after

After: Poems
$14.95
Jane Hirshfield's poems in April merit reading and re-reading to appreciate their obvious merits and hidden surprises

After
$7.95
Nominated for the Governor General's Literary Awards 2005, (Children's Literature, Text)


Fifteen-year-old Francis¡Çs father has committed suicide and nothing will be the same again. Suicide is ugly, unglamorous, and it is never a solution. Its aftermath is dreadful.

At first, Francis feels a terrible guilt. Could he have been a better son? What if he hadn¡Çt left his home in Montreal to go on a brief holiday in New York the weekend it happened? Soon the guilt turns to anger and then to a sadness so profound that he thinks he can¡Çt bear it.

After is the map of a year following the suicide of a family member. In the course of months, with the love of his mother, with counseling, and with the balm of time, Francis takes his first steps toward coming to terms with his father¡Çs ? and his family¡Çs ? tragedy. After is intensely personal, but it will resonate with anyone who has faced the loss of a loved one.

This brilliant autobiographical first novel is an acute analysis of the grieving process. Although it is steeped in Francis¡Çs sadness, it is ultimately a story of hope.

After: A Novel
$12.95
The plight of the black man has never been as magnified as it is in recent times. Albeit, and with much fanfare, there have been a plethora of books detailing the ills but rarely solutions. Now comes a brilliant story told from the imaginative mind of erudite scribe, Marita Golden with a book entitled, AFTER. This, her latest offering delves into the life of Carson Blake fighting demons that threaten to consume him lest a plan of salvation can be part of saving grace. Urban angst, coupled with dysfunctional familial life can wreck havoc and leave scars that are definitive of years of strife. Much should be said about the brilliance of illuminating light when a stand is made for challenge and change. Blake's stupendous effort to do just that makes this novel worth reading for redeeming value and for the mere triumphant nature of another black man pulled up from the depths of despair.

For starters, Carson Blake is not a victim of sympathy; he inhabited circumstances that would have served him favorably had he made better decisions, and chose the right people for influence. Dismissed by an incorrigible father who was incapable of showing him affection, and given an early baptism in the mean streets of Prince George's County, Maryland, Carson endeavored to challenge the system and change his life. He married, became a police officer, and attempted to model his life for meaningful mantras. Not to bask in the idyllic life of change, bile comes to fore in the form of son Juwan facing problems of his own within his peer group, despite talents that clearly appear to be the greater of his whole. The story is a moderate moving work of fiction that allows the author freedom to tackle prominent issues on the face of family, race, love and identity. In my opinion, this is the best of her five books to date because it allowed me to feel as if I was closer to the action. I was able to identify, as I'm familiar with a lot of what is depicted here. How can you not feel pride and rejuvenation when Carson shows characteristics of a devoted father, determined not to be the father that his father was to him?

The turning point of this story comes alive when Ms Golden truly defines the nature of guilt, redemption, and forgiveness for Carson and his family. To wit: Carson makes a traffic stop, only to have the young black man turn as if to make an assault. The situation goes awry as Carson shoots in self-defense. When the smoke clears one man loses his life and two families are caught up in the emotional hand wringing of conjecture, accusation, acrimony, and second-guessing. Adding insult to injury, Paul Houston, the son of a middle class family of educators was only holding a cell phone. Carson's carefully woven world of change begins to come apart. I found this book to be a deep study into some of the same things that are happening, and have happened over a period of time in our communities that will give this work something for someone to embrace for their own chance at change. The open-ended conclusion gives much to the imagination and colors the outcome one that readers can add their own hues. Marita Golden has done it again, with all the belief that she just gets better with time! Buy this book and know that the Carson Blakes of this world can find salvation where redeeming value is imminent.

After
$17.99
AFTER by Amy Efaw is an extremely well-written, well thought-out, and thought-provoking novel. Even if the reader doesn't want to in the beginning, one naturally comes to sympathize with fifteen year-old Devon. Ms. Efaw effectively portrays a strong protagonist who, for all her determination and dreams, has broken her own rules, the shame of which forces her to forget what she has done...including the fact that she is pregnant. Clearly, Ms. Efaw has done her research, and has employed it in a manner which draws the reader and maintains one's interest well after the novel's conclusion, leaving the reader with a sense of satisfaction and the desire to learn more about what drives girls like Devon to the unthinkable.