On Shelves Now: MAMA'S BOY by ReShonda Tate Billingsley

When her son is in trouble, a heartbroken mother finds the courage and faith to save him, in ReShonda Tate Billingsley’s powerful family drama Mama's Boy—a novel as timely as today’s headlines.

The breaking TV news rocks Jasper, Texas, to the core: a white police officer is fatally shot in a scuffle with three black youths—and a cellphone video captures Jamal Jones, the sixteen-year-old son of esteemed Reverend Elton Jones, escalating the tragic encounter. Now, as the national spotlight shines on a town already rife with racial tension, Jamal is a murder suspect on the run. And all of Jasper—even the reverend’s congregation—rushes to judge the teen they thought they knew.

But Gloria Jones knows her son best, and she races to find Jamal before the law does—to the outrage of her workaholic husband. Once she finds him, she has to decide whether to turn him in or help him run. With ruthless prosecutor and Houston mayoral candidate Kay Christensen hungering to put another young thug behind bars, Gloria will face her biggest battle yet. And when long-hidden secrets and shocking lies come to light, throwing Jamal’s case and his destiny into a tailspin, all Gloria can do is pray that the truth—and a mother’s unconditional love—will be enough to redeem the mistakes of the past and, ultimately, save her son.

Mama's Boy will have readers engrossed in thoughts of what they would do if facing the same situation, and inevitably having the conversation with others—a page-turner and conversation-starter all in one.

About the Author
ReShonda Tate Billingsley is the national bestselling author of more than 35 books. Four of her books will be made into BET movies: Let the Church Say Amen, Everybody Say Amen, and Say Amen, Again, (winner of the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work), and I Know I’ve Been Changed. Regina King will direct Let the Church Say Amen. Queen Latifah’s Flava Unit will be producing. Scheduled air date for Let the Church Say Amen is August 30, 2015. TV One will premiere both The Secret She Kept and The Devil is a Lie in 2016.

Facebook: reshondatatebillingsley
Twitter: @Reshondat
Website:reshondatatebillingsley.com

Meet the Author
Saturday, July 11th, 10:00 am – 2:00 pm
Books & Brunch, Forum Caterers, 4210 Primrose Ave, Baltimore MD
Brunch Early Bird, $35 / Brunch and Writers Workshop, $55 / Writers Workshop, $25
To register and make payment: http://www.jotform.us/form/50846354427156

Sunday, July 12th, 3:00 – 6:00 pm
Prince George’s Sports & Learning Complex, 8001 Sheriff Rd., Hyattsville, MD
General Admission $25. To register and make payment:
http://www.eventbrite.com/e/a-summer-tea-tickets-038133516?utm_campaign=201308&ref=esfb&utm_source=Facebookenivtefor001

Monday, July 13th, 6:00 pm
Big Blue Marble Bookstore, 551 Carpenter Lane, Philadelphia, PA

Wednesday, July 15th, 6:00 – 8:00 pm
The Twig, 306 Pearl Parkway Suite 106, San Antonio, TX

Saturday, July 18th, 2:00 – 4:00 pm
Houston Public Library, 5411 Pardee St., Houston TX 77026
*An event with ReShonda’s daughter Morgan Billingsley

Tuesday, July 21st, 7:00 pm
Barnes & Noble, Westheimer Crossing, 7626 Westheimer, Houston, TX
*An event with Victoria Christopher Murray

Thursday, July 23, 6:00 – 8:00 pm
Epps Memorial Library, 1324 North Simmons St., Lake Charles, LA

Saturday, July 25, 1:00 pm
Barnes & Noble, 4155 Dowlen Rd., Beaumont, TX

Sunday, August 9th, 3:00 pm
Durham County Main Library, 300 N. Roxboro St., Durham, NC

BOOK FESTIVAL: September 4th – 6th, 2015
Decatur Book Festival, Decatur, GA (10 minutes outside Atlanta)

BOOK FESTIVAL: Saturday, September 12th, 2015
2nd Annual Literacy Mid-South Book Festival, Memphis, TN

Saturday, September 19th, 9:30 – 6:00 pm
Durham County Library, Southwest Regional Library, 3605 Shannon Rd., Durham, NC

ADULTS NEED DIVERSE BOOKS TOO

For all the talking, tweeting, conferencing and tumbling about children needing diverse books, and they really do, let's not overlook the importance of diversity for adults.  On the kids site, I make it a point to search for and highlight books featuring children of colour.  It's fairly easy to find books featuring African, Caribbean, Asian, Latino and Native American kids.  But I've noticed that as the reader's age creeps up, books that look like them fade out.  While it's important that children see characters that look like them, it's just as important that teens/young adults and adults do as well.   I wholeheartedly support the We Need Diverse Books movement, but it focuses solely on children's lit and YA.

What I'm looking for, and don't see a lot of discussion about, is literary fiction. There are a limited number of authors whose work makes it onto shelves and is promoted, but there's no push from publishers or the land of Tumblr to propel those books forward into the hands of people that don't necessarily look like the characters those books are about. What I have witnessed is an interesting cross-section of authors of colour reading, loving and promoting each others books, which seems like a win-win situation to me. Not only are they, as readers, stepping outside of their norm, they're sharing those books with their own readers, giving visibility to books that audience might not know about otherwise.

@Dolen @pronounced_ing @RaviHoward @kima_jones @jabariasim @jeanho girl I love me some you! 😊

— Sophia A. Nelson (@IAmSophiaNelson) June 8, 2015

@Dolen It's easy when it's a writer you love (and whose work you love!) @RaviHoward @kima_jones @jabariasim @IAmSophiaNelson @jeanho

— Celeste Ng (@pronounced_ing) June 8, 2015

@thenaomijackson Very best wishes to you on your first novel. Tweeted about it! Looking forward to reading it. And, congratulations, Sis.

— Terry McMillan (@MsTerryMcMillan) June 9, 2015

See you tonight, DC! An ARC of @TananariveDue's 1st short story collection is my travel companion. pic.twitter.com/sNtIbG1iU1

— Kima Jones (@kima_jones) June 12, 2015

Interestingly enough, the group that often complains about the saturation of white male authors in the  New York Times review section are white female authors.  But rarely do I see them promoting other authors that aren't white females.  That's not to say that they never do, but I follow a lot of the more popular authors and they're more likely to promote an unheard of author that looks like them before an Asian, Latino, African American or Native American author.  The closest they come to talking about books with characters that don't look like them is when someone that looks like them has written them (e.g., The Help, The Secret Lives of Bees, etc.).  These aren't women that are scrambling to make it to the top, they're big dollar authors that see New York Times Bestseller stamped on their books, but reaching out to authors that look like them and trying to help them get there?  Apparently that goes beyond the call of duty.

I don't know about you, but I want to read books that introduce me to another culture, other customs, new traditions.  I already know what white America looks like, I've seen it every day of my life.  I'm more interested in stories about San Francisco's Chinatown in WWII, Afghani women living as bacha posh, African American teens finding themselves living in Barbados, etc.  Isn't the world a more interesting place when you realize it's not all about you and your culture?  I encourage you to spread the word about good books featuring characters of colour, whether you do it by posting a review on Amazon or Goodreads, talking about it on social media, or just telling friends about them in conversation.   If you belong to a book club, suggest books to fellow club members.  Often, authors are willing to Skype with your club or even attend the meeting if they're in your area.  Remember, kids need diverse books, but so do we.