 Open wide, or close up tight? When it comes to borders, that’s a question that divides countries, states, and even families. It’s a question that might seem answerable with one word, either way, but it’s really not. Like everything these days, it’s complicated and contentious. And then, there are the exceptions… In the new book “In the Shadow of Freedom” by Tchicaya Missamou with Travis Sentell, you’ll read the story of one immigrant and his journey to the U.S., starting with his childhood. It was an idyllic growing-up: as a boy, Tchicaya Missamou had little to do than play with his friends in the grasslands surrounding his home in Brazzaville, Congo. Naked and barefoot, “Tchic” and his friends practiced hunting, fighting, and other little-boy games that children play when they have the freedom. He also made a mundelé (white) friend, the having of which was a rarity because Congolese natives were expected to be deferential to whites. At eight years old, he met his father for the first time, just before Missamou was told by one of his fifteen siblings that he was at their father’s house to go to school. He quickly became the “favored son” and was privy to his father’s business dealings. Civil War broke out in Brazzaville when Missamou was barely a teenager. One day after school, soldiers gave guns to him and his friends, and instructed them to bar other ethnic groups from the area. After the war was over and much blood had been shed, Missamou and his friends were expected to return to being just boys. But the journey had been set: at sixteen, and on the wishes of his father, Missamou took the entry test for the gendarmerie. After graduating from the boot-camp-like training, Missamou started working for local mundelé, while civil unrest brewed around the city. When soldiers discovered his side-job, they accused Missamou of being a traitor and they tried to kill his family. “…I saw [things] that no man should ever have to see,” said Missamou. The only escape was to flee, but plane tickets were expensive and leaving the Congo was illegal. It took an unbelievable act of courage and love to save Missamou’s life. And that, believe it or not, is only about half the true story. In earlier parts of “In the Shadow of Freedom”, authors Tchicaya Missamou and Travis Sentell write of a happy childhood so vividly described that it’s hard to reconcile the delightful carefree-ness with the calm, controlled recounting of horror that follows in this story. Later, in several quietly humorous passages, the authors will make you smile, only to make you hold your breath once again. I loved this book. I loved its elegance and courage, I loved its humility and strength, and I loved the triumphant closure the authors hand their readers. “In the Shadow of Freedom” sings with joy and howls with pain. It contains humor, terror, and guts. And if you want a book you won’t soon forget, close your hands tight around this one. “In the Shadow of Freedom” by Tchicaya Missamou with Travis Sentell © 2010, Atria $15.00 / $19.99 Canada 387 pages
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 “And stay out of trouble!” There they were, the oft-repeated departing instructions from parents and teachers, grandparents and big brothers. You heard those words all your life, over and over. Stay out of trouble, as if it was easy. Stay out of trouble, as if temptation wasn’t everywhere. As if anything fun ever came from being good. As if it was possible. In the new book “Two the Hard Way” by Travis Hunter, two brothers from Atlanta’s inner city don’t have to bother searching for trouble. Trouble finds them all by itself. Although seventeen-year-old Romeo Braxton looked up to his big brother, there was no way he was going to be like Kwame. That’s because Kwame was serving two years in prison for his involvement in a drug situation. The thing is, everybody in the projects knew he was innocent. When Kwame’s friend, Wicked, asked for a favor and the cops showed up to find hidden bags of weed and white in the truck Kwame was driving, Kwame took the rap for his boy. He didn’t open his mouth, and he lost two years of his life for it. He wasn’t about to let Romeo follow in his footsteps. And the boys’ grandmother wasn’t going to let it happen, either. Nana raised those boys when their mother, Pearl, couldn’t care for them any longer, and she expected good things from Kwame and Romeo. Romeo had football coaches knocking at the door all the time and college was in his future. Kwame had had a similar future before the arrest, but Nana knew he’d be fine once he just got home. But things were far from fine, and life in the inner city was hard for a young black man. Living up to