The Bookbabe Read-a-Thon has begun

In honor of my Grandmother, Alice Marie, I am participating in the Alzheimer Associations Longest Day Fundraiser. The Longest Day of the year is on June 21st, and on this day I pledged to read has many books as possible. And raise money while doing it. So far I’ve only raised 60$ but my friend and fellow Booklover Staci has raises over 200$. Of course, we were under our 550$ goal but any amount for the association is helpful. There will also be more time opportunties to raise money in the coming months.

First Impressions: A Lineage of Grace by Francine Rivers

A lineage of Grace is a collection of stories based on five famous women of the bible; Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba, and Mary. I’ve owned this anthology for a number of years. And I felt that it was finally time to read it. Honestly I was in the mood for something uplifting and God and female centered. However, the first story Unveiled, which is about Tamar - a 14 year old girl married off into a traumatic family situation. She is abused and used and continously hurt by her husband and his family. The entire time Tamar must rise above, by loyal and remember she is to be a child bearer. The story is violent and at times hard to read; while this was most likely the pilight of the women of the time It is still hard to read. I get what Rivers was trying to do here. However, the womanist in me....Really finds the narrative of this story a tad dangerous.
Tamar by no fault of her own is forced to play a harlot in order to have a wrong righted. She must take abuse and remain loyal. The story, from my point of view, could lead some women to believe that abuse is okay in a marriage. And that one most look beyond it and remain loyal. Its troublesome. I hope the other stories in the book are better. If I had to rate it today I would most likely give it a 3 out of 5 stars - just based on the narration.

Here is the synopsis (amazon) for the first story in the book:

Her name meant "date palm," and like her namesake, Tamar hoped to survive the harsh environment she was placed in: to bend but not to break. Rubbed with scented oil and arrayed in wedding finery, 14-year-old Tamar is thrust into a world of abuse, betrayal, and disillusionment when she is given in marriage to an evil, idol-worshiping man. In the face of her suffering, she must make choices: Will she let her new husband, Er, destroy her innocence and corrupt her? Will she leave the religion of the Canaanites and embrace the God of the Hebrews despite the life of misery she is cast into? Or will she fall into despair and become as wicked as her husband and his brothers?

Guillermo Del Toro and his Creatures

I just wanted to do a quick article featuring Del Toro’s Creatures. His Imagination is astounding. As a lover of horror and gothic art I am drawn to his dark tales. He would be someone I’d love to have a conversation with.

The creature with the eyeballs in his hand gave me nightmares; and if you’ve ever seen the movie then you will know how creept he was. The actors body movements were just unsettling.

Here is the trailer:

The Shape of Water:

Here is the trailer:

I really can not wait to see the later so that I can compare it to the book. Also, I would love to see the costume for the creature upclose. It reminds me of the Creature from the Black Lagoon.

The Book Babe Reviews: The Shape of Water by Guillermo Del Toro and Daniel Kraus

So if any of you paid attention to the past Oscar season you’d know Director Guillermo Del Toro went on to win best picture for the movie based on this book. This is the fourth book by Del Toro I’ve had the priviledge to read. I was introduced to him by way of Pan’s Labrynith; his 2006 creature feature. That movie is seriously good and seriously creepy. Little did I know that a few years later I would discover The Strain Trilogy (which later became a short lived t.v. show). The Strain is all nasty vampires and their plot for world domination - that series is nothing to play with. And I can’t recommend it enough to those that love Sci-fi.

Going into The Shape of Water I had some basic knowledge on what it was based on. Mute woman meets Merman. What I didn’t know was that the this book was about people that live on the margins. People that are rejected by society as a whole. The book is set in 1960’s Baltimore (I loved knowing some of the streets and landmarks mentioned) and if you know anything about the climate in America at that time than you know certain people in our society weren’t treated very well. Think about African Americans and civil rights? And how the disabled would have been treated at that time? And what about Gay people? Well Del Toro gives us a small glimpse into what things may have been like for these folks. All while using a Merman/monster to demonstrate the need to misuse one of God’s greatests creations. And the abuse the creature is subjected to shows us just how quickly empathy can be a non-factor when the torturer is used to abusing people on the fringes; all because they don’t fit a certain mold. And in this on is: White and male. Eliza, is a mute woman. The cause of her muteness is never fully discovered; and however much I would love to know the details of that, it really was a non-factor. Eliza experiences abuses in small ways. Because she can not speak people believe that she is useless, unworthy of respect etc. Its easy for some to count her as dumb. Eliza also knows how easily it is to be victimized. Del Toro alludes us to believe that she may have been date raped. All these little indiginites leave her looking for happiness, she finds it in the little things. Specifically her dazzling shoe collection.

