REDWOOD COURT by DéLana Dameron - TIME 'Here Are the 13 Books You Should Read in February'

TIME | January 31, 2024

The most exciting new books coming in February are easy to love and hard to put down.

Redwood Court, DéLana R. A. Dameron (Feb. 6)

Poet DéLana R. A. Dameron's tender debut novel, Redwood Court, follows a teenage girl in the 1990s. As the baby of her family, Mika Tabor has spent much of her life in the house on the titular cul-de-sac in an all-Black middle class neighborhood in Columbia, S.C. There, she grew up listening to her grandparents and parents’ stories of making it in the United States. Her family’s triumphs and struggles become her guide to navigating racism, sexism, and poverty as she comes of age at the start of a new millennium. Dameron is a native of Columbia—and her knowledge of the community shines through this portrait of a Southern Black family doing all they can to hold on to the American dream.

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BookDeena Warner
REDWOOD COURT by DéLana Dameron - ESSENCE '16 Best Books To Consider Adding To Your “Must-Read” List'

ESSENCE | January 24, 2024

Redwood Court by Delana R.A. Dameron

Genre: Fiction (February 6th, 2024)

Redwood Court exquisitely paints a portrait of Black Southern life, and in her debut novel, Delana R.A. Dameron meticulously orchestrates a leading cast of characters that leap right off of the pages of this book! In this coming-of-age novel, readers get a glimpse of life through the eyes of the family’s youngest daughter. The writing is nuanced, succinct, and brilliant.

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BookDeena Warner
THE HUNTING WIVES by May Cobb - Variety '‘Hunting Wives’ Starz Series Casts Malin Åkerman in Lead Role'

Variety | January 24, 2024

Malin Åkerman has been cast in a leading role of the Starz series adaptation of the May Cobb novel “The Hunting Wives,” Variety has learned.

Cobb is also an executive producer on “The Hunting Wives” along with Erwin Stoff for 3 Arts Entertainment. The series is produced by Lionsgate Television and 3 Arts.

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FilmDeena Warner
MY MOTHER'S TONGUES by Uma Menon - School Library Journal Starred Review

School Library Journal | December 15, 2023

NONFICTION
My Mother’s Tongues: A Weaving of Languages by Uma Menon (text) & illus. by Rahele Jomepour
BellCandlewick. Feb. 2024. 32p. Tr $18.99. ISBN 9781536222517.

This framing is refreshing and will serve as validation to readers from multilingual families; it serves to illuminate multilingualism to those experiencing the story from an outsider’s perspective.

This story is an essential mirror and window, serving as a reminder that language is a superpower.

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BookDeena Warner
REDWOOD COURT by DéLana R.A. Dameron - Publishers Weekly

Publishers Weekly | November 29, 2023

Redwood Court

DéLana R.A. Dameron. Dial, $28 (284p) ISBN 978-0-593-44702-4

Poet Dameron (How God Ends Us) makes her fiction debut with a gratifying collection about a Black family in South Carolina. The title story centers on Louise “Weesie” Bolton Mosby, who settles with her Korean War veteran husband, Teeta, in a cul-de-sac in suburban Columbia, S.C., in the late 1960s. While raising their daughter, Rhina, Weesie collects money from her neighbors to support others during tough times. In 1979, teenage Rhina gets pregnant with her older daughter, Sasha, and marries Thomas Tabor. “How Do You Know Where You’re Going?” follows Teeta as he dotes on Sasha and her younger sister, Mika, in the 1980s. “Thirty-first Annual Chitlin Strut” portrays the aftermath of Teeta’s death from lung cancer, when Mika, now in eighth grade, grows closer to Weesie as they learn about relatives in Florida. Later stories trace Mika’s coming-of-age as she contends with racism and financial hardships. In “Rollin’ with My Homies,” local reporters spread panic about gang activity in the neighborhood and the sheriff institutes racial profiling, while in “Independent Women,” which perfectly ties the collection together, Mika takes after Weesie by leaning on the family’s neighbors to raise money for her 16th birthday party. Even amid heartache and turmoil, this brims with joy. Agent: Victoria Sanders, Victoria Sanders and Assoc. (Feb.)

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BookDeena Warner
Denene Millner - Publishers Weekly 'Inclusive Children’s Book Publishers'

Publishers Weekly | November 17, 2023

Four editors tell PW why they love their work and their imprints’ missions.

Denene Millner

V-p and publisher, Denene Millner Books

In 2018, journalist and author Millner was running her eponymous imprint at Agate Publishing’s Bolden Books when she wrote “Black Kids Don’t Want to Read About Harriet Tubman All the Time,” a New York Times opinion piece “about how tired I was of not seeing enough books that speak to the everyday experiences of Black children.” That caught the attention of Simon & Schuster, which invited her to bring her imprint over; it launched in 2020.

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BookDeena Warner
ONE BLOOD by Denene Millner - Audible 'The 18 best fiction listens of 2023'

Audible | November 8, 2023

Bahni Turpin, Joniece Abbott-Pratt, and Queen Sugar’s Tina Lifford beautifully embody the three women at the heart of Denene Millner’s epic novel, One Blood. From Jim Crow-era rural Virginia to early 21st century New York City, this memorable story unfolds in three parts. There’s Grace, a birth mother who has her newborn taken away; Lolo, the adoptive mother; and Rae, that child, now an adult with a daughter of her own. Millner’s prose is effortless and honest. She leans into the voices of her characters—brought to life by an amazing cast of narrators—to tell this tender tale of Black motherhood, identity, and love. —M.H.

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BookDeena Warner
THE LAST APPLICANT by Rebecca Hanover - CrimeReads '10 New Books Coming Out This Week'

CrimeReads | October 23, 2023

Rebecca Hanover, The Last Applicant
(Lake Union Publishing)

“Hanover’s book is dark, ominous, and oppressive from the very beginning, filled with heart-stopping, headspinning twists, bizarre characters, and a spiraling sense of impending doom. This book is for those who enjoy something very dark and very different.” –Booklist

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BookDeena Warner
THE HUNTING WIVES by May Cobb - Deadline 'Starz Greenlights ‘The Hunting Wives’ Series Based On Book From Rebecca Cutter, Lionsgate & 3 Arts'

Deadline | October 4, 2023

Starz has handed an eight-episode series order to thriller drama The Hunting Wives. The project, based on the novel by May Cobb, is executive produced by Cobb, Hightown creator Rebecca Cutter, who wrote the adaptation and will serve as showrunner, and 3 Arts Entertainment’s Erwin Stoff. Lionsgate Television produces with 3 Arts. . . .

“The Hunting Wives is a juicy, suspenseful and sultry thrill-ride,” said Kathryn Busby, Starz’s President of Original Programming. “We’re excited to continue to work with Rebecca and Erwin on this propulsive series that perfectly complements Starz’s slate of edgy, female-forward premium content.”

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FilmDeena Warner