The Bookshelf (1709)
Get cozy with three great summer reads

Initial Air Dates:
Tuesday, June 15, 2004

Take a walk with Diane Mckinney-Whetstone on Cecil Street. McKinney-Whetstone grew up near the real Cecil Street in Philadelphia, and she returns to it as the setting for her fourth book Leaving Cecil Street, It’s 1969, a time of war, hippies and James Brown, a perfect setting for the mysteries of Cecil Street to unfold. McKinney-Whetstone explains why growing up she wasn’t allowed to play on Cecil Street and how the mysteries surrounding the street fueled her imagination about what took place there. McKinney-Whetstone also shares how she balances her family life and explains her path to becoming a prize winning author.

In her fourth book, Ida B., Karen Quinones Miller draws from her experiences she had growing up in Harlem. In the fictional housing projects called the Ida B Wells Barnett Towers, residents are faced with tragedies that force them to take back their community. A former reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer, Quinones Miller explains how she tries to put a human face on certain types of people and places that have been given a bad name. Karen Quinones Miller also shares what it was like to be turned down by dozens of agents, successfully self-publish her book and watch publishers go into a bidding war after over her first release Satin Doll.

High school teacher Nicole Bailey Williams discusses her first book A Little Piece of Sky . In a series of tiny vignettes, she weaves together the pieces of a young woman's life to form portrait of survival and healing. An English teacher at Ewing High School in Ewing, NJ, Bailey-Williams self-published her book and was picked up by a major publishing house. Bailey-Williams shares her success story and the lessons she imparts to her students. Bailey-Williams’ sophomore release, Floating was released in May.

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Schering-Plough