REFLECTION & REASON

My new book  Dancehall Rebel   is rooted in a love for music, while looking at how this love can intersect with contradictory values, beliefs, or religious practices—across cultures. I hope this story can serve as a source of reflection, awareness, and a catalyst for conversation. Denise’s family represents many parents, cousins, or community members of all backgrounds who are unsure of how to navigate unfamiliar lifestyles or technologies. This story can be a tool and example, for those who need to explore these changes across generations, as Denise approaches her new reality with respect for her family and the culture she was raised in, while nurturing her independent journey into adulthood. ~ Stacey Robinson DANCEHALL REBEL By Stacey Robinson A teen shares her dad’s vibrant Caribbean musical legacy but is burdened by the homophobia that comes along with it. She needs to find a new path for the music and for herself. Dancehall Rebel is a groundbreaking novel portraying a Car...

I was happy to have quiet time to read  Michelle Richards-Graham 's book "It Could Never Happen To Me" today. The Canadian young adult novelist, who currently resides in Oshawa, Ontario, has written a very important piece of work and I'm grateful for the time and space I had to read it. It was long overdue. I'm the type of reader that doesn't always like to see the back-cover copy before getting into a piece of fiction. I tend to do this with movies too, because I like to be surprised by the plot. As long as I know the general genre and what demographics the characters fall into, I'm good to go without the synopsis. So when I discovered that the "it" in this story was sexual abuse by a family member, I really had to applaud Ms. Richards-Graham before the book was even completed. I believe Michelle initially composed this novel when she was a young teen, so to see her approach this sensitive subject matter so well, my heart went out to the...