In this article, Elisa McKay of the St. Croix Source highlights the work of Opal Palmer Adisa and her contributions to children’s literature. In both her children’s and adult work, Adisa work features Caribbean traditions and culture.
Author Archives: Carol Mitchell
St. Croix recognizes CR author Opal Palmer Adisa
Filed under Caribbean Lit News This Week, Uncategorized
Musical Youth Second Edition Releases (with Bonus Author Information Revealed)
Be the first to know!
In November 2014, CaribbeanReads was tremendously proud to publish the Burt Award prize-winning title Musical Youth #musicalyouthbook by Joanne C. Hillhouse. We printed 4000 copies of the book, and today, thanks to the support of Code, the NGC Bocas Lit Fest, schools, bookstores such as Best of Books in Antigua and Paperbased in Trinidad, and book festivals in Brooklyn, St. Martin, USVI, Barbados, Anguilla, and Miami, we are all sold out!
With the second printing, we made a few changes to the cover (still maintaining the beautiful artwork of Glenroy Aaron) and the acknowledgements in which Hillhouse speaks of her own gratefulness and thanks “readers everywhere—tout monde sam and baggai, as we say in Antigua and Barbuda—who bought and/or took the time to recommend the book; and specifically, Caribbean readers and young people who have told me how much they love Zahara, and how Zahara and Shaka are #relationshipgoals.”
Inside, the second edition of Musical Youth contains the same content that has prompted the incredible support the book has received. Zahara and Shaka pop off the page with the same intensity that keeps teens talking about them long after they’ve read the last word. Read reviews of the book here.
In commemoration of the new edition, author Joanne C. Hillhouse has put together a candid discussion about her writing process, her vision of the characters, and more in this study guide: author’s edition.
Musical Youth is the first of two Burt Award winners published by CaribbeanReads, the second being The Protectors’ Pledge by Danielle Y. C. McClean. The success of these titles speaks to the fact that we need Caribbean books and, more generally, #weneeddiversebooks.
Where to buy it? The new edition is available from the publisher, on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and select bookstores. Ask your local bookstores and schools for your copy of the new edition. Copies of the OG (original version of) Musical Youth are still available at select bookstores. It’s may become a collectors’ item, so get yours quickly.
Share the news, let’s make this hashtag go viral. #musicalyouthbook. As Caribbean schoolchildren (of old?) might say, we glad bag bus’!
Filed under Caribbean Lit News This Week, On Writing
Toni Morrison’s Passing
I had just completed a post celebrating Jamaica’s Independence when I read the news that Toni Morrison had died. My first instinct was to delete the light-hearted post. How could I be joyous when an icon like Morrison, Nobel prize and Pulitzer prize winning author, inspirational on so many levels, had departed this world? Her life’s example suggests that she would encourage us to celebrate her life rather than mourn her death.
Morrison inspires me as a writer with her metaphorical, original, and visionary use of language. I have no doubt that each word she leaves on the page is placed with careful consideration of its contribution to her meaning and the image it leaves in her readers minds.
Morrison inspires me to write truth. To write my stories without tailoring them to mollify the sensibilities of one group of readers or another. She was determined not to write literature that catered exclusively to a white audience, and if you have read Beloved or Tar Baby you will know that she held nothing back. She paved a way for the writers who choose to walk in and therefore enlarge the mark her footsteps have left.
Morrison inspires me to persevere. Although she was a storyteller as a child, she did not write her first novel until she was in her late 30’s, yet she completed almost a dozen substantive novels before passing away this year. Her work reminds us that once we are alive there are stories that we must tell.
Although I did not read this quote from Morrision until after I wrote my first book, it epitomizes the motivation for my journey into being an author and publisher.
I purposely used the present tense here, she inspires me. Her passing from this world does not mean an end to her influence. Her legacy will linger for as long as we read and understand the importance of literature. CNN reports that Morrison once said: “We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the measure of our lives.”
Rest in peace Ms. Morrison. #tonimorrison
-Carol Mitchell
Filed under Caribbean Lit News This Week, On Writing
Happy Independence Day, Jamaica!
