The real world

Teens say they’re reading urban fiction because it reflects life in the city. Should parents be concerned?

The genre is not new: Authors such as Donald Goines and Iceberg Slim began writing about the world of pimps, gangsters, and drug dealers in the 1970s. But recently a younger generation of writers such as Teri Woods, Carl Weber, and Nikki Turner have begun delving into urban fiction. Some started as self-published authors who sold their books from the trunks of their cars. The books quickly won great acclaim among readers, allowing the new authors to establish independent book companies and ultimately sign deals with major publishers. In the past few years, the genre has exploded in popularity. According to Nielsen BookScan, only 4,000 urban fiction novels were sold in 2005, representing 0.2 percent of adult fiction book sales. In 2007, urban fiction accounted for 4 percent of the adult fiction market, with 82,000 copies sold. Continued…>>

GRACE AFTER MIDNIGHT by Felicia “Snoop” Pearson and David Ritz

In GRACE AFTER MIDNIGHT, Felicia Pearson, who plays Snoop in the HBO hit series The Wire, reveals her incredible, hard knock life story, one that dramatically parallels the life of her character on TV.

While Felicia Pearson is a brilliant actor in a truly chilling role, what’s most remarkable about Snoop is what she has overcome in real life. Born a three-pound, cross-eyed crack baby in East Baltimore, and raised in a foster home, Snoop proved she was as tough as the streets. Showing an early aptitude for drug dealing and violence, she thrived as a baby gangsta, until she landed in Jessup State Penitentiary for killing a woman in self-defense. There she rebelled violently against the system, and it took the murder of her childhood mentor, a local drug dealer called Uncle, for her to decide to turn her life around. Then, after being discovered in a nightclub by Michael K. Williams of The Wire and recruited for the show, fiction began to mirror life as Snoop, drawing on the Tribulations of her past, created one of television’s most frightening and intriguing villains.

Enjoyed this book - check out The Wire .

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Street Fiction and Teens

With all of the debate over street fiction inspired from the McMillan email, I was happy to read today the wise words of Vanessa Morris:

“These books engage readers and help promote literacy to an audience that normally would not turn to mainstream media,” said Morris. “Street lit helps empower teens as they learn the importance of self-expression and literacy.”

Here’s the full article:

Westchester Library System (WLS) and Westchester Literacy and Learning Alliance (WLLA) kicked off its second annual “Engaging All Kinds of Readers” series recently with a presentation by Vanessa Morris of the University of Pennsylvania on Where We Live: Becoming Literate about Our Own Lives.

The program was attended by over a dozen local librarians.

Ms. Morris addressed ways to optimize teen interest in “street lit” as a tool for making meaning of their own lives. She reviewed the evolution of hip hop music and the incorporation of its themes into a genre of literature that she calls “urban street fiction.” Once an underground movement, urban street fiction has crossed over to large publishers because of its popularity. Morris noted that urban street fiction addresses tough themes and helps teens escape from the poverty and environment of the ghetto. “These books engage readers and help promote literacy to an audience that normally would not turn to mainstream media,” said Morris. “Street lit helps empower teens as they learn the importance of self-expression and literacy.”

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