Tag: black history month

From the Notebooks of Melanin Sun by Jacqueline Woodson | #bookreview #blackauthors #bipoc #lgbt

Mybeautymark

My Thoughts/Review:

I really enjoyed this. This story dives deep into family and what family can really be, also talks about sexuality. Melanin Sun aka Mel is a 13 year old boy living in Brooklyn NY with is mom who he is really close with. In the story Mel’s mom (EC) tells him that she is gay and this changes everything for Mel.

He wonders what his friends, his neighborhood, and even the girl that he likes will think of him. At this point Mel hates his mom for being gay and and wishes it wasn’t true. 

Mel learnes that he can still be there for his mom even though she is gay he just will have to adjust which will take some time.

This story focused on the what family is and who your real friends are and just not caring what other people who really don’t matter have to say.

Mel enjoys writing in his notes books personal things and to help him get though all the new changes he writes.

Good story. I like that this was a challenging topic especially for teenagers.

Rating: 4.75⭐

Let me know if you read anything by Jacqueline Woodson 😉

Xoxo Nikki 🤎

You Don’t Even Know Me by Sharon G Flake | #blackauthors #weneeddiversebooks #bipoc

Mybeautymark

My thoughts/review:

This was a really good collection of short stories. The author wrote 10 different short stories about young black boys and different situations in their lives. 

Some stories dealt with girls, living in the hood, dealing with violence, hiv, and sexual abuse. The author brought topics that I believe young boys growing up deal with and have a hard time talking about with older people.

Although this is considered a YA I enjoyed reading this and should be required reading for kids in middle school at least. I always feel Sharon Flake can turn realistic situations and make them more understandable for the reader to not be so judgemental.

As a mother to a 3rd grade boy I want to share this book with him and be able to talk to him about the different subjects that are presented. This I feel can be a great tool for parents.

Rating: 4.5 ⭐ synopsis for YOU DONT EVEN KNOW ME

Xoxo Nikki🤎

#BookReview | Indigo by Beverly Jenkins

Mybeautymark
My review/ thoughts:

Instead of giving a full review of this story I’ll share my personal thoughts and how I felt. Indigo by Beverly Jenkins is my first historical romance novel that I read. I always wanted to read historical romances but had no idea where to start. I knew for a fact that I wanted to read some written by a black author to start me off. Indigo sets the tone of what real romance is especially during a dangerous time like the 1800s where blacks were bought and sold into slavery and had very little power.

I strongly believe Beverly Jenkins captured the historical part very well and made it seem very believable. 
Hester and Galen are the perfect couple. Hester I felt was a strong woman and did for herself she wasn’t use to a man doing for her. Which for me I’m glad the author didn’t write Hester as a weak woman that needed a man for everything. And Galen he is a alpha male he knows what he wants and goes after it. He knew he wanted Hester and wouldn’t stop until he had Hester as his wife.

The whole story is swoon worthy. Every page when Hester and Galen were together I was smiling and I felt happy for them. They have gone through so much together and in the end still managed to be together and build their family, even during the tough times that was slavery.

I actually buddy read this with my good read and now because of her I want to read more of Beverly Jenkins books. I can now say I like reading historical romance and I can see why a lot people of enjoy reading them. Reading Indigo has made me want to read other historical romances novels from other authors as well. 

Overall this was a great story 5⭐ I can definitely see myself re reading this again.

Click here for Synopsis of Indigo:INDIGO

Thanks for stopping by, let me know if you read this or any other book by author Beverly Jenkins

Xoxo Nikki🤎