Urban Reviews - Your Source for the Best in AA Fiction!

  5 out of 5 books This is my first read by author Jim Stroud, however I plan to follow his pen. The story was relatable. I loved the relationship between Ma’Dear and Viola. It’s pretty much customary for children to treat their peers differently as if there is something wrong with the individual. Viola was special and had supernatural spiritual gifting that many didn’t understand and were afraid of. Viola was sent to live with her grandmother after experiencing social troubles at school and mainly due to the sorrows her mother was having because of infidelity. Viola was extremely gifted although she didn’t have training on how and when to use the gift God had blessed her with. Initially Viola didn’t want to have to stay with her grandmother, but she grew to love her and appreciate her. Ma’Dear validated Viola’s gifting and helped nurture it. Secrets that tore families apart, distrust and broken bonds were a constant. No secrets could be kept from Viola and many feared her for know...

  4 out of 5 books In October 1995 in Gary, Indiana, Jamal is ready to get out of school to enjoy his weekend. But things turn for the worse when Jamal and his best friend Simon are wrongly accused and harassed by the police. While at the police station, Jamal falls asleep while waiting for his father. Suddenly, he wakes up in an unfamiliar police station and surroundings. Jamal has somehow been transported back to Chicago 1969. He quickly learns that he and the rest of his family are members of the Black Panther Party. Will Jamal embrace his new life or try to get back to his old one. K.C. Taylor does a great job with incorporating history of the Black Panther Party into B lack Leather Jacket . Taylor gives readers a good coming-of-age story of a young black teen in the 90s. Readers will see how Jamal’s eyes open up to the injustices that he and his best friend Simon faces. Taylor addresses police brutality and the Black Panther Party   in a way that is not preachy and will b...