his name, Wicked tempted Kwame back into the Life, though Kwame was disgusted by the idea of it all. A girl in the ‘hood was going around telling everybody that she was pregnant with Romeo’s baby – which was possibly true. Then Pearl started hanging around Nana’s house, and the real trouble began… Got big plans for the weekend? Whatever they are, scrap them. Once you start this book, reading is all you’ll want to do. Using true-life experiences from the kids he mentors, author Travis Hunter yanks you straight into the inner city where guns are easily gotten and used, rules are re-written or ignored altogether, and respect is viewed as currency. Though the violence in this book is largely intimated, there’s plenty of grit in the setting here. In the middle of this maelstrom, Hunter then introduces some of the most likeable characters you’ll ever find: boys who aren’t afraid to cry, show fear, or admit mistakes, and are willing to stand up for what’s right. This makes for a smooth novel that’s easy to slip into, and easy to stick with. Meant for 15-to-18-year-olds, “Two the Hard Way” is definitely appropriate for anyone well past those ages. If you’re looking for a first-class story to read, you’ll have no trouble enjoying this one. “Two the Hard Way” by Travis Hunter © 2010, Kensington Dafina $9.95 / $11.95 Canada 265 pages
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 When you were a kid, you thought you were so smart. Back then, you knew better than your elders, but you also knew better than to tell them that. You were smart enough to get away with doing things (you thought) they never learned about. For sure, nobody could touch you in the brains department when you were a kid.
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 By Terri Schlichenmeyer You hate breaking promises. It’s not the look you see on the face of the person you’ve disappointed that bothers you – although that’s bad enough. And it’s not that you have a personal reputation to defend – but you do. The problem with breaking promises is the guilt you’ll never assuage until you’ve made things better. And in the new book “Blair Underwood Presents From Cape Town with Love” by Underwood, Tananarive Due, and Steven Barnes, that “making better” part could get Tennyson Hardwick killed. Tennyson “Ten” Hardwick had a hard time following the knife. It stabbed the air quickly, like a sewing machine needle more than a weapon in the hands of a slight, bald man. But the display was no parlor trick: Ten knew a threat when he saw one. Then, snakelike, the man melted into the crowd and Ten’s mind was back on the job, keeping the throng away from rich, gorgeous Sofia Maitlin as she hurried into the South African orphanage. Maitlin had hired him to protect her as she visited the child she was adopting, and Ten took his work seriously. Months later, the memory of that knife bothered Ten with a nagging unease. He’d since reconnected with an old high-school classmate who was beautiful, smart, and gave him plenty else to think about, but that disquiet returned afresh when Maitlin hired him to work security at her daughter Nandi’s birthday party. Two hundred Hollywood parents and children were at the party, along with dozens of caterers and service workers. There were clowns at this party, carnies, and two elaborate inflatable bouncy-ships with lots of places for kids to hide – a security nightmare, in other words. And when the worst can happen, it always does. Little Nandi was playing on an inflatable bouncy-ship when she went in but didn’t come out. A frantic afternoon search turned up nothing but an adult-sized hole in a back fence, and a hair ribbon the child had worn. The ransom call came that evening. The kidnappers wanted five million dollars, then more. And a little girl cried into the phone… Hot enough for ya? No? Then turn up the heat because “From Cape Town with Love” grabs you by the shirtfront on Page One, slams you into the action with no apology, and pins you there. In this third book of the Tennyson Hardwick series, authors Blair Underwood, Tananarive Due, and Steven Barnes give readers a further peek into their main character’s personality while still preserving his sense of mystery. Bodyguard, sometime-actor, and former gigolo Tennyson Hardwick is cooler than a glacier, a man’s man who can’t resist women or responsibility but who has a soft spot that he’s not afraid to show. An enigmatic guy like that is hard to resist, so don’t even try. Though this novel can be read as a standalone book, reading the previous two will give you a better frame of reference. You won’t mind, though, because “From Cape Town with Love” gives your summer so much more promise.
