(The ÿlortlanù © bseruer--------- _______
in Print
Jefferson’s Children
The Story of
One American
Family
By Shannon Lanier and
Jane Feldman Random
House; 2000
W hen S han n o n L an ier w as in
f irs t g ra d e , he sto o d u p on
P re s id e n t’s D ay and an n o u n ced
to h is c la s s th a t T h o m a s
J e f f e r s o n w as h is a n c e s to r .
S h a n n o n ’s te a c h e r to ld him to
sit dow n an d stop tellin g lies.
N o o n e b e lie v e d him . W hy
d id n ’t th ey ? B ecause S hannon
L an ier is b lack , and the story o f
his fam ily - that they had sprung
fro m th e u n io n o f T h o m a s
Reaching
Back
By Linda Waters
Ethnic Books; 2000
What do you do when you are a
woman with everything going for
you, a career, a handsome man in
your life, money, freedom etc., and
you suddenly inherit the responsi
bility o f an ill parent?
Renda Sionarro’s life mirrors two
worlds. She is a talented, beautiful
fashion-model-tumed-fashion-de-
signer in New York City, miles away
from Magnolia, Louisiana, where
she is sim ply know n as M rs.
Evelyn’s daughter. Her daddy’s
death forces the savvy business
woman to pack her bags and head
south to face her demons o f the past
and help her mother adjust to life
only to find herself being pulled
back to the life she fought hard to
escape. Her m other’s sudden ill
ness forces Renda to incorporate
career, love, and family and reach
back for a part o f the life she left
behind.
November 01, 2000
Focus
J e f f e r s o n a n d h is A f r ic a n
A m erican slave S ally H em ings
- had been passed along from
lips to ears dow n th ro u g h the
g en eratio n s w ith o u t b e n e fit o f
o ffic ia l h isto ric a l d o c u m e n ta
tion.
N ow 21 years o ld, Shannon
is tellin g all o f A m erica about
his fam ily in J e ffe rso n 's C h il
dren: The S to ry o f O ne A m e ri
can F am ily. S hannon and his
c o a u th o r, p h o to g ra p h e r Jan e
F eldm an, tra v e le d a cro ss the
co u n try for tw elve m onths to
m eet and talk w ith m em bers o f
S h a n n o n ’s fam ily.
T o g eth er they have c reated a
book w hich gives e lo q u en t te s
tim ony in pho to g rap h s and in
terview s, that Thom as Jefferson
had not one but tw o fam ilies:
the first w ith his w ife M artha
a n d th e s e c o n d w ith S a lly
H em ings.
Page 5
The Hatbox Baby
iy Carrie Brown .
Algonquin Books;
2000
This time. Brown takes
is into the heart o f the 1933
?hicago W orld’s Fair - a
dace w h ere b a rk e rs,
¡awkers, dancing women,
Iwarfs, marvels o f nature,
’arisian cafes, colorful ex-
libits, peep shows, and
ire m a tu re in fa n ts are
:ommonplace.. .premature
jabies?
Dr. Leo Hoffman - a
famous (and to some infa-
nous) doctor and pioneer
in neonatology finances his
research by overseeing the
very popular Infantorium,
an exhibit o f live, prema
ture babies displayed in in
cubators . By the end o f the
summer and the fair, Dr. Hoffman, along with Caroline Day, the
beautiful Fan dancer whose performances take place next door to the
Infantorium, and her dwarflike cousin and protector St. Louis Percy all
come to have a stake in one special, very fragile baby’s future.
Inspired by the real life and work o f an early neonatologist (who
displayed infants throughout Europe and the United States, including
Coney Island), Carrie Brown takes us int e strange world of the lair -
filled with freaks, marvels, mysteries, and miracles. The Hatbox Baby
is a nchlv imagined story, celebrating love’<= transforming newer and
An Eighth o f August
By Dawn Turner Trice Crown Publishers; 2000
linda
Waters
Reaching
Back
A Novel
!
Narrated by a chorus o f voices, An
Eighth o f August begins with the
Sunday church services o f the 1986
celebration, a year after a terrible
tragedy rocked the people o f this
close-knit community. The festival
proved the backdrop for a vividly
moving story that weaves together
the lives and voices o f the
residents o f Halley’s Land
ing. We hear from strong-
willed Flossie Jo Penticott and
her estranged daughter. Sweet
Alma, whose relationship has
been tom apart by an unimag
inable sorrow; Flossie’s scat
terb rain ed siste r-in -la w
Thelma and her salt-of-the-
earth husband, Herbert, who
remains spirit, and large home
provide refuge for the weary;
and May Ruth, an eccentric
older white woman who fits in
like any other family member.
As we grow to know and
love these characters, we wit
ness how this Emancipation
Festival will offer up its own
particular brand of freedom
and herald a change in each o f their
lives. Like Gloria Naylor, Dawn
Tumer Trice draws us into a remark
able world in An Eighth o f August
and invites us to spend time with a
group o f extraordinary individuals
who linger long after the story is
complete.