Ebony Bookshelf - recommended new books - Brief Article

Ebony, Nov, 2001

THE band played, cheerleaders waved and yelled, and the crowd erupted in applause when 19-year-old Adam Taliaferro led the Penn State football team onto the field for the Nittany Lions' season opener against Miami in August. There was a bounce in Taliaferro's step, even if his gait was a little ungainly due to the slight limp that altered his stride. Still, the stadium roared in approval as though the former cornerback had sprinted onto the field like Michael Johnson. Everyone knew it was a miracle that Adam Taliaferro could walk at all.

One year earlier, Taliaferro's life took a dramatic turn and his once-promising football career was cut short when the 5-foot-11, 183-pound cornerback shattered a bone in his neck and bruised his spinal chord after a jarring hit on an Ohio State running back. The collision left Taliaferro paralyzed from the neck down. Doctors said he might never walk again. Those doctors, however, underestimated the grit and determination of Adam Taliaferro. He would fight his way back. Amazingly, he would walk again.

Miracle in the Making: The Adam Taliaferro Story (Triumph Books, $16.95) recounts the courageous, year-long struggle to get back on his feet. Authors Scott Brown and Sam Carchidi trace Taliaferro's life from his start as a National Honor Society student and star athlete at South Jersey's Eastern High School through his grueling rehab and ultimate return to Penn State.

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT:

MICHELLE V. AGINS AND JULIA CHANCE

Photojournalist Michelle V. Agins and writer Julia Chance have collaborated on a new coffee-table volume focusing on the distinct bonds that exist between many women. Sisterfriends (Pocket Books, $28.50) features intimate portraits of well-known and unknown women--including singer Mary J. Blige, Iyanla Vanzant and Jasmine Guy--who along with their sisters, both blood relatives and special friends, share their stories of love, support and enduring friendship.

EBONY: How did this book come about?

JC: There was already a book on the market called Sisters. It, too, is a photo essay book and it included some African-Americans. But like a lot of things that are mainstream, there were things that are unique to us that it didn't quite capture. So there was a feeling that there needed to be a book that really portrayed the specialness of African-American sisters.

EBONY: How did you find the sisters you included?

MA: Some of them are sisters that I knew, some are sisters that Julia knew, but a lot of it was word of mouth. It was calling around and asking people for interesting siblings. We didn't want just everyday "Yeah, I love my sister" stories. We wanted people who didn't necessarily like their sisters, but still loved them. Or people who grew up with best friends who felt like these women were more their sisters than their own sisters.

EBONY: What did you learn from these women?

JC: The biggest lesson for me was to see how strong the sister bond is. Most of these sisters have gone through something--sometimes it's a hardship--but for whatever reason, they have chosen to stick together as sisters. They've made that commitment to be there for each other, and in some cases, agree to disagree. That's very special, and that's what I think this book brings out.

MA: For me, I sort of realized at the end of this project that I missed something because I didn't grow up with sisters. I have all brothers. But by the time we finished this, I had all these new sisters. We were like family.

BOOKSHELF

Black Hair: Art, Style and Culture (Universe, $25) is a celebration in prose and pictures of the history and cultural significance of the hairstyles of African-American women, edited by Ima Ebony with a foreward by A'lelia Bundles, great-great-granddaughter of hair care mogul Madame C.J. Walker.

Bombingham (The Free Press, $24) is the powerful debut novel of Anthony Grooms, a professor of creative writing at Kennesaw State University. It is the coming-of-age story of Walter Burke, a young man scarred by the violence he has witnessed both in his hometown, Birmingham, at the height of the civil rights struggle and in the killing fields of Vietnam.

In Rejuvenate; It's Never Too Late (Scribner, $20), 73-year-old singer, dancer, actress Eartha Kitt shares her strategies to stay physically and mentally fit well into the golden years. Written with Tonya Bolden, the book includes simple exercises and Kitt's inspiring suggestions for living a long and healthy life.

Pride & Joy: African-American Baby Celebrations (Pocket Books, $16.95) offers tips on how to incorporate African traditions into the celebration of the birth and life or your child. Author Janice Robinson provides suggestions for baby-focused fests designed to celebrate our African heritage and strengthen the bond to those who came before us.

Sympathy for the Devil (Crown Publshers, $23) is the first novel of former Justice Department Attorney Christopher Chambers. In it, he introduces us to Angela Bivens, the smart, sexy FBI agent whose entanglement in an investigation into the murders of two teenage girls leads to complex personal entanglements as well.