Jamaica celebrates its 57th anniversary of Independence today, and we celebrate with all of our Jamaica connections.
CR Author Jewel Daniel and Tanya Batson-Savage at #BKBF 
On the Kingston Bookshop Shelves 
Children enjoying Dance Quadrille
Congratulations to the island for all the strides it has made over the years and best wishes for many to come. We think especially of CaribbeanReads’ authors like Opal Palmer Adisa (Look! A Moko Jumbie, Love’s Promise, Dance Quadrille Play Quelbe) and Juleus Ghunta (Tata and the Big Bad Bull), our collaborators such as Caribbean Cultural Theatre with E. Wayne McDonald, Tanya Batson-Savage at Blue Banyon Books, and The Kingston Bookshop.
We can’t forget Jamaica-set Pirates at Port Royal, the second book in the Caribbean Adventure Series.
#JamaicaIndependence2019 #caribbeanliterature #bkbf
Filed under Uncategorized
E-Picture Books
CaribbeanReads put out our first kindle picture book back in 2012. It was Lion Paw and Oliver: An Unlikely Friendship, the first book in the Living the Beach Life series by Heidi Fagerberg. Way back then…seven years is an eon when it comes to technology…the process for developing picture books that would be read on an electronic device was challenging and the results less than perfect. |
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We really wanted the books to be available in an e-version. We believe that one of the best ways to encourage children to read is ensure that books are visible and always within easy reach. E-books on their devices next to their other electronic activities, can be a way to encourage children to access books over and over again. So we persisted, and ended up putting the text and image on separate pages. This helped with the flow of the text but was not ideal for the beginning readers who love Heidi’s books.
As I’m sure you’ve guessed, the technology has changed and it’s now easier to produce these books in an easy-to-read format, and we’ve updated the entire Living the Beach Life series and some of our other titles. The good news is that, if you’ve already bought an ebook it will automatically update the next time you open it while connected to the internet. If you haven’t got your ecopy of Heidi’s books, check it out. Ebooks are a great alternative for entertaining little ones.
CaribbeanReads picture book titles with e-versions (all books will be converted soon):
- Living the Beach Life Series
- Lost! A Caribbean Sea Adventure
- Tata and the Big Bad Bull
- The Masquerade Dance
No need to wait for your book to arrive, start reading today!
Filed under Caribbean Lit News This Week
2019 (to date) Books in Reviews
It’s July, and while it seems like just yesterday we heralded in an infant 2019 with fireworks and fanfare, it’s almost grown and already has more time behind it than in front.
CaribbeanReads books have received some love from our readers this year and we wanted to share some of the comments with you.
Musical Youth (about to enter its second edition) has a five star rating on Amazon and GoodReads, but its reach is growing beyond those well-trodden paths to include reviews on Instagram and on personal web pages including foreign language pages. Here are two of our favorites:
*Read more on Joanne’s blog. We were kind of blown away by all the great feedback.
- “I first recognized the weight of her work by the response of the teens to her book, Musical Youth , in the Grenada Community Library. It remains one of the most popular books with teens, despite their tendency to shun Caribbean literature when they have a choice because they are required to read it in schools.” – Oonya Kempadoo, author of Buxton Spice
- In April we came across a review in French from a blog titled myinsaeng. You can read the french review here and the English translation here, but this is the last paragraph: “To my knowledge, there is no French translation available, much less Creole, but I hope that “Musical Youth” will become a classic of literature for generations to come. And why not an audiovisual adaptation to immortalize this illustration of our time?”
- “I love the little loving details that go into making a book that much more special, like the musical staff here on every new chapter of #MusicalYouth by @jhohadli . If you’re looking for a great YA summer read that’s also got some depth, check this one out. It’s all about learning to work together, the effects of colourism, coming out of your shell, and embracing your own self worth. I will read this one again at some point!…It’s a heart-warming Antiguan YA that’s pretty quick and easy to get through. 🌴🌺🌊📖Would highly recommend!” –beauty.on.the.bookshelf on Instagram
Greyborn Rising, released in May 2019 has received a lot of reader praise. The main theme seemed to be that the book is impossible to put down.