Then there is Giles, an elderly gentlemen. An artist. He seems to be eccentric and distracted. When we meet him he is working on an ad for his former employer. His work is rejected time and time again. We find that Giles is lonely, and if not for Eliza, he may not have had the strength to keep living. Giles is a closest gay man. And during this time in American History being gay is considered indecent; and in some states it is a crime. One of which Giles is arrested for and leads to his arrest and the lost of his job.

And then there is Zelda, she is African American. She works hard and keeps her nose down. She sympatizes with Eliza because she knows what its like to be dejected because of her minority status.

Last but not least we have the monster; a gentle creature, worthy of love and empathy. However, an American comes along and steals him from the Amazon in order to bring him to the states and experiment on him. Eliza and Zelda by happy accident get read in on what is going on with the creature. From the first glimpse of him Eliza is intrigued. She needs to know more - so she begins visiting him. She befriends him, falls in love with him and then later does all she can to ensure his freedom.

I think its important to say these next two words: Fish Sex!
You read that right. Eliza and the merman get down with the get down (🤷🏾‍♀️- sorry not sorry); thanks goodness that the scene was not made weird with really graphic detail but it was still really odd.

The book as a whole is amazingly vivid and well written. The prose is beautiful and haunting and you find the creature, and the story believable. The ending reminded me a lot of the way Pan’s Labyrinth ended. I thought that all was lost; however, Del Toro shocked me in the end with a very surprising twist. The Shape of Water was a great book about love, empathy and the human condition. If the book is any indictator on how special the movie might be I must say I can not wait to see it. Perhaps I’ll rent it this week and come back and tell you guys all about its cinematic beauty.

Harry Potter Book Swap

Back in January a member of Litsy posted a Book Swap in honor of George/Fred Weasley’s birthday (April 1st). As most people know I am a huge Potter fan so of course I jumped at rhe chance to send off a box. My match was a Ravenclaw; and I can not tell you how difficult it is to find Ravenclaw stuff. (And I’m a Slytherin - apparently she ran into the same problem.) So I did what I do best....I knitted a gift ♥️. Using Shawl in a ball by Lion Brand. I am deeply proud of the shawl I knitted. So much so I am planning another Harry Potter inspired project over the summer.

^ This is what I sent her!

^ this is the swag she sent my way ♥️♥️♥️

New Book on the way

Book Despository sent me a 10% code for my wish list; so I went strolling and decided to pick up the one book that would be most important to my current reading lists. “At the end of the street” has been on my To Buy List for over a year. I’ve heard great things about this book and I am so eager to read it.
Especially, because Recy Taylor’s story is included in this book. Ms. Taylor was raped during the Jim Crow era and took on her attackers. The attackers never saw the inside of a court room and Ms. Taylor died earlier this year never having experienced justice. Her is a synopsis of the book:

Rosa Parks was often described as a sweet and reticent elderly woman whose tired feet caused her to defy segregation on Montgomery’s city buses, and whose supposedly solitary, spontaneous act sparked the 1955 bus boycott that gave birth to the civil rights movement. The truth of who Rosa Parks was and what really lay beneath the 1955 boycott is far different from anything previously written.

In this groundbreaking and important book, Danielle McGuire writes about the rape in 1944 of a twenty-four-year-old mother and sharecropper, Recy Taylor, who strolled toward home after an evening of singing and praying at the Rock Hill Holiness Church in Abbeville, Alabama. Seven white men, armed with knives and shotguns, ordered the young woman into their green Chevrolet, raped her, and left her for dead. The president of the local NAACP branch office sent his best investigator and organizer--Rosa Parks--to Abbeville. In taking on this case, Parks launched a movement that exposed a ritualized history of sexual assault against black women and added fire to the growing call for change (amazon.com).

Stand Back....Another Woke Title To Buy!

Synopsis: A poetic and powerful memoir about what it means to be a Black woman in America―and the co-founding of a movement that demands justice for all in the land of the free.

Raised by a single mother in an impoverished neighborhood in Los Angeles, Patrisse Khan-Cullors experienced firsthand the prejudice and persecution Black Americans endure at the hands of law enforcement. For Patrisse, the most vulnerable people in the country are Black people. Deliberately and ruthlessly targeted by a criminal justice system serving a white privilege agenda, Black people are subjected to unjustifiable racial profiling and police brutality. In 2013, when Trayvon Martin’s killer went free, Patrisse’s outrage led her to co-found Black Lives Matter with Alicia Garza and Opal Tometi.

