Leaderboard

Hi Karen, it is not so much that the reviewer was white it is more a function of Kirkus' business model. Now most writers would simply run with the quote; “A richly textured, affecting tale of a family’s resilience in the face of injustice.” —Kirkus ... and be very happy. It is the service Kirkus sells. You are buying the "white co-sign," otherwise know as credibility. Which indie authors believe will lead to media coverage and sales. Of course, that is not the way book reviews work, but that is an entirely different conversation. Now Kirkus reviews start at $450 for 250 words. AALBC reviews are $299 (most of the cost goes to the reviewer and editor). Even it we review a book at no cost to the author, AALBC still incurs the expense to pay the reviewer and editor. As a result, we do not review may book for "free." I did not use Kirkus reviews to discover books, the reviews are basically 200 words rehashing the book's plot followed by something quotable (like the one above). The closest a consumer will get to a kirkus review is on the book's jacket or marketing materials. I do however use Kirkus Awards for book discovery, but that is a different thing. Bottom line, if we (readers, authors, and publishers) want to have critical book reviews written by professional writers and published platforms with an audience we HAVE to support the platforms that write these book reviews! We have to share the reviews, print the quotes on book covers and promotional materials; We have to act like these reviews matter. Because if we don't, all we will be left with is the likes of Kirkus.

Mel Africans are all over the place, both as immigrants AND as natives. Most people don't realize not only were Africans in the Americas but we were also in Europe and China for THOUSANDS of years before Caucasians and modern Asians arrived in those places. Caucasians aren't the native Europeans, they FOUND Black African people already there when they migrated FROM the mountains of Central Asia, and consequently slaughtered and displaced most of them. You know when an African couple opens a hair salon in Beijing They're definitely about that life lol I like to hear Africans are making inroads into the Asian economy, especially since so many Chinese are in Africa buying up land and resources. However I have to wonder if the Chinese and Japanese aren't contributing to the brain-drain that the United States and the West already engages in. I'll never forget how somebody explained to me years ago that when Black people move to non-Black communities (nations or even just a neighborhood) and do great and impressive things, often times history records it as "that community" doing great and impressive things instead of distinguishing the Black individual who accomplished it. So the entire nation/community get's the credit while the negative image of the Black nation/community that produced them remains. I have a good example of what I'm talking about..... Right now you have a girl who is an up and coming tennis star winning all types of championships named Naomi Osaka who is half Black (Haitian) and half East Asian (Japanese) but because her parents raised her in Japan for much of her life, JAPAN is getting the credit for producing this wonderful sister instead of Haiti. I hope they will before it's too late. Well you can rest easy because I don't think it will ever really be "too late" for us because I believe Black people are "immortal". What we don't do in THIS round we may do hundreds, thousands, or millions of years down the road. However like you, I want to see it in my lifetime where I can enjoy it. I would love to buy land and invest in an African nation like Rwanda which is supposed to be one of the cleanest and most peaceful on the planet now.

@DelanoDon't fall for it, Twin. Troy has met someone but she makes him uncomfortable and he can't find his balance in the relationship. He's asking you how to proceed because he can't find his normal. Just tell him to go with the flow -he's a strong swimmer. But the more he struggles the more he'll find himself in an undertow.