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Is It Time To Shift The Narrative?
The Black Foster Youth Handbook is written to help youth and young adults that have aged out of the system heal and thrive afterward. Why was this an important book for you to write?
I was called both while awake and in my sleep through dreams to create a guide for young people in foster care back in 2016. The pandemic in March of 2020 made the call louder and it was revealed to me that I could not put it off any longer- that youth were aging out of foster care not only in stereotypical outcomes such as homelessness, sex trafficking, prison and suicide but to add to that— a whole world wide pandemic. The world is calling for us collectively to heal and youth and families touched by the child welfare system need support through the lens of holistic wellness not just coping skills and survival mechanisms. I need youth to know that they can create a joyous life in spite of their trauma and so I was willing to be vulnerable in sharing my story in order for others to feel empowered and uncover the purpose within their pain as I have. I created the R.E.A.L success model that takes youth and supportive adults through the 4 phases (Root, Envision, Ascension & Liberation) so that the reader can have a practical framework to self reflect, engage in self-exploration alone and with community as well as achieve a sense of inner freedom out of the bondage of one’s trauma.
I appreciated the candid nature with which you told your story. What was the hardest thing for you to write about?
Honestly, the whole book haha..
My first draft was very angry. I carried a lot of pain and writing, picking up running while I wrote and processing this information was extremely healing. After sending the draft off to my editor, I had a very clear and vivid dream on how the book was going to be formatted and the clarity of the R.E.A.L success model. I am grateful for my husband, divine connection to my ancestors, my book launch team, friends, and a few family members who helped me process this. I knew it would be rough but that it was necessary for such a resource to exist. It was time.
What is one piece of advice someone gave you that changed your life?
To cherish the people in your life while they are still here and alive. You know, give them their flowers while they are still living and don’t wait until they have passed to show your appreciation, love and admiration for them. This is something I do daily and each chance I get to speak up and tell people how they are positively making a difference in my life, in others or the world.
What do you hope is one thing readers take away from your story
The trauma you experienced is not something anyone should have to go through and yet you are here still living. And that says something profound, that you have a divine purpose that you may choose to fulfill in this life. You are not your trauma. You are whoever and whatever the hell you wish to be. You are powerful beyond what you give yourself credit for and in order to fully step into your gifts- You will need to challenge many aspects of yourself and circumstances that you grasped on to in order to survive. It was never your fault but now it is your responsibility to create a life worth living. Powerful soul, it is time to heal. It is time to be free. It is time to discover the real you-outside of the version of you created to endure the trauma. You do not have to do this alone. You are loved. And after everything, you matter to so many. Greatness is in your hands but it all starts with choices.
Do you choose to be what you have seen doesn’t work? Or is it time to shift the narrative?
Author Links: GoodReads | Twitter | Facebook OrginialSoulFlower | Facebook soulfulliberation | Website soulfulliberation | Website originalsoulflower
Less than 5% of young people with the experience of foster care graduate post-secondary education. There are many youth who become prey to sex-trafficking or suseptable to suicide due to homelessness, mental health challenges and no support system. Now, couple the child welfare system with the element of racial injustices and the history of white supremacy and the topic may even become taboo.
Ángela Quijada-Banks, a woman of African and Indigeneous descent has taken the liberty of giving back to these communities for a half a decade through advocacy, advisory and organizational training. Through her travels across the nation, speaking to congressional members, federal stakeholders and constituents of the foster care system she decided some sort of manual was needed to combat the shocking low success rates of young people with the background of foster care. This handbook is written to be supplemental to young people in foster care’s navigation through foster care and healing beyond it.
Supportive adults such as foster/resource parents, case managers, GALs, therapists and social workers will also find this to be helpful in their roles in young people’s lives. Success is possible regardless of where you come from, you just have to know where to look, who to trust and believe in the one person that can get you to the other side of pain and trauma, you.
Unfinished: The Inspired Life of Elisabetta Sirani
Elisabetta Sirani, the subject of Unfinished: The Inspired Life of Elisabetta Sirani by Kelly Evans, was an Italian woman who lived in the seventeenth century. She faced numerous challenges as a result of her gender. Her life from age 9 until she died at age 27 is chronicled in the book, as are the challenges she had to overcome just because she was a woman living in the 1600s. This book provides a look into the life of an incredible artist who broke through gender barriers to achieve her dreams of becoming one of the most prominent women artists of the seventeenth century.
