Pink and Green

I went to a reading at The New School awhile back where Lisa Greenwald was generously giving out autographed copies of her debut novel My Life in Pink and Green.  I began reading it as part of the research phase for my upcoming collaboration with the artist Rebecca Vicars on a picture book called Oscars Overhauled Overalls that introduces environmental issues to children.  I finished reading Greennwald's novel today and it has left me in such a good mood, eager to work more diligently on my own contribution to the growing body of work out there that can help change the ways that we all think about and address our environmental crises.  

My Life in Pink and Green is the perfect book for the middle school girl who is beginning to think about her identity and value system. Such a confusing time as middle school is, a book like this could certainly offer guidance. At its core it addresses how young people are capable and intelligent and can contribute to bettering the planet, but it's also a perfect presentation of how to be a good friend, how to handle a crush, and, last but not least, how to apply and wear makeup. My mom never taught me how to shave, or wear makeup, or do my hair and for many, many years I felt woefully behind. This book provides basic rules for how to wear makeup so that one doesn't look like a clown and how to use make-up to enhance, not replace, one's sense of self-confidence. It endorses light, natural colors and that they be used to enhance the inherent beauty of the wearer. How many tweens have you seen running around with heavy eyeliner and overly lined lips? Yikes! Thank you Lisa, for helping to stop this environmental problem!

At one point in the book Lucy's best friend's parents decide to donate an expensive massage chair to her burgeoning spa.  I wept.  Actually wept.  I was so moved by the understanding and action of her friends parents; it was such a beautiful reminder that even if it doesn't always feel like it, there are people watching and paying attention to you, and that there are kind, loving, responsible adults out there. 

I look forward to following Lucy and Sunny through the completion of the spa renovations and the transition to high school. I hope Lisa Greenwald is out there typing it up and her publishers are smart enough to make it happen!

Baby Mama Drama

This is not a new phrase. It has been around for quite some time. As I understand it, the phrase refers to a man who has had a baby with a woman, generally out of wedlock, who is now causing him strife in his new relationship. As in:

Justin: I was going to go to that new club on Webster with Sheila, but my baby's mother be actin' up sayin' she gonna show up and give Sheila a beat down.

Rodney: Yo, man, I don't know how you deal with all that baby mama drama. I'm so glad I ain't got no kids. I don't need no baby mama fuckin' up my flow. 

Justin: Word. 

Now, I am a not impressed with myself for knowing this, nor do I feel it bolsters my street cred, because this term is ubiquitous and it's meaning obvious. Well, obvious to everyone except Sheila P. Moses, author of Joseph, and her editor. 

Yesterday I found myself thumbing through her newest book at Barnes and Noble, a novel aimed at readers twelve years old and older, and given the front cover design and back cover blurb, twelve year olds with a morbid curiosity about the sordid details of the lives of those poor, black kids from the urban ghetto.  After reading the first fifty pages I wanted to barf. Barf and write her an angry letter. Barf, write her an angry letter, and storm the offices of her publisher.  Instead, I am writing this post.  I also wrote my first ever review on BN.com:

This book had the potential to be important and moving, but it failed. Although there is a definite need for books dealing with this subject matter and written in this voice, that does not excuse the overwhelming flaws of this text. I can't believe this was published. The writing reads like a draft, and I don't mean a final draft. Moses is obviously an outsider to the community she writes about and therefore the voice does not sound authentic. She misuses slang terms and forces in so much exposition that it reads like a messy character sketch. All in all, a total disappointment.