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By Kam Williams “I only hope that the simple but insightful Principles captured in this book will allow for you, the reader, to first get within yourself and be guided in a positive way by the instructions given out by God for a healthy, quality, and satisfied life. Secondly, I hope that others will be stimulated and encouraged by you to get within themselves by studying and meditating on the Word of God.” – Excerpted from the Preface (pgs. xi-xviii) Did you ever try reading the entire Bible cover to cover? If so, then you know that some of it is so boring (“So-and-so begat so-and-so who begat so-and-so” and so forth) that your eyes tend to glaze over after a couple of pages. And a lot of what’s not sleep-inducing is so dense that you could use a help discerning the messages being imparted by God in particular passages. For this reason, Christians might make good use of H.O.L.Y. B.I.B.L.E.: A Compliment to Your Daily Bible Study. If you notice, there’s a period after each letter in the title, that’s because each one stands for the first letter in the mnemonic: Humble Obedience Leverages Your Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth. The book was written by Wesley J. Malcolm, a man of humble origins hailing from Simsboro, Louisiana who over the course of his career worked his way up from janitor to assistant vice president of a major financial institution. But this opus was inspired less by any of the author’s worldly accomplishments than by a love of God whose name he promises to praise forever. The text might best be thought of as an unpretentious, plain English interpretation of the Bible which breaks down each book by chapter and verse, starting with Genesis clear through to Revelation. To give you an idea of what to expect, here’s how Mr. Malcolm explains the scriptures relating the story of Adam and Eve: “Giving in to temptation only weakens our faith.” Then, after all the entries for all the individual chapters, he summarizes Genesis with, “We should always put God first with less value on wealth, comfort and success.” A practical companion to the Good Book for anybody who’s been Born Again, and it would probably prove probably come in handy at home for folks with kids too fidgety to pay attention during Sunday School. To order a copy of H.O.L.Y. B.I.B.L.E: A Compliment to Your Daily Bible Study, visit amazon.com. “H.O.L.Y.B.I.B.L.E.: A Compliment To Your Daily Bible Study” by Wesley J. Malcolm © 2010, AuthorHouse Paperback $19.99 286 pages, Illustrated
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 By Terri Schlichenmeyer You’ve seen the video at least two dozen times, maybe more. You’d watch it again right now if you could. You can’t stop til you get enough. Seeing 1,500 orange-jumpsuit-clad inmates doing a perfectly-choreographed Zombie Dance brings back such happy memories. It makes you want to watch the original video, complete with the undead doing dance-steps you once copied. You can probably still do those steps. You need to find those LPs you’ve got stored in the basement. You need to hear that tune again. In the new book “Thriller: The Musical Life of Michael Jackson” by Nelson George, you’ll learn about that song and the album that smashed (and still holds) world records nearly thirty years after its release. Nelson George says he grew up with the Jackson 5 “in [his] DNA.” As a music critic and journalist, he considered Michael Jackson as one of his “primary subjects”; Jackson was the focus of his first book. George spoke to Michael once, awkwardly. For awhile, he was a much called-upon Michael Jackson authority. But there might not have been a Michael Jackson, King of Pop, had it not been for Joe Jackson, says George. He argues that it was Joe who urged his children to find their musical talent. Joe set up gigs, and drove his boys to concert houses and to success. Joe Jackson “instilled in Michael the work ethic noticed by everyone…” In this book, George looks at Michael Jackson’s life and the impact of Thriller, particularly in the lives of African Americans. The album, he points out, was released before Oprah made her AM Chicago debut. It broke records before Whoopi Goldberg was a star. It was a mega-seller before Michael Jordan was chosen by the Chicago Bulls. It debuted before The Cosby Show. It deliberately “blurred” racial lines. “In the continuing dialogue over what Michael means and what his legacy is, as both artist and man, Thriller should be the central point of reference.” Remember when your father yelled at you to “TURN THAT MUSIC DOWN”? You didn’t, and you shouldn’t turn this book down, either. But there are a few things you should know… As a consummate music critic, author Nelson George does a fine job dissecting Michael Jackson’s music and his life. I didn’t mind George’s personal stories woven in between his narrative of Michael’s life and career; in fact, I enjoyed them. I was fascinated by the cultural touchpoints that put Michael’s career into perspective, given the times. But “Thriller: The Musical Life of Michael Jackson” is scattershot: George sometimes bounces from point to point, which can be hard to follow. Some stories seemed to be hastily inserted, as if he didn’t want to forget to tell them; others begged to be expounded-upon, but weren’t. Astute fans will also notice at least one factual error in this book. Still, if you grew up with MJ’s music in your ears, you shouldn’t even try to resist this pop-culture-based memoir-filled critique. For you, “Thriller” is going to make you “he he hee”. “Thriller: The Musical Life of Michael Jackson” by Nelson George © 2009, 2010, DeCapo $24.00 / $30.50 Canada 241 pages, includes index