I enjoyed reading this historical fiction novel as it is one of my favorite genres to read. The author has done an excellent job of making readers feel like they knew Elisabetta, and they will really want to see her succeed. Andrea, Elisabetta’s famous artist father, was almost the villain as he constantly doubted his daughter’s skill simply because she was a woman.
My favorite aspect of this book was the relationship between Elisabetta and her sister, Barbara. I consider it to be one of the book’s primary focuses, and the bond that was formed between them allowed me to connect even more with the characters.
I appreciated the book’s history, information, themes of love and optimism. I liked learning about the baroque art era as I was not as familiar with it. Elisabetta’s works and commissions were exhibited throughout the narrative. The epilogue also gives historical context. Elisabetta Sirani is someone who was able to achieve success in a time when it was challenging for women to be taken seriously. Her story is one of perseverance in the face of adversity and is sure to inspire many readers.
Unfinished: The Inspired Life of Elisabetta Sirani is a fictional account of Elisabetta Sirani’s life based on factual information. This biographical fiction gives readers a look into the artist’s life with enough truth to understand the hardships she faced as a woman in the 1600s.
Pages: 357 | ASIN : B09Q1CHBWM
Fighting for Freedom
Deehabta’s Song follows the life of a woman that must retrace her past to discover who she really is. What was the inspiration for the setup to your story?
Actually, the original inspiration for the book did not have Krissa as the main character. That developed as I put together the outline for the story. Originally, I wanted to portray the Roman Empire’s conquest of Gaul and Briton as a sci-fi story set on different planets. But there had to be a central character through whom the effects of this conflict were seen. More and more Krissa’s experience became the focus of the story.
Readers get to know Krissa at the ages of 30 and 60 as she pieces together the clues of her life. What were some driving ideals behind your character’s development?
In Krissa’s character I wanted to convey a goodheartedness and sincerity that comes through even when she is cantankerous and difficult in her sixties. She helps many people with her martial arts skills, both by defending them and by being a dedicated instructor. Her fearlessness and ferocity when she is younger, however, leads her into a confrontation with the empire. As a deeply troubled person in her sixties, her persistent self reliance makes it difficult for her to let her roommate Jo help her. The real reason for her inner strength and the belief that she can take on the empire by herself is of course the mystery that the story unravels.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
There is the theme of fighting for freedom, drawing from the Britons’ resistance to the invading Roman Empire. The main character combines Caratacus and Boudicca. Boudicca almost defeated the empire until her rebellion was crushed and she died. Caratacus was defeated but he became assimilated into the Roman world and lived out his life. The book looks at the impact of forced assimilation. There is also the idea of what determines our identity. Our self image is a powerful force in what we conceive is our identity. In our world self image is elevated to being the only determining factor of identity. I suppose the term “identity” involves an image. But when all the images of ourself are stripped away, what are we? Nothing? Is there a core identity that is not determined by self image?
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
My next book is a sequel to Deehabta’s Song that I am titling Deehabta’s War. It goes into her beginnings in greater depth and the new conflict she faces. I hope I can have it done before the end of the year.
Author Links: GoodReads | Twitter | Facebook | Website
The Black Foster Youth Handbook
The playwright George Bernard Shaw once said that youth is wasted on the young. Unfortunately, the meaning behind this world-famous quote becomes all the more tragic because most of us only realize what it truly means when it’s too late. Luckily, we have author Ángela Quijada-Banks to give the youth a wake-up call and a helping hand. Her book The Black Foster Youth Handbook can be categorized under Self-Help, and it embodies the best qualities of the genre. It’s a valuable collection of over 50 lessons sprinkled with a healthy dose of personal anecdotes, making it a surprisingly entertaining and fulfilling read.
Written in a conversational and often-times humorous tone, it can be read and enjoyed by anyone from any background. Sure, its primary target audience is young people of color who have gone through foster care, but those who haven’t can still pick up lessons that could be beneficial. It also features brief poetic pieces by Quijada-Banks. Her unique style is undeniably charming and has a calming quality to them.
This book tackles heavy topics like suicide, sex trafficking, and other traumas. But because it handles those topics with so much hope and understanding, the darkness of it all becomes easier to take on. With no judgment whatsoever, the pages become a safe space for anyone who has ever experienced any of the situations mentioned.
