Leaving Cecil Street
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Leaving Cecil Street
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Author : Diane McKinney-Whetstone
language : en
Publisher: Zondervan
Release Date : 2009-10-13
Leaving Cecil Street written by Diane McKinney-Whetstone and has been published by Zondervan this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2009-10-13 with Fiction categories.
A riveting tale about a back-room abortion that has devastating consequences for two teenage girls on a close knit Philadelphia block circa 1972 Block parties were king in this West Philadelphia neighborhood, especially the year Cecil Street decided to have two. These energetic, sensual street celebrations serve as backdrops to the story of best friends Neet and Shay and their families. When Neet becomes pregnant by one of the corner boys, Shay arranges an abortion that goes terribly awry when Neet begins to hemorrhage. Neet is left unable to bear children and to Shay’s horror slips under the spell of her mother Alberta’s severe, esoteric religious beliefs. Shay is left to struggle with the grief of losing a cherished friendship, while she also bears witness to the the disintegration of her parents’ marriage. The story climaxes during the second block party, during which time it is discovered that Neet and Alberta have disappeared from Cecil Street—the holy-roller mother, Alberta, having finally been set free from the shackles of her church by none other than Shay’s father.
Leaving Cecil Street
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Author : Diane McKinney-Whetstone
language : en
Publisher: William Morrow
Release Date : 2004-03-30
Leaving Cecil Street written by Diane McKinney-Whetstone and has been published by William Morrow this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2004-03-30 with Fiction categories.
. . . though the block had long ago made the transition from white to colored to Negro to Black Is Beautiful, the city still provided street cleaning . . . when the children took to the outside and there was the familiar smack, smack of the double-Dutch rope. The sound was a predictable comfort. Like the sounds of the Corner Boys, a mildly delinquent lot consumed with pilfering Kool cigarettes or the feel of a virgin girl's behind. . . . As she did in her previous novels Tumbling and Blues Dancing, Diane McKinney-Whetstone once again masterfully renders time and place, character and emotional intensities. It is 1969 and Cecil Street is "feeling some kind of way," so the residents decide to have two block parties this year. These energetic, sensual street celebrations serve as backdrops to the stories of the people on the block. Joe, a long-ago sax player, has turned his eye across the street to a newly arrived young southern beauty even as he is suddenly haunted by memories of his horn-playing nights and his affection for a shy, soft hooker from years ago. Joe's wife, Louise, a licensed practical nurse, is losing her teeth to gum disease and her joy to sensing that Joe's attention has wandered. Their teenage daughter, Shay, is consumed with helping her best friend and next-door neighbor Neet, who has gotten pregnant by a Corner Boy. Neet's mother, Alberta, is shunned by the block because of her immersion in a religion that has no name. As the novel opens, the first block party has ended and a naked woman has secretly taken up residence in Joe and Louise's cellar. McKinney-Whetstone's superb gift for language and storytelling, for crafting scenes that leave the reader breathless, for distilling complex human emotion in a well-turned phrase, is on full display here. She portrays the community and the times with precision and compassion in an unforgettable story that gets under the skin. As the novel builds to the second block party, the past becomes as immediate as the present, condemnable acts become righteous, and what is tragic is also filled with hope. This P.S. edition features an extra 16 pages of insights into the book, including author interviews, recommended reading, and more.
Tumbling
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Author : Diane Mckinney-whetstone
language : en
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Release Date : 1997-04-09
Tumbling written by Diane Mckinney-whetstone and has been published by Simon and Schuster this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 1997-04-09 with Fiction categories.
A beautiful and uplifting debut from one of the,most exciting voices in new black fiction.,.
Tempest Rising
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Author : Diane McKinney-Whetstone
language : en
Publisher: Harper Collins
Release Date : 2009-03-17
Tempest Rising written by Diane McKinney-Whetstone and has been published by Harper Collins this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2009-03-17 with Fiction categories.
