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YOLANDA JOE is the bestselling author of several novels including My Fine Lady, The Hatwearer’s Lesson, and Hit Time. A former television and radio producer, she is the author of two mysteries under the pen name Ardella Garland. As a freelance writer, her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Chicago Tribune. A graduate of Yale University and the Columbia University School of Journalism, she lives in Chicago and teaches broadcasting at Columbia College.
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VIDEO COWBOYS
Simon & Schuster – May 24, 2005 Bestselling author Yolanda Joe brings back savvy Chicago reporter Georgia Barnett in a novel that moves to the beat of the newsroom and pulses with wit and intrigue. She’s calling the shots. Georgia is at the center of a chaotic scene, but not as a TV reporter breaking an incredible story. She and her partner, Zeke, are taken hostage when a bomb-wielding gunman holds up a bank. He doesn’t want money, though. He wants national media to focus on the story of his missing daughter. In exchange for access to the airwaves, Georgia can walk. Zeke, however, is going nowhere fast. She’s dodging the bullets. With her tough cop boyfriend away on assignment, Georgia’s taking help where she finds it. Enter the Video Cowboys, a rough-and-tumble camera crew hungry to ride with Georgia on a nail-biting, action-packed investigation that leads them all over Chicago. With a trigger-happy police force facing off against a desperate father, Georgia is under the gun to find the missing girl and save Zeke from the crossfire. And time is running out… Praise for VIDEO COWBOYS “YJoe endows her protagonist with just the right combination of guts and compassion, making us care about her as much as she cares about her work and her people.”—Detroit Free Press |
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MY FINE LADY
Dutton Adult – April 12, 2004 An uplifting story about finding true love and a true voice—with a fresh spin on Pygmalion—from the bestselling author whose novels top 300,000 copies in print. Yolanda Joe has wowed thousands of fans with her lively storylines and savvy heroines. Now she introduces Imani, a rising star whose dreams and challenges will capture the hearts of thousands more. Talented, ambitious, and just twenty-two years old, Imani is surrounded by men with advice about her singing career. Her father, who owns a struggling nightclub, sees Imani’s future as a chance to fulfill his own failed dreams. Her boyfriend, Taz, is determined to become a mega-producer, with Imani’s street rapping as his ticket to fame. But Professor Orenthal Hopson, who teaches in the music department of a historically black college, has his own designs on her: he struck a bet with a colleague requiring him to transform Imani from a hip-hop hopeful into a traditional jazz singer. Like a modern-day Eliza Doolittle, Imani finds herself caught up in a musical makeover that causes her to question who she really wants to become. As Professor Hopson begins to sweep her off her feet, she also has to decide whether to stand by Taz, the man she’s cared about since childhood, or let herself fall for the dashing intellectual. A delight on every page, My Fine Lady presents the dilemmas of romance, family, and career with Yolanda Joe’s signature wit and flair. Praise for MY FINE LADY “Bestseller Joe’s latest gives a nod to My Fair Lady—and, like the musical, it’s predictable but plenty of fun. The inevitable happy ending is the perfect finale.”—Publishers Weekly “A fantastic update of Pygmalion and hip Americanization of My Fair Lady by the best-selling author of The Hat-Wearer’s Lesson, Joe’s compelling tale about one woman’s coming into her own and the dichotomy between educated African Americans and those living in poverty may well become a popular classic in its own right.”—Booklist, Starred Review |
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THE HATWEARER’S LESSON
Dutton Adult – March 10, 2003 Grandma Ollie and her granddaughter Terri have been together since Terri’s mom passed away in Grandma Ollie’s arms, giving birth. Born with an extraordinary sixth sense, Grandma Ollie knows just when things are going to happen, good and bad. So when her pen runs out the day she goes to enter Terri’s engagement into her bible, Grandma Ollie knows something’s wrong with her granddaughter, now a prominent attorney living up North. Terri, however, won’t listen to Grandma Ollie’s concerns. She has a great career, a successful man in her life, and feels like her small town roots are finally far behind her—she’s going places and not looking back. But Grandma Ollie is never wrong… With The Hatwearer’s Lesson, the bestselling author of He Say, She Say; Bebe’s By Golly Wow; and This Just In… gifts us with a heartwarming and high-spirited novel about the lessons life teaches us, the rich histories families share—whether they wear hats or don’t—and the memories we carry with us all our lives. Praise for THE HATWEARER’S LESSON “This is a spirited fairy tale for young black professional women with an ending as predictable, and as satisfying, as one would expect.”—Publishers Weekly “Readers can pick up good advice for building positive self-esteem and choosing mates wisely. The rich imagery and lively dialogue of this novel will at times remind them of Zora Neale Hurston’s romantic masterpiece, Their Eyes Were Watching God”—School Library Journal “Joe’s fans will enjoy this touching novel about what a matriarch with memories and the vision can teach a troubled young woman.”—Booklist |