If you’re going to read this book, the best way to do it is through a physical copy. After all, it is a handbook, so it includes questions and activities for readers to engage with. Write notes in the margins and highlight your favorite lines and pieces of advice. It’s clear that Quijada-Banks poured her soul into this book, and it’s only appropriate for you to do the same.
Whether you’ve been through the foster care system or not, chances are you won’t be entirely healed by the end of this book. Self-healing takes plenty of time and work, something you have to do mainly on your own. But don’t let that intimidate you. With a roadmap like The Black Foster Youth Handbook and a guide like Ángela Quijada-Banks, you’re getting a good head start for a brighter future.
The Black Foster Youth Handbook: 50+ Lessons I learned to successfully Age-Out of Foster Care and Holistically Heal is a memoir, self-help book, and handbook all wrapped into one. Written for those in and aged out of foster care, this book is also helpful for supportive adults such as foster and resource parents, case managers, Guardians ad litem, therapists, and social workers.
Pages: 396 | ASIN : B08CJB8CM9
Paris Blue
First loves only happen once a lifetime, and as such are memorable, for better or worse. In that vein, what could be a more memorable, or magical, experience than finding that love in Paris, a city well known for its romance? For Julie, a 20-year-old music student from a small town in Main, that’s exactly what happened. Furthering her musical talents, and trying to broaden her horizons in a city full of culture, Julie meets Luc, an older man who shares her passionate love of music and art. As the story so often goes, from that moment on, her life was never the same.
Paris Blue is a superbly written memoir by Julie Scolnik about finding unexpected and intense love, in a foreign country. I loved the descriptions of Paris and how the city became such a part of Julie’s story, creating the sense that the love she shared with Luc was literally impossible anywhere else. Scolnik’s wonderful prose perfectly captures the atmosphere and energy of Paris, and the first half of the book reads like a love letter to the city itself. Paris has had more than its fair share of lines written in its honor and this book joins those ranks, painting vivid pictures of bustling streets, quaint cafes, cultured inhabitants, and the serenely bucolic nature that the city still manages to maintain despite all the activity. Julie’s relationship with Luc takes more of a center stage in the latter part of the memoir, as their relationship progresses and then regresses in turns, leaving the reader unsure where the two may eventually land. Throughout the entire impassioned book, Scolnik keeps the tone deeply personal, opening each chapter with an excerpt from one of Luc’s letters, providing hints to events that occur later in their blossoming friendship turned to romance. She never shies away from her feelings or actions, portraying them all as accurately as one can imagine they were at the moment in time.
Music plays a big part in this story. It is music that brings them together in the first place, and the thing that they bond over so intensely, creating an emotional connection well before anything else. The music is so instrumental to their relationship, in fact, that Scolnik provides an index at the end of the pieces that meant the most to them. It’s a sentimental addition that creates another layer of vulnerability to the story being told.
Paris Blue is Julie Scolnik’s memoir, it will captivate readers that love Paris with her vivid descriptions. Readers that enjoy a true story romance will find this biography appealing and heartwarming.
Pages: 285 | ASIN : B09FVBXCJ1
Deehabta’s Song
Deehabta’s Song by Stephen Alder is a story set on the futuristic planet of ‘Erunanta,’ also known as ‘Roon.’ In a world dealing with the aftermath of an interplanetary war, the main character Krissa attempts to start again in a new city. Krissa is faced with unusual feelings and challenges while rebuilding her life. Discovering she suffers from Caderyn War Syndrome, similar to what we know as PTSD. With the help of her new friends and colleagues, she attempts to decipher what is going through her mind.
This futuristic dystopia is well thought out, and the creativity running through this imaginative story is impressive as the reader is transported to another time and place. There are also many hints made towards the back story of Krissa, which engage the reader to find out more. With each piece of information that Krissa discovers about her past, more questions come forward slowly unraveling the web of lies and misinformation she has believed.
Amongst all the fantasy elements, Steven Alder has also made the novel relatable through the characters’ everyday lives. Words such as ‘comdev’ and ‘Censtat’ have been used to enhance the feeling of being in another world; however, through their descriptions, they seem to be everyday things such as a mobile phone and the central station in a city.
