Posted Date: June 25, 2008

The Real Deal:  A Spiritual Guide For Black Teen Girls

By Lendora Washington
NJG Summer Intern
Howard University Senior
 
    Jeanina Cook, daughter of Billie Cook, the author of The Real Deal: A Spiritual Guide for Black Teen Girls, had no idea that a letter given to her by her mother as a gift for her 16th birthday would one day be expanded into one of Judson Press’s bestsellers and a must-read for all black teenage girls.
    “I just thought she was giving me something that she thought would be useful to me,” said Jeanina Cook.  “I never thought that it was intended to be a book.”
And according to Billie Cook, who lives in Portsmouth, it wasn’t her initial intention either.
    “It started as a letter to my daughter and the letter just kept getting longer,” said Billie Cook.
      Almost 10 years ago, Billie Cook felt that a heart-felt letter would remedy the growing communication problems between her and her daughter. She felt that her advice, when trying to assist Jeanina Cook in dealing with normal teenage problems, was falling on deaf ears.
      “I got the idea to write a letter about the time she was in middle school,” said Billie Cook.  “Everyday she would come home with some new middle school drama about kids saying ‘I don’t like you’ or ‘why do you live here?’ She didn’t listen to me but I thought that if I wrote it down that she would listen.”
      Now 25 years old and a senior biology major at Norfolk State University, Jeanina Cook admits that at the time, she heeded her mother’s advice more when through a letter, than a lecture.
“In some ways, it was easier for me to read it instead of her telling it to me,” said Jeanina Cook. “It’s typical for girls that age to think ‘you’re just saying that because you’re my mother’ when your mom tells you something.” 
      The letter gave Jeanina Cook the guidance she desired and the tools to deal with her problems.
“If I was going through something, I would pick up the letter and it would help me,” said Jeanina Cook. “I would talk to my friends and they would come to me with their problems.”
      After her daughter’s positive reaction to the letter, Billie Cook set out to find a book that would expand upon her ideas in the letter.
      `“I was trying to find something that was written by an author that was a little more polished than what I had given her,” said Billie Cook.  “After searching, I came up empty-handed.”
      Billie Cook felt that this was vital information to share with today’s young women and their parents.
      “I thought I should publish it for other mothers that were out there that couldn’t find the advice in a book, either,” said Billie Cook.
      She started writing plays when her daughter was born, as a stay at home mom.
      “At the time, I was living in New Jersey and my husband pastored a church,” said Billie Cook.  “I wrote plays for the drama ministry.  I went to workshops and wrote columns for a local church magazine.”
       Billie Cook has also authored a historical fiction book called Georgiana Scott: A Free Child of Portsmouth. Writing The Real Deal: A Spiritual Guide For Black Teen Girls book was a change in writing style for Cook; it was her first traditionally published novel.
      “It took about five drafts and about a year and a half to complete the book,” said Billie Cook. “I did three drafts before I ever sent it to a publisher.” 
      Both Billie Cook and Jeanina Cook believe that the book is a very important tool for the spiritual and emotional development of any black teenage girl.
“I think it is important for young girls to read this book,” said Jeanina Cook. “I like that my mom’s book talks about everyday things that affect teenage girls that people might not want to talk about, from parents in prison to suicide.” 
Billie Cook hopes that black teen girls will grasp the central message of her book. 
      “The primary message is really is one of support,” said Billie Cook. “ I’m trying to reassure young women that, despite the images and messages that the world has for them, they should have a relationship with God that they should build upon. I want young women to understand that someone is always praying for them.”

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