Condemned as terrorists and as a threat to America, these loving women founded a hashtag that birthed the movement to demand accountability from the authorities who continually turn a blind eye to the injustices inflicted upon people of Black and Brown skin.

Championing human rights in the face of violent racism, Patrisse is a survivor. She transformed her personal pain into political power, giving voice to a people suffering in equality and a movement fueled by her strength and love to tell the country―and the world―that Black Lives Matter.

When They Call You a Terrorist is Patrisse Khan-Cullors and asha bandele’s reflection on humanity. It is an empowering account of survival, strength and resilience and a call to action to change the culture that declares innocent Black life expendable.

Why I can’t wait to read it:
So often Black narratives never see the light of day; especially books about people like Patrisse. Often their stories are told by others, and usually after they have transended this life. I really can’t wait to pick up this book.

Happy Belated Birthday, Toni Morrison.
Nobel Laureate and author of Beloved, The Bluest Eye and Tar Baby.

Quotes from the mind and works of Toni Morrison:

Mr. Grey will see you now....Part 2! The Bookbabe reviews Darker by E.L. James

Well....well...well... I almost feel like we have been here before. Another E.L. James book, another book about the lovable and deeply flawed Christian Grey. Like so many other readers I’ve already read the first three original novels and then James first book from Christian’s perspective. So when Darker was released In December I could not resist taking Christian home with me again. And I must say out of all of the books I really enjoyed this one the most. Fifty Shades Darker (Ana’s perspective) while good was a bit annoying. All that “inner goddess’ stuff etc. Ana was one of the most annoying female characters I have read in the romance genre. Christian was the main attraction. So reading this book, written in his POV is definitely awesome. There was a lot more detail here. A lot of questions that were somewhat left out of Ana’s version are answered. We get to see Christian grow and overcome his fears. We also get more details about his childhood and his relationship with Elena. I think that romance novels written from the male perspective might be more interesting. I actually discovered this while reading J.R. Ward’s novels; such as The Bourbon King’s and The Blackdagger Brotherhood series.
In Darker, we might up with Christian Right after Ana has left him. Christian is feeling, for the first time, what its like to have a broken heart. He wants to do anything he can to get Ana back. And he does..slowly. Ana, in this book, comes off as strong and confident. She knows she is not going to put up with Christian’s secretive nonsense and she tells him so. In order for them to move forward he has to allow her in. The beauty of this book is that Christian sets aside so much of himself to allow her in. He allows her to inch closer to him personally. From what we know of Ana this slow crawl is frustrating but she is willing to go the distance. James really excelled at the self discovery journey that Christian went through in Darker.
Of course in the book we are introduced to all of the other characters but we get to see them again from Christian’s perspective. Finally get a better picture of the love those around him have for him. Sadly, for most of the book Christian is down right oblivious to it. Another thing I Loved about this book....was while there was sex, and some of it was graphic. The sex is not as over the top as some of the other stuff in James previous works. The book has some steamy scenes but It’s definitely more action, and more character development. I think Darker is the second best book I’ve read so far this year. I can not wait to see what she does with 50 Shades Freed. I gave Darker 4/5 stars on goodreads.

My favorite scene from the book:

The Scene where Christian allows Ana to touch him was powerful to me. Its a real turning point for him I believe; right now there is no going back. He is baring his soul to the only person able to really hurt him.

Below are some of the quotes I loved:

American Classic Lit: To Kill A MockingBird by Harper Lee

I was about 27 or so when I first experienced the movie To Kill a Mockingbird. I don’t know why I decided to watch it - I just had a desire to see it. I had friends that had been “forced” to read the book in Highschool or college and were very indifferent to it. However, I had never read the American Classic or seen the movie. I knew what it was about (roughly) and I kind of had no desire to read it. Then 2018, a really cold night and the desire for a classic read convienced me to dust off my old, second hand paperback copy of the book.
I settled in with the book the other day and slipped into the lives of Jean Louise (Scout) and Jeremy (Jim) and Atticus Finch. I must say that the story is pure and innocent and funny. There is so much to love about the story. So much more detail the movie just left out. I’m about 80 pages in now and I really can’t wait to see what other nonsense Jim and Scout get into.
I know that eventually I will come to the heart and lesson of the story that is so broadly featured in the film. But for now I am enjoying the lovely stroll through Jim and Scout’s Childhood. This book makes me crave games of tag and adventures with my cousins in our grandparents back yard. How simple life was as a kid; and then life happens. I have a feeling tis will be a book I will come back to from time to time to be reminded of the simpler things in life.

