NIKKI TURNER PRESENTS STREET CHRONICLES CHRISTMAS IN THE HOOD edited by Nikki Turner

Christmas in the Hood presents fresh talent alongside shining stars such as K. Elliot and Seth “Soul Man” Ferranti - all writing gritty tales that reveal what the holidays bring for naughty and nice who live by the code of the street. In “Secret Santa,” after her children’s Christmas presents are stolen, a woman has to decide what she’s willing to sacrifice to give them the holiday they deserve; in “Me and Grandma,” a senior sleighs more crack than candy canes to bring Christmas cheer to her needy grandkids; and in “Holiday Hell,” Noelle must raise $23,000 to repay a loan shark or her sister will become a ghost of Christmas past. True to the streets and true to the season, these stories will raise the holiday spirit in the heart of even the most-ghetto-hardened gangsta.

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Author Brings Streets to Bookstores

Selling drugs landed him in prison. Now, J.M. Benjamin is selling his urban fiction novels to eager customers at book events nationwide. But in his Queen City hometown, the place where he wanted most to hold book signings, there was no bookstore.

The former-inmate-turned-author decided to do something about it, so he has launched a book outlet featuring the wildly popular urban fiction genre, along with other titles and children’s books, inside Music N Motion at 204 East Front St. Next month, residents need only to go downtown to get a signed copy of his third novel, “Ride or Die Chick.”

It was barely a month ago that Benjamin approached Don Benito, owner of Music N Motion, to ask if he could set up a display table in front of the store. Benito welcomed him inside, and Benjamin’s first small selection has since more than tripled.

“I have brought a new element to downtown Plainfield,” Benjamin said.

Benjamin said buyers, mostly young people who did not read much before, are buying 80 to 100 books a week.

The store previously sold mainly CDs, DVDs and Leonard Benjamin’s “Ghettofficial Designs” custom T-shirts. Benito’s wife, Kimberly, said all three of her daughters — Shayna, 15; Christina, 21; and Keyna, 22 — have taken up reading since Benjamin brought his books to the store. None were readers before, she said.

Kimberly Benito said urban fiction lets young people understand what’s out on the streets.

“You have to educate children and make them aware of what’s going on,” she said.

Plainfield librarian Lonnie Johnson agreed that the genre has exploded.

“They are reading it, and they are reading it furiously,” he said.

Some have compared the fervor of young adults for urban fiction with that of grade school children for Harry Potter.

The content of urban fiction — drugs, sex, violence, street language — is controversial to many, but Johnson said, “Reading is a skill that once you’ve acquired, you can move on to other things.”

Benjamin’s strategy since publication of his first award-winning book, “Down in the Dirty,” has been to meet potential readers where they can be found, in urban barbershops, gathering places and neighborhoods. Some of his travels are along the same highways and streets where he used to ply his drug trade. Benjamin said the drive that would send him out in any weather to sell drugs now has been transferred to “something positive.”

On the first day he began the book outlet, he went from the city’s East End to the West End, distributing fliers. He also did an e-mail blitz to alert his fans.

Benjamin’s allegiance to his hometown also is reflected in his story of betrayal, “My Manz and ‘Em,” which features a cover photo of the public housing project where he once lived. The book is peppered with references to real Plainfield and Central Jersey businesses and alludes to city turf wars. But it does not glorify the life of its characters.

“You’ll never purchase a J.M. Benjamin book where the bad guy gets away,” he said. “I didn’t get away, so my characters don’t get away.”

Benjamin expects his newfound ties to urban fiction writers will bring many of the authors to the city for book signings in the future.

“I know them personally,” he said.

Source: BERNICE PAGLIA (Courier News)

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