The author has a wonderful imagination and spends a lot of time building out the world that the novel takes place in. There is a lot of back and forth between past AFS (After First Settlement) 3995 and present AFS 4025 as the characters work to find out what caused Krissa’s trauma. Diving into her past they discover her martial arts skills and teaching a banned style of fighting, her trouble with those in political power, and the brutalization that she must endure at their hands.
Deehabta’s Song is a science fiction dystopian thriller novel with some fantasy and supernatural elements mixed in as well. The protagonist is a strong female character that will attract readers looking for a novel that breaks away from traditional women’s roles.
Pages: 186 | ASIN : B08QHQMKML
Cockatoos in the Mangroves
Vanessa Lee-AhMat boldly confronts racism and prejudice against the indigenous Australians in her collection of poetry Cockatoos in the Mangroves. In this unforgettable collection, she profusely expresses her love and pride in her heritage, exemplifying her cultural identity as an Aboriginal-Torres Strait Islander and relaying her rich cultural experience on the island. This thought-provoking book is categorized into three sections, each containing twenty-two, eighteen, and nineteen poems respectively, each channeling distinct confessions and experiences. However, their expressions have one thing in common- pain.
The author begins with the category ‘Cutting Through The Racism,’ with a poem that forms the basis of this category. The poem describes a speck of history, when Terra Nullius was declared over indigenous Australians’ lands, thus robbing them of their land and culture, but lauding it as commendable in the pages of history. This category offers a variety of viewpoints regarding the discrimination of indigenous Australians and the bigotry directed at them, shedding light on suicides that are the result of humanity’s failure to fully accept them. The author makes a scathing attack on the system falsely claiming support, but she eventually bounces back with a drive and strength of a resilient woman.
‘Becoming,’ the second category in the collection, has some of the most striking poetry, including poems that are indicative of black woman’s fortitude and perseverance in the face of continual opposition and discrimination. In this category, one also sees the author’s staunch pride in her old-age customs and civilizations. The collection concludes with the category ‘Black Earth,’ which raises new issues about the government’s and people’s careless destruction of the ancestors’ land, animals, and other natural resources, which are being devoured by wildfire. The section chiefly warns the ignorant, ‘privileged’ population to act before unfavorable climate changes make everyone pay dearly for their irresponsible acts. Cockatoos in the Mangroves, the title of the poetry book, is the final poem, which wonderfully summarizes all of the major ideas in the poem.
When read without any context, the poems at first appear to be jumbled memories and thoughts. However, when these dispersed feelings are assembled and seen in the light of the context, the thoughts come together wonderfully and with clarity. The author has bravely articulated the injustices that individuals have endured simply for being indigenous Australians, venting and condemning the hierarchies that have so egregiously worn the blind cloth to the injustices that have been perpetrated against communities.
Cockatoos in the Mangroves is a moving collection of poems that are brief and direct. Readers that appreciate raw realism, history, and deep meaningful poetry will find this collection a much-needed addition to their library.
Pages: 108 | ASIN : B08L62WZTM
Dancing With Life
Dancing With Life: A Young Woman’s Quest for Art, Love, and Freedom is a travel memoir by Dhyanis Carniglia. This is a memoir that took a lot of courage to write and even more courage to publish for everyone to read considering the fact that the author shares her entire life with us. From a childhood filled with love, an abusive marriage and escaping it, raising a child, meeting new people, traveling all over the world, and many more topics this is a story about finding one’s self in the world, finding the way to the art within us and accepting one’s self as we are.
This impassioned memoir is written in a way that makes it feel like we are not reading a book, but rather having a cup of coffee with a friend and them telling us stories of their life; so simple yet extraordinary. It deals with themes of everyday life, some of which are warm and happy and others are pills that are hard to swallow; this is exactly what makes this book fascinating.
While reading this stirring book readers will be able to relate to the author on many different levels, some stories are universal while others are distinctly unique. When reading this extraordinary memoir, readers will become invested in the stories being told and the quest that Carniglia is on. Each chapter of this emotional memoir tells a different part of Carniglia’s life and is thought out so well that readers will not be able to put the book down.
Dancing With Life: A Young Woman’s Quest for Art, Love, and Freedom by Dhyanis Carniglia, is a memorable biography of her life, her fascinating travels, and her arresting life experiences. Even though it is the life story of a specific person, we can all find pieces of ourselves in it and that is the best thing a book can do for its reader.
Pages: 191 | ASIN : B08ZLB6GB3
LITERARY TITAN 