Knitting is my newest Super Power

The past three months have been filled with trying to keep myself busy and whole. Since August I have had a tough time getting back into rhe rhythm of things - so I decided to come up with a new craft. So knitting it was. It took me a few hours and now I am a knitting fool. I have managed a triangle shawl, and a few cowls. I am currently working on three projects. One for my boss, another for my god child and one for myself. Check out the photo’s below (yarn info included below as well)!

This yarn.....my oh my...I am in love. I am going to order a few more of these skeins (since Wool and the Gang now has free shipping).

This denim (yup you read that right) yarn is chemical and dye free. I am knitting it on a size 8 (40 inch) circular knitting needles. This gorgeous yarn is 8.50$ a skein. I must admit that I adore working with this material. It knits up fast and absolutely lovely. (BTW this project is for me lol)

This is the fourth time I have worked with lushious yarn. This is Heartfelt Hertiage (Stitch Studio by Nicole) an A.C. Moore brand. I have made several cowls with this material and I am in love with it. Its heavy and warm. And silky and knits quick. This fun and funky colorway is called Bluebird.
The color is my God daughter (8) Madison’s favorite color. This little scarf will be absolutely perfect for her. And I have a funny feeling it will
be much loved and worn with joy.

This yarn is 100% Acrylic, super bulky and is being knitted on size 13 bamboo needles. (Which are my favorite.)

I will share the finished products on my blog as soon as possible.

What I’ve been doing the past few weeks.

Knitting....Knitting.....Knitting
The past two months have been a time for me to re-evaluate a few things and prepare myself for the future. I’m reading of course...but I am also Knitting (and working a second job). I’ve had my ups and downs these past few months. I have felt stress come from all sides. Work, home, family, etc. Knitting has been a new form of mediation for me. I can’t wait to come home some nights just to pick my needles - turn on some music or an audiobook and just listen ans knit. Knitting has been a fun craft to learn and I have several projects planned. I can’t wait to start a very bookish inspired crafts. And maybe a few of them will be featured as giveaways.

Book just added to my TBR

In this generation-defining self-help guide, a superstar blogger cuts through the crap to show us how to stop trying to be "positive" all the time so that we can truly become better, happier people. For decades, we’ve been told that positive thinking is the key to a happy, rich life. "F**k positivity," Mark Manson says. "Let’s be honest, shit is f**ked and we have to live with it." In his wildly popular Internet blog, Mason doesn’t sugarcoat or equivocate. He tells it like it is—a dose of raw, refreshing, honest truth that is sorely lacking today. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k is his antidote to the coddling, let’s-all-feel-good mindset that has infected American society and spoiled a generation, rewarding them with gold medals just for showing up. Manson makes the argument, backed both by academic research and well-timed poop jokes, that improving our lives hinges not on our ability to turn lemons into lemonade, but on learning to stomach lemons better. Human beings are flawed and limited—"not everybody can be extraordinary, there are winners and losers in society, and some of it is not fair or your fault." Manson advises us to get to know our limitations and accept them. Once we embrace our fears, faults, and uncertainties, once we stop running and avoiding and start confronting painful truths, we can begin to find the courage, perseverance, honesty, responsibility, curiosity, and forgiveness we seek. There are only so many things we can give a f**k about so we need to figure out which ones really matter, Manson makes clear. While money is nice, caring about what you do with your life is better, because true wealth is about experience. A much-needed grab-you-by-the-shoulders-and-look-you-in-the-eye moment of real-talk, filled with entertaining stories and profane, ruthless humor, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k is a refreshing slap for a generation to help them lead contented, grounded lives.

The Real meaning of T.H.U.G. Life: The BB reviews The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