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HIT TIME
Yolanda Joe, writing as Ardella Garland Simon & Schuster – February 5, 2002 Daredevil TV reporter Georgia Barnett returns in another witty, wild, and heart-stopping mystery by Ardella Garland—pen name of bestselling novelist Yolanda Joe. Georgia Barnett’s live broadcast during an outdoor charity event isn’t the only thing making news. Her report is interrupted by a grim discovery: floating in Lake Michigan is the body of Fab Weaver, head of Hit Time Records, one of the most renowned and cutthroat companies on Chicago’s Record Row. When suspicion falls on Jimmy Flamingo, a close family friend and down-on-his-luck blues guitarist, Georgia and her twin sister Peaches, nightclub owner and blues singer extraordinaire, quickly get on the case. While hunting for evidence that will clear Jimmy, Georgia, Peaches, and Georgia’s handsome love interest, Detective Doug Eckart, uncover a history of incredible artistry and devastating exploitation in the Chicago music business. Their investigation transports them into a bygone era, when Chicago was the hub of the African-American music scene and Record Row was even more prominent than Motown, giving the world such legends as Etta James and Curtis Mayfield. But while their songs ruled the airwaves and sold millions, many R&B artists of that era — including Flamingo — never made millions. As Georgia continues her search for the truth, the legacy of this inequity becomes shockingly apparent. Clever, fast-paced, and endlessly absorbing, Hit Time is a roller-coaster ride of a mystery and an eye-opening look at a controversial slice of America’s musical past. Praise for HIT TIME “Vibrant prose with a jazzy rhythm accentuates an exciting plot.”—Library Journal “Mystery buffs beware Garland’s refreshingly different style can be addictive.”—Publishers Weekly |
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DETAILS AT TEN
Yolanda Joe, writing as Ardella Garland Simon & Schuster – September 25, 2000 With this heart-stopping new thriller, Ardella Garland—pen name of bestselling novelist Yolanda Joe—introduces one of the sassiest, smartest, and most compelling characters ever to crack a mystery: television news reporter Georgia Barnett. In a tale as immediate as this evening’s news, Details at Ten follows the charismatic Georgia as she struggles with justice, truth, and the ratings while pursuing a terrifying story of a child missing in the midst of gang warfare in Chicago. Little Butter, as the girl is called, has disappeared after witnessing a drive-by shooting on the South Side and identifying the criminals’ car on live TV during an interview with Georgia. Haunted by the recognition of her responsibility for the child’s fate and heartbroken at seeing her old South Side neighborhood devastated by violence, our whip-smart reporter throws herself into the search for Butter—dragging news producers, directors, cameramen, and support staff behind her kicking and screaming. For as the take-no-prisoners Georgia quickly discovers, the last thing her ratings-driven TV news czars want to cover is another tragedy in a poor black neighborhood. Georgia uses her power as a television personality in smart, hilarious, and heartfelt ways as this shocking story unfolds with the pace of a runaway train. Our daredevil reporter’s pursuit of the truth takes her into dangerous territory, but she’s not there alone. This is one woman who won’t take no for an answer, but everywhere she turns, there in her way stands a masterpiece of a man, Detective Doug Eckart. He’s a tough cop and he’s not about to let a TV reporter nose in on the case, but Georgia’s drive is relentless and she keeps scooping him at the most sensitive moments. These made-for-each-other enemies agree to a sexually tense truce while gang violence escalates, informers turn up dead, and time to find the little girl seems to be running out. As a simple missing-persons case mushrooms into a citywide effort to nab one of the most powerful gang leaders in Chicago, Georgia, Doug, and the crew of Channel Eight News find themselves struggling to do what’s right in a world of violence, racism, and fear. In Details at Ten, Ardella Garland takes her readers into a world of both terror and hope with a powerful tale of innocence, justice, and, finally, love. Praise for DETAILS AT TEN “An attitudinal, upbeat black heroine and fast-moving prose make this a keeper.”—Library Journal “Georgia Barnett is smart, sassy, sexy television reporter who solves baffling crime cases in Chicago. A dynamic new sleuth is on the scene. Details at Ten will capture your attention and your heart.”—Valerie Wilson Wesley, author of the Tamara Hayle mysteries |