- An excellent read that I would highly recommend. Well researched and artfully written. I learned a lot while being entertained. Characters are well developed and you will not be able to put this book down.
- Greyborn Rising is a book I truly enjoyed. From the first pages I felt captivated and entertained. The more I read the more I became interested in the characters and their challenges and successes. My favorite character is Katharine the soucouyant and once you read the book you will see why.
Tata and the Big Bad Bull has received great praise from key educators and authors, and also from publications such as the Midwest Review and the Old Schoolhouse Magazine. The review love continued in 2019…
- In an article entitled “Overcoming Barriers to Education in Tata and the Big Bad Bull,” Anansesem contributor, Shanimarie Ogilvie, reviews this CaribbeanReads title by author and poet, Juleus Ghunta. She refers to the book’s protagonist as a “universally relatable character,” and points out how “Ghunta’s use of rhyme…engages the reader.” She describes the narrative as “brisk” and the plot as “spirited.”
Read the full review in the beautifully designed full color PDF edition of the May 2019 Anansesem book review issue.
The Masquerade Dance released in April 2019. Reviews are still in coming in, but we loved this one from one of our own, Joanne C. Hillhouse.
- In summary, Joanne C. Hillhouse comments: “Nicely done; quick (and colourful) read overall and good for classroom or reading club story time.” Read her entire review here.
Filed under Uncategorized
Joanne C. Hillhouse’s books on sale at Best of Books Antigua
https://visitantiguabarbuda.com/destinations/best-of-books-novels-special?fbclid=IwAR2xX7G2DKxWnT2JX-pOPRqHwnKQ3UCZmQuEpjbSfRWe-bnrtU2hrQ-ZfeQ
Filed under Caribbean Lit News This Week, Uncategorized
Greyborn Rising Hard cover
As of July 1, you now have three ways to enjoy Greyborn Rising, paperback, kindle, and it is now available in hardcover. Check out this fantastic new novel set in a fantasy version of Trinidad where there are three parallel realms; the Grey where Greyborn—preternatural creatures of legend live; the Ether which is the realm of Heaven and Hell; and the Absolute where humans make their home, blissfully unaware of the tripartite nature of their world. Read to find out how Rohan, a member of The Order, fights to protect the world from the rising of the Greyborn.
Filed under Caribbean Lit News This Week, Uncategorized
New Review for Tata and the Big Bad Bull
In an article entitled “Overcoming Barriers to Education in Tata and the Big Bad Bull,” Anansesem reviewer, Shanimarie Ogilvie, reviews this CaribbeanReads title by author and poet, Juleus Ghunta. She refers to the book’s protagonist as a “universally relatable character,” and points out how “Ghunta’s use of rhyme…engages the reader.” She describes the narrative as “brisk” and the plot as “spirited.”
Read the full review in the beautifully designed full color PDF edition of the May 2019 Anansesem book review issue.
Filed under Caribbean Lit News This Week, Uncategorized
Facelift for the Living the Beach Life Series
When we published Lion Paw and Oliver, An Unlikely Friendship, the first installation of Heidi Fagerberg’s Living the Beach Life Series in 2012, we had no idea that we were at the beginning of a fruitful, collaborative relationship that would bear seven titles by Heidi. Heidi’s contributions to CaribbeanReads have gone far beyond the books w have published together. She is trained in early childhood education and so is an integral part of our team as we work to provide quality titles in our children’s catalog.
Heidi was one of the first authors to trust CaribbeanReads with her ideas and dreams. She chose to write about the animals on Reggae Beach, Lion Paw, Oliver, Wilbur, and Miss Mocha because they were so close and dear to her heart and she wanted to share that joy with others. The downside of working with a small press and a new one at the time, was that she journeyed with us as we navigated the world of publishing and she had to endure our growing pains. While I loved the original covers of the Living the Beach Life Series, the new touches put on them by Kitwana Julius give these books the brilliant shine they deserve.
The Living the Beach Life Series is available in bookstores in the Caribbean, online on Amazon, in kindle, in libraries and schools in the Caribbean, and coming soon in audio. Heidi and the CaribbeanReads team are available for school visits and more.
Filed under Caribbean Lit News This Week, Uncategorized