Class, race, and sexuality converge in this page-turning story of desire, jealousy, and survival. Set in west Philadelphia in the early sixties, Tempest Rising tells the story of three sisters, Bliss, Victoria, and Shern, budding adolescents raised in a world of financial privilege among the upper-black-class. But their lives quickly unravel as their father's lucrative catering business collapses. When their father disappears suddenly, he is presumed dead, sending their mother spiraling into an apparent breakdown. The girls are wrenched from their mother and dumped into foster care in a working-class neighborhood in the home of Mae, a politically connected card shark. Though Mae lavishes affection onto her foster children, she is abusive to her own child, Ramona, a twenty-something stunning beauty. As Ramona struggles with Mae's abuse and her own hatred for the foster children, she also tries to keep at bay a powerful attraction she has for her boyfriend's father. In Tempest Rising, McKinney-Whetstone richly evokes the early 1960s in west Philadelphia in this story of loss and healing, redemption, and love.
Blues Dancing
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Author : Diane McKinney-Whetstone
language : en
Publisher: Zondervan
Release Date : 2009-10-13
Blues Dancing written by Diane McKinney-Whetstone and has been published by Zondervan this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2009-10-13 with Fiction categories.
"McKinney-Whetstone uses her gift for language to weave a love story that spans more than twenty years and three lives. . . . Blues Dancing is a novel well worth curling up with a long winter’s night." —Essence From acclaimed writer Diane McKinney-Whetstone, a richly spun tale of love and passion, betrayal, redemption, and faith, set in contemporary Philadelphia. My aunt says if you smell butter on a foggy night you're getting ready to fall in love. For the last twenty years, the beautiful Verdi Mae has led a comfortable life with Rowe, the conservative professor who rescued her from addiction when she was an undergrad. But her world is about to shift when the smell of butter lingers in the air and Johnson—the boy from the back streets of Philadelphia who pulled her into the fire of passion and all the shadows cast from it—returns to town. In "this story of self-discovery that moves seamlessly between the early 1970s and early 1990s" (Publishers Weekly, starred review), McKinney-Whetstone takes readers into a world of erotic love, drugs, and political activism, and beautifully illustrates the struggle to reconcile passion with accountability and the redemptive powers of love's rediscovery. This P.S. edition features an extra 16 pages of insights into the book, including author interviews, recommended reading, and more.
Trading Dreams At Midnight
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Author : Diane McKinney-Whetstone
language : en
Publisher: Harper Collins
Release Date : 2009-10-13
Trading Dreams At Midnight written by Diane McKinney-Whetstone and has been published by Harper Collins this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2009-10-13 with Fiction categories.
From the author of Blues Dancing and Tumbling—a writer who “ought to be classified among the best of all contemporary fiction writers period” (Detroit Free Press)—comes a riveting novel about the desire for redemption and rebirth Moving across moments in time, Trading Dreams tells the story of a woman and the grandmother she is deeply connected by love and terrible pain. For years, 33-year-old Neena has waged a relentless search for Freeda, the mother who abandoned her 20 years ago. Neena supports herself by blackmailing married men, but when a stong goes wrong, she finds herself on the run, back to her younger sister, Tish, in Philadelphia. But returning brings terrible grief—and unexpected hope as Neena learns to face the past, her grandmother, and herself. A settled church lady and gifted seamstress, Nan is devoted to her granddaughter, Tish, who is soon to become a mother herself. A vibrant, passionate woman, Nan worries that in some way she caused her daughter Freeda’s instability. Neena’s returning holds unexpected consequences for Nan, too, and eventually she must confront her denial and fears—about the past and the future. In a style that has been characterized as “accessible Toni Morrison,” and “literary Terry McMillan,” Diane McKinney-Whetstone has crafted another powerful story of love, loss, community, and healing that captures what it means to be human.
Our Gen
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Author : Diane McKinney-Whetstone
language : en
Publisher: HarperCollins
Release Date : 2022-07-05
Our Gen written by Diane McKinney-Whetstone and has been published by HarperCollins this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2022-07-05 with Fiction categories.
Residents of an active-living retirement community revert to lives of youthful indulgence, even as time-bomb secrets of their pasts tick toward explosion. The Gen—short for Sexagenarian—is an upscale fifty-five-plus community located in the bucolic suburbs of Philadelphia. Main character Cynthia befriends the Gen’s two other Black residents, Bloc and Tish, as well as Lavia, who everyone assumes is from India. They regularly convene to smoke weed, line dance, and debate politics and philosophy as the wine goes down like silk. Their camaraderie is exhilarating. But beneath the fun and froth, storms gather. With its walls of windows gushing light and air, the Gen becomes the catalyst for secrets to be exposed. Shifting the narrative between the characters’ pasts and the present day, Diane McKinney-Whetstone deftly builds suspense as she captures with insight, poignancy, and humor, the scars, tenderness, and swagger of those not yet old, but no longer young, coming to the mean acceptance that life is finite after all, who knew.