During the course of the past few years we have at times been made aware of the deaths of unarmed people of color at the hand of law enforcement. These incidents are nothing new however, but in the 21st century everyone has access to video cameras so these incidents can be lived streamed for all of us to see. These deaths often lead to protests and sometimes even to riots (Think Freddie Grey and Michael Brown). But most of all these incidents leave people of color asking “Does my life matter” and “How would the media portray me if this was Me?”. As an person of color I can definitely say that also every incident seems personal and invokes a level of fear and weariness I have never experienced before. So when I found out that book about a police killing of an unarmed black youth was coming out I was excited but also very skeptical.
It was exciting to see a debut author (and a woman of color) taking on the topic. I felt that Angie Thomas was going to being a realness to the subject matter that may be missed if anyone else had attempted to write the narrative. I was skeptical about the book because I believed whole heartedly that a lot of the story would seem muddy, watered down and most of all ring false. I was afraid that the story would come off to clean and with no bite or sharp edges. I was pleasantly surprised to see that that didn't occur at all. What I discovered in the pages of The Hate U Give was a book that should immediately be thrust into the hands of every person I meet with a post note reading “READ ME IMMEDIATELY”. Thomas wrote something special - and something that fits our times.
The Hate U Give follows the experience of Starr Carter, an African American teen in California, shortly before and after she witnesses the shooting death of her best friend Khalil. What occurs from there is Starr’s need to reconcile the two sides of her life. The side that attends a predominantly white private school and dates a Caucasian boy. And the young woman with natural hair growing up in the hood in LA. A lot of this leads to conflict among Starr and one of her “friends” - she realizes all to quickly that her black identity is only okay at home and not okay with this one friend. Starr watches as her best friend from home is dragged through the mud - both by the media and by her classmates (none of which no him). At one point in the book some of Starr’s classmates stage a school wide walk out in honor of Khalil; but its later found out that they only did it so they could skip class. Starr then begins to notice she has let little things slide to get along with her one friend and so that she doesn't rock the boat. She ignores racially insensitive comments or jokes. She just does not allow it to stick to her. When Starr finally erupts no one is expecting it - to her friends she has become the “angry black girl”.
What I found so amazing about this book is that I have been exactly where Starr is. I know what its like to feel at war with myself over these issues especially in the classroom and with friends. I had a profound moment of clarity with a friend after the death of Michael Brown. Our discussion was going well until she started the victim blaming. Accusing him of being the aggressor etc etc. I literally had to stop the conversation and at one point told her that if she kept talking I would say something I couldn't take back. Since then our “friendship” has been different. Also, I know what its like to be made to feel like an outcast in my own community because of certain cultural things I enjoy that are not necessarily considered “black”. Much of Starr’s journey to self discovery I have been down as well. Thomas made Starr extremely relatable.
One thing I found interesting about the book was the title. At first I didn't understand what The Hate U Give had to do with a police shooting until I read that it was a play on the Term T.H.U.G. Life; which was coined by the late hip hop artist (and prolific writer) Tupac Shakur. Once the term was explained in the book I had and aha moment. It made a hell of a lot of sense - and reminded me that hate and bias are a never ending cycle. If we teach it to the young they may never be rid of it - the cycle just keeps going and everyone is screwed. Shakur wrote a metaphor for life (that is multifaceted) that is true not only within the hip hop culture but outside of it as well. The Hate U Give is indeed a book I will be discussing for years to come. I really can not wait to see what Thomas does next. And I am looking forward to the movie adaptation of the book that is being filmed as a type this. I gave The Hate U Give 5/5 stars on goodreads.com.

Quotes that I loved:

Sometimes you just have to buy a book!

It Can't Happen Here is a cautionary tale about the fragility of democracy, an alarming, eerily timeless look at how fascism could take hold in America. Written during the Great Depression when America was largely oblivious to Hitler's aggression, it juxtaposes sharp political satire with the chillingly realistic rise of a President who becomes a dictator to save the nation from welfare cheats, rampant promiscuity, crime, and a liberal press. Now finally back in print, It Can't Happen Here remains uniquely important, a shockingly prescient novel that's as fresh and contemporary as today's news.

It's America in 1962. Slavery is legal once again. The few Jews who still survive hide under assumed names. In San Francisco the I Ching is as common as the Yellow Pages. All because some 20 years earlier the United States lost a war, and is now occupied jointly by Nazi Germany and Japan.

Can you ever tame a wild thing? The Bookbabe Reviews Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

