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Showing posts from May, 2018

Why Book Publishing?

A few years ago, I began to get the itch. It was time to move on from teaching.  And so I began to think about what I would do next, what dreams would I chase... and this year, I decided to go after one of my very first dreams--reading books for a living. I turned in my resignation in March and my last day as a full-time teacher will be June 1st! One of the first steps I took to pursue finding a job in book publishing was to apply to some publishing courses. I had to write a person statement explaining my love for books, my interest in working in the publishing industry and what I hoped to do in my career. It could be no more than two pages. Double-spaced.  Here's what I ended up with... In early elementary school, I was one of the few black children in my class. But even though we were the same race, my Nigerian-ness made me “other,” and I was often teased for “talking white” and called an Oreo. When I was seven, my family moved to Nigeria. While there were other...

What I've Been Reading Lately: February, March and April

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Very delayed on this post, I know! But here's what I've read for the last three months + how I'm doing on the MMD Reading Challenge! Books Read February 2018: Because February is Black History Month, my goal was to read only black authors. This was a really enjoyable month, and I finally got to read books that have been on my TBR list for years (like Alice Walker's The Color Purple ). One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia The Color Purple by Alice Walker All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History by Vashti Harrison How to Fix a Broken Record by Amena Brown P.S. Be Eleven by Rita Williams-Garcia American Street by Ibi Zoboi Not Without Laughter by Langston Hughes Gone Crazy in Alabama by Rita Williams-Garcia If I had to pick a favorite... do I have to? They were all so good! For so many different reasons! If I had to pick a least favorite... maybe American Street, but mostly becau...