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THIS JUST IN…
Doubleday – April 18, 2000 Yolanda Joe, the bestselling author of He Say, She Say and Bebe’s by Golly Wow!, is back with her most heartfelt novel yet—a delicious peep into the lives of women who work in the cutthroat world of broadcast news. While portraying the slippery business of television news through the lives of five friends—four black and one white—who work at the fictional WKBA in Chicago, Joe investigates two explosive topics, racism and sexism. Joe, who was a broadcast news writer for more than a decade, writes with the singular knowledge of an insider. Step into the all-consuming world of TV news as Joe weaves her way through the lives of her unforgettable characters: upstart reporter/anchor Holly Johnston—the drop-dead-gorgeous new kid on the block, striving to prove she’s up to the task and more than just eye candy; broadcast veteran Alexandra Harbor, WKBA’s sole black female photographer—talented, burned out, trying valiantly to keep her last good nerve intact; wife/mother/novice producer Kenya Adams, struggling to make the transition from print reporter to TV news writer/producer without sacrificing her family life in the process; WKBA’s first camerawoman, Meg “Beans” Rippley—white, working-class, and troop leader to many women in the office, wondering if her friendships with the black women at WKBA will withstand the fallout from a newsroom racist incident; and Denise Mitzler, a trailblazing news manager who finds herself stuck between being a “company woman” and doing the right thing when a crisis arises… Filled with fascinating tidbits and page-turning twists, This Just In… brims with fun and intrigue. As the characters negotiate the glass ceiling and contend with office politics and corporate roulette, Joe plumbs her signature themes of friendship and family, and gets to the heart of issues that will strike a chord with women everywhere. Praise for THIS JUST IN… “If you see Yolanda Joe’s name on a book, buy it, read it, and get one for somebody who needs a good laugh, a good lesson, and good love.”—Bertrice Berry, author of Redemption Song |
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BEBE’S BY GOLLY WOW!
Doubleday – June 15, 1998 Bebe, a forty-something bank supervisor and recent college graduate, has finally found the reason to end the self-imposed man sabbatical she began in Yolanda Joe’s first novel, He Say, She Say—a charming and sweet firefighter named Isaac Sizemore. A big, strapping “steak-colored” man who is as strong as he is sensitive, Isaac is the man of Bebe’s dreams. But he’s also a father dealing with the challenges of raising a thirteen-year-old daughter on his own. Much to Bebe’s surprise, Isaac’s whip-smart daughter, Dashay, turns out to be the “other woman” who threatens to keep them apart. Meanwhile Sandy, Bebe’s best friend, who is struggling in the workplace as she clashes with the new owners of the radio station, continues on her adventure in search of true love, refusing to give up. Set in Chicago and told in alternating voices, Bebe’s By Golly Wow! sparkles with Yolanda Joe’s deft storytelling, in-your-face dialogue, and marvelous insight as she paints a sensitive and funny tale of modern romance, family transitions, and heartfelt friendships. Praise for BEBE’S BY GOLLY WOW! “This funny, sassy, and honest story has the feel of a good, long talk with a best friend.”—Chicago Tribune “An in-your-face love story that captures your heart with its street-smart language and its likable characters.”—Ebony “An exuberant tale.”—Publishers Weekly “Lively dialogue and smart-as-a-whip female protagonists.”—Kirkus Reviews |
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HE SAY, SHE SAY A Novel
Doubleday – December 1, 1996 Sandy is a twenty-something executive on the fast track at work and looking for love in her personal life. T.J. is the object of her affection, a jazz pianist who prefers to keep his romances casual—but who may be facing the real deal in Sandy. Bebe is Sandy’s confidante, a bank supervisor who is struggling through her self-imposed “sex sabbatical”. Speed is T.J.‘s father and best friend, a man who isn’t too old to learn a few things from his son. Together these four weave a funny, touching, and vivid tale of coping with the ups and downs of everyday life in Chicago that readers won’t soon forget. Praise for HE SAY, SHE SAY “[Yolanda Joe] creates likable characters with plausible histories, challenges and dreams…a satisfyingly breezy novel.”—Publishers Weekly “The characters interact with humor, compassion, honesty, and gender bias, and each learns important lessons about life and relationships. This novel is sure to be a best-seller.”—Booklist “A delightful story.”—Washington Post “The vivid characters yanked me right in, and the witty style kept me hanging on to the end.”—Connie Briscoe, author of Big Girls Don’t Cry “This novel is irresistible.”—Emerge |
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