As many of you know I am slowing reading through the Lemonade Syllabus (a list of books, music, art and movies based on black feminism and the black female experience in America) and I started with the books that I already owned. The first book on the list was Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God. The book follows the life and struggles of Janie Crawford; a young African American woman who is looking to live her life on her own terms. Janie wants to love who she wants and live as free as she pleases. The book follows her through two tough marriages and a tragic love affair with a younger man. Janie's story opens up with her still living at home with her elderly grandmother. Her grandmother notices that Janie has taken a liking to a "no good" man (though she only allows him to kiss her) and seeks to marry her off to the best man their little town has to offer. Janie, of course, protests but later relents and marries her first husband. This man is older and definitely not a man she is at all interested in. They have nothing in common and she does as little for him as possible. He foreshadows her leaving him with another man and she does. Jody Starks sweeps her off her feet with all his fancy talk and big ideas. Jody seems to be very different from her first husband; he is ambitious and has money. But Jody has very sexist ideas when it comes to Janie. He seems to want to control her - he is openly critical of her and she takes it for a while until the love is gone. She begins to resent him; and eventually she can not take his mess any more and she tells him off. Her comments are over heard by the people of their town who often visit their store in the evening.
It's clear to them and to Jody that Janie isn't as happy with Jody as she once was. It was the emasculating event that changes the way in which Jody deals with her. The moment seems to even change his very being; and once he becomes ill he stops dealing with Janie all together. He won't eat her cooking and begins sleeping in another room. He stops speaking to her and its not clear until he is on his death bed that she will have her closure. She goes to him and they have a very anti-climatic discussion about their relationship. For a while people in the community believe that she poisoned him. She continues to move about her life until a young man called Tea Cake comes calling. Over time they strike up a friendship and then it turns into something more. With nothing to lose Janie leaves town with him; again she does not realize that Tea Cake may not be the man for her. He seems to have a gambling issue and at one point steals from her and is gone for hours. He also has a scene were he beats her. But still she stays because he is the only man that seems to really let Janie be Janie. With Tea Cake she is truly free. Due to an unexpected illness and with a tragic accident Tea Cake is killed and Janie is left to face the consequences of his death. It's only after his death that she wanders back home - alone; but more assured of who she is as a woman.
I saw a lot of myself in Janie; and she is a character that is very easy to love. She seems like a true free spirit. She wants to experience life on her own terms and is tired of being boxed in by the people around her. Her Grandmother wants to control her future. She first husband wants to force her to love him; and attempts to buy her love by pampering her and treating her like a queen. Her second Husband Jodie mansplains to her repeatedly and seeks to keep her in her place. But only Tea Cake is okay with allowing Janie to be her free and unbound self. Even though the relationship is complex Janie is still able to find herself. So when she comes home with road dust on her feet she holds her head high and does not make excuses for her decisions. She's finally learned how to live life for herself and herself alone.
What I loved about Hurtson's novel was the glowing prose. This book is so beautifully written. I found myself unable to walk away from Janie's story. The tale is highly imaginative and has a deeply personal touch. I have owned this book for years and for the life of me I do not understand why it took me so long to read this.
I gave Their Eyes Were Watching God 5/5 Stars on Goodreads.

Quotes I Loved:

Bonus: The Fan Made Trailer for the T.V. movie adaptation of the book.

The Bookbabe Reviews: Kindred: A Graphic novel adaptation by Octavia Butler

First impressions mean a lot; they can set the tone for interactions to come. This is true in both our everyday lives from business to friendships to dating. So it gains to reason that this is the same when we open books for the first time and experience authors we've never read. This was my first interaction with Octavia Butler and this introduction was completely marvelous. Kindred is the story of a young African American woman named Dana who unknown to her is supernaturally linked to her young slave owning ancestor. She ends up traveling back in time to save him, over and over again. First she saves him from drowning, then from burning down his home and then she tries to save from his times; save him from himself.
The young man, Rufus, is very much a product of his environment and the times. He sees slaves as property and himself as the master of his small part of the world as he grows. Dana is just there to help him, to serve him. The graphic novel covers everything that you can imagine when it comes to the topic of slavery. From tearing apart families, to treating human beings as chattel, to the back breaking and sometimes demeaning work that slaves had do. The book didn't prepare me for hoping that Dana would succeed in changing her ancestor. I rooted for both of them and while I think she made some difference it surely was not enough. I am very much looking forward to reading more of Butler's work. This book left me hungry for more and I promise to read the full length novel this book was adapted from during the summer.

Here's what I learned: I learned from Butler's work that it takes courage to confront inhumanity in the way Dana did. It takes courage and a strong stomach to write about a past so painful that as Claudia Rankine teaches us "the body has memory of". Butler wrote of a topic I myself rarely want to think about let alone write about. It takes a great writer to make the past comes alive and jump off the page. Sadly, I feel just from this brief introduction that Butler is not as appreciated as she should be in American literary circles and culture.

I would suggest this book to anyone interested in historical fiction and sci fi. I gave this book 5/5 stars on Goodreads.com.

*I read this book as a part of The Lemonade Syllabus*

Below are a few quotes/images from the book.