is a beautiful journey of spirits and spirituality, messages and meaning, family and fortress.

by Andrea Hairston

Andrea Hairston is a wellawarded Afro futurist speculative fiction writer. Intertwining worlds and alternate history with haints and hood doo, “Will Do Magic for Small Change” continues where her novel “Redwood and Wildfire” left off. Now the pair’s granddaughter, Cinnamon is front and center. She had hoped to make a living like her revered grandparents but finds her height and weight limiting. Also limiting are family secrets nobody is willing to reveal. Lovers of the futurist genre will not be disappointed.

Prepare to be wowed by the poetic stylings of Will Alexander. Divine Blue Light is anchored by three major works: the opening, “Condoned to Disappearance,” a meditation on the exploits of Portuguese modernist Fernando Pessoa; the closing, “Imprecation as Mirage,” a poem channeling an Indonesian man; and the title poem, an anthemic ode to the jazz saxophonist John Coltrane. A fierce poet with a boatload of awards, his work is a force that demands to be read and understood.

Being open to vulnerable conversations may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of the stereotypes attributed to men. That’s what Romal Tune is hoping to change. Through his new book, “I Wish My Dad,” he wants to encourage fathers and sons to have those tough conversations that can lead to greater understanding and improved father/son relationships. Seventeen men of diverse ages, ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds shared their stories of challenges and care. Through their eyes and through the eyes of his own son, Jordan, Tune offers strategies and prompts that can lead to transformed relationships.

Kwame Alexander tackles the tough topic of slavery in today’s fraught landscape of childhood education. In this book, the first of a three-part series, Alexander takes us to a Ghanaian village where we find Kofi and his family and friends happily thriving. When deadly events cause villagers to turn on their neighbors, Kofi’s young life abruptly changes as he heads through “The Door of No Return” and across the expansive sea. Alexander takes care to make sure the blame for Kofi’s fate is shared equally among a variety of characters. And though the subject is serious, it is middle-grade reader-appropriate thanks to Alexander’s skilled storytelling. P