Tumbling
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Author : Diane McKinney-Whetstone
language : en
Publisher: HarperCollins
Release Date : 2017-06-06
Tumbling written by Diane McKinney-Whetstone and has been published by HarperCollins this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2017-06-06 with Fiction categories.
“Warm and intimate. . . . An accomplished novel, with sharply drawn characters, exuberant prose, plenty of period detail and a wise, forgiving outlook on family life.” — Los Angeles Times Book Review Tumbling is the beloved bestselling debut novel that launched the luminous career of Diane McKinney Whetstone, critically acclaimed author of Tempest Rising, Blues Dancing, Leaving Cecil Street, and Trading Dreams at Midnight. Writing in a style as accessible as Terry McMillan, yet with the literary touches of Toni Morrison, McKinney Whetstone’s Tumbling is a poignant, exquisitely rendered story of the ties that bind us and the secrets that keep us apart. Noon and Herbie are deeply in love and living in a tightly knit African American neighborhood in South Philadelphia during the 1940s. But their marriage remains unconsummated because of a horrible incident in Noon's past, so each seeks comfort elsewhere: Noon in the warm acceptance of the neighborhood church; Herbie in the arms of Ethel, a jazz singer. Then one day an infant girl is left on their doorstep, and later Ethel blesses them with her five-year-old niece. Suddenly and unexpectedly a family, Herbie, Noon, and their two girls draw closer—until an outside threat reawakens a fire in Noon, causing her to rise up and fight to hold her family and her community together.
The Abominators
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Author : J.L. Smith
language : en
Publisher: Hachette UK
Release Date : 2013-02-07
The Abominators written by J.L. Smith and has been published by Hachette UK this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2013-02-07 with Juvenile Fiction categories.
Mucker, Boogster, Cheesy and Bob, also known as The Abominators, are the most mischievous characters you will ever have come across. Their interests include chaos, mayhem and filling the school toilets with strawberry jelly. Their interests definitely DO NOT include making friends with panty-wanty-woo-wearing new boy, Cecil Trumpington-Potts. Cecil, however, is certain he can change their minds . . .
Lazaretto
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Author : Diane McKinney-Whetstone
language : en
Publisher: Harper Collins
Release Date : 2016-04-12
Lazaretto written by Diane McKinney-Whetstone and has been published by Harper Collins this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2016-04-12 with Fiction categories.
“Vibrant. . . . Completely engaging. . . . A unique blend of poetic language and graphic depictions of the injustices suffered by African Americans in the post-Civil War period.”— Booklist (starred review) Diane McKinney-Whetstone's stunning historical novel, Lazaretto, begins in the chaotic back streets of post-Civil War Philadelphia as a young black woman, Meda, gives birth to a child fathered by her wealthy white employer. In a city riven by racial tension, the father’s transgression is unforgivable. He arranges to take the baby, so it falls to Sylvia, the midwife’s teenage apprentice, to tell Meda that her child is dead—a lie that will define the course of both women’s lives. A devastated Meda dedicates herself to working in an orphanage and becomes a surrogate mother to two white boys; while Sylvia, fueled by her guilt, throws herself into her nursing studies and finds a post at the Lazaretto, the country’s first quarantine hospital, situated near the Delaware River, just south of Philadelphia. The Lazaretto is a crucible of life and death; sick passengers and corpses are quarantined here, but this is also the place where immigrants take their first steps toward the American dream. The live-in staff are mostly black Philadelphians, and when two of them arrange to marry, the city’s black community prepares for a party on its grounds. But the celebration is plunged into chaos when gunshots ring out across the river. As Sylvia races to save the victim, the fates of Meda’s beloved orphans also converge on the Lazaretto. Here conflicts escalate, lies collapse, and secrets begin to surface. Like dead men rising, past sins cannot be contained.