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 By Terri Schlichenmeyer With truly mixed feelings, you awaited the day. On one hand, you couldn’t wait to see your child take his first steps. It was you, after all, who helped him practice by holding his little fingers as he tippy-toed between your knees. On the other hand, you knew that as soon as he took those first steps, nothing would be safe any more, including him. Not only could he reach for breakable things, but he could also reach for the stars. Before your child got that far, though, you had to give him confidence that he could do it. In the new book “Walk Like You Have Somewhere to Go” by Lucille O’Neal (with Allison Samuels), Shaq’s mom tells about what it took to go “from mental welfare to mental wealth.” When Lucille O’Neal was two years old, her parents divorced and her father fled his Georgia home with his children and parents in tow. Possibly overwhelmed, O’Neal’s father ceded custody of his children to his elders who, O’Neal says, were stoic descendants of slaves. They thought a house and clothing was love enough, and that nothing else needed to be said. Perhaps because she heard too many negative comments and very little positive, O’Neal experienced what she calls “mental welfare”, which she describes as a total lack of self-esteem. That lack may have caused her to search for a “father figure” in the older men she dated, one of whom was the father of her firstborn son. By the time Shaquille was born, O’Neal had re-bonded with her mother, who was absent in O’Neal’s early childhood. Later, after Shaquille became a high school, then college, then NBA star, her mother helped raise the three other children born to O’Neal and the man she married. O’Neal says that her husband was a good man, but he sometimes surprised her with his forcefulness. His word was law in their household, and O’Neal didn’t like it. As her children grew and moved on, O’Neal had time to make sister-friends and to acquire her own voice. She found God again, and a church that supported her as a person, not as the mother of a celebrity. She discovered her own worth, filed for divorce, and now walks with her head held high. Are you totally whack for Shaq? You’ll find a bit of bio here, but that’s not really the point of this book. Author Lucille O’Neal instead tells her own story: how she overcame a lack of self-esteem that was instilled in her as a child, and how she passed her new-found confidence on to her own children. “Walk Like You Have Somewhere to Go” will make you smile, but – more importantly – it empowers you to find strength, and faith in yourself and a higher power. If you love to watch Shaq play ball, you’ll enjoy knowing where his tenacity came from but you don’t have to be a fan to enjoy this book. “Walk Like You Have Somewhere to Go” is worth stepping out to find for itself. “Walk Like You Have Somewhere to Go” by Lucille O’Neal © 2010, Thomas Nelson $22.99 / $28.99 Canada 256 pages
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 Sometimes, you feel like you’re being stalked. The woman two doors down keeps asking you to lunch or to join her after work or to check out her book club. You’ve politely (and not-so-politely) declined at least ten times and she keeps on asking. She’s nice and all that, but you have no intention of having a new best friend - and even if you did, it wouldn’t be her. But hold up. Maybe that hand of friendship she’s extending may change your life. That’s what happened to Alma, and in the new book “Red Hats” by Damon Wayans, she didn’t want that, either. How hard would it have been for Harold to do something right for once? Alma, his wife, remembered how wonderful things were when they were first married and their romance was new, but lately, all he did was sleep, drink, and paw at her. Alma couldn’t stand it, and she wished Harold was dead. But when his frail heart stopped, Alma was devastated. She truly did love Harold, even though she complained about him all the time. Alma’s children, Teddy (who married a white woman Alma called “The Wet Dog”), Angel (who had a lout for a husband) and Jesse (a heroin addict) tried to tell her that Harold knew how much she adored him, but it didn’t do any good. Alma became depressed. She just wanted to be left alone. If only that persistent woman, Delilah, would understand that. Delilah, or Dee to her friends, was a member of the Red Hat Society, and she kept asking Alma to join the group. Dee even bought Alma one of those stupid red hats, but Alma refused to wear it. She didn’t need a bunch of hat-wearing, purple-dressed, meddling women around. But when disaster happened, Dee was the only person in the world who reached out to help Alma. She opened her home and her heart to Alma, who had no choice, really, but to put up with Dee’s loud-mouthed Red Hat friends. Dee even saved the red hat she bought for Alma in the hopes that Alma might wear it. And Alma finally did – for an event that she never thought would happen… For a first novel, this isn’t bad. It’s not good, either. “Red Hats” is a five out of ten. It’s square in the middle. It’s a solid so-so with fine points and not-so-fine points. Author Damon Wayans’ sense of comedy comes out in his excellent characterizations, especially that of Alma. She’s grumpy, sour, nasty, she says what she thinks, and she made me laugh. By far, she’s the best part of this book. Still, I got bored. “Red Hats” has too much going on; some of it goes nowhere and other plot lines labor for a long time before they tie up in an oh-so-convenient (and quite unbelievable) way. Overall, I think this book is worth a look-see, but it probably won’t be the best thing you’ve ever read. Keep that in mind and “Red Hats” won’t make you blue. “Red Hats” by Damon Wayans © 2010, Atria Books $19.99 / $27.00 Canada 214 pages
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 Every Monday, your mother wakes you up early for breakfast, tells you to hurry up and get dressed, and takes you to school when she goes to work.
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 When the doctor said you needed a booster shot, it made you wince. You’re all grown up and you know that a vaccine is nothing but a poke, a sting, and lots of protection. No big deal. So why is there a little-kid part of you that wants to wail when the needle approaches your arm (or worse)? Few people ask for shots, but if you’ve ever been treated for hemophilia, leukemia, the flu, Parkinson’s disease, an STD, lactose intolerance, appendicitis or dozens of other illnesses, you owe big thanks to one woman who never volunteered to help you. Read more in “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” by Rebecca Skloot. Born in Roanoke, Virginia in 1920, Henrietta Lacks grew up in the Jim Crow South, dropped out of school in the sixth grade, and had her first child by age fourteen. The boy’s father, a man who later became Henrietta’s husband, was her first cousin. Though she’d sometimes complained about and saw doctors for an abdominal “knot”, it wasn’t until after the birth of her fifth child that Henrietta was hospitalized for pain and bleeding. Prior to that, doctor’s notes indicated nothing amiss, but it was then that a cancerous tumor was found on the side of Henrietta’s cervix. In great pain, burned by radiation, and wasted by disease, Henrietta died in October, 1951. But long before she did, someone had taken several thin slices of her tumor as a matter of course, for use in the lab. What researchers discovered astounded them. Although “normal” cells die after a certain time, cancer cells belonging to Henrietta Lacks didn’t. Her cells, dubbed HeLa, actually grew and were durable beyond anything scientists knew. Within months after Henrietta’s death, her cells were growing around the world, used for research, and grown again. But the life and journeys of HeLa cells is only part of the story. Though science gained vast knowledge about the human body and disease thanks to Henrietta, the Lacks family was late in learning that her cells were alive and being used for experiment and profit. Details were withheld, explanations were often incomplete, and misinformation was common. New laws were written because of Henrietta Lacks, and lawsuits were filed. And the family still fights for better recognition of her contributions to the world. Mixing science and medicine, African American history, racial issues, and a journalist’s enthusiasm, author Rebecca Skloot writes of extreme patience and doggedness in pursuit of the truth about a woman went anonymous for way too long. Skloot is a fantastic storyteller, and her sympathy with the Lacks family surely gives this book a different feel. I very much enjoyed how she wove the Lacks family’s personal history with medical sleuthing, cultural touchpoints, and the kind of persistence that makes a great book like this. If you’re looking for a story that will shock you, amaze you, and anger you more than a little bit, pick this one up. For you, “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” is definitely worth a shot. “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” by Rebecca Skloot © 2010, Crown $26.00 / $32.00 Canada 370 pages, including notes
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