New Releases by Veronica Chambers

Forget the stereotypes. Today''s Japanese women are shattering them -- breaking the bonds of tradition and dramatically transforming their culture. Shopping-crazed schoolgirls in Hello Kitty costumes and the Harajuku girls Gwen Stefani helped make so popular have grabbed the media''s attention. But as critically acclaimed author Veronica Chambers has discovered through years of returning to Japan and interviewing Japanese women, the more interesting story is that of the legions of everyday women -- from the office suites to radio and TV studios to the worlds of art and fashion and on to the halls of government -- who have kicked off a revolution in their country. Japanese men hardly know what has hit them. In a single generation, women in Japan have rewritten the rules in both the bedroom and the boardroom. Not a day goes by in Japan that a powerful woman doesn''t make the front page of the newspapers. In the face of still-fierce sexism, a new breed of women is breaking through the "rice paper ceiling" of Japan''s salary-man dominated corporate culture. The women are traveling the world -- while the men stay at home -- and returning with a cosmopolitan sophistication that is injecting an edgy, stylish internationalism into Japanese life. So many women are happily delaying marriage into their thirties -- labeled "losing dogs" and yet loving their liberated lives -- that the country''s birth rate is in crisis. With her keen eye for all facets of Japanese life, Veronica Chambers travels through the exciting world of Japan''s new modern women to introduce these "kickboxing geishas" and the stories of their lives: the wildly popular young hip-hop DJ; the TV chef who is also a government minister; the entrepreneur who founded a market research firm specializing in charting the tastes of the teenage girls driving the country''s GNC -- "gross national cool"; and the Osaka assembly-woman who came out publicly as a lesbian -- the first openly gay politician in the country. Taking readers deep into these women''s lives and giving the lie to the condescending stereotypes, Chambers reveals the vibrant, dynamic, and fascinating true story of the Japanese women we''ve never met. Kickboxing Geishas is an entrancing journey into the exciting, bold, stylish new Japan these women are making.

In a society that puts so much emphasis on perfection, Veronica Chambers mischievously casts aside the guilt-inducing litany of “shoulda, coulda, woulda” that seems to define modern-day life and replaces it with a resounding call to live with “foolish bravery.” Refreshingly open about the personal failures and limitations that once weighed her down with shame, Chambers describes how she turned her less-than-perfect qualities into sources of delight and satisfaction. From belting out off-key renditions of torch songs while washing the dishes to seeing even the most unlikely career opportunity as a chance to spread one’s wings, Chambers shows that a willingness to fall flat on one’s face heightens the joys of everyday life and opens a new, wonderfully liberating perspective on work, motherhood, aging, friendship, failure, and success. With a winning combination of lighthearted anecdotes and heartfelt musings, Chambers encourages readers to follow her example and do the things that tickle their fancies and fire their imaginations—no matter what other people (and that little voice inside) may say. Like Chambers herself, they’ll discover that “what we consider our failures have a surprising ability to charm . . . we are loved for our imperfections—for our funny faces and walks and dances and songs.”

This companion series to the award-winning Black Americans of Achievement tells the stories of notable groups of people of color.

Provides history, examples, and stories of the rope-jumping activity called double Dutch.

Separated from her best friend in Brooklyn, 13-year-old Marisol spends a year with her grandmother in Panama where she secretly searches for her real father.

Eagerly anticipating her Quinceanera, the fifteenth birthday celebration that will signify her adulthood, Marisol is troubled by a lack of money, her mother''s new boyfriend, changes in her best friend, and the absence of the father she never knew.

Eagerly anticipating her Quinceanera, the fifteenth birthday celebration that will signify her adulthood, Marisol is troubled by a lack of money, her mother''s new boyfriend, changes in her best friend, and the absence of the father she never knew.

Marisol has returned from Panama, and she and Magdalena make plans to celebrate their 15th birthdays. But Marisol''s mother doesn''t know if she can afford a party, and Magdalena became friends with two girls Marisol cannot stand while Marisol was away. Marisol wonders if her year in Panama changed her.

Bom of African-American frustrations in the 1970s, rap music first came to prominence with the Sugar Hill Gang''s ''Rapper''s Delight'' (1979). Since then, rap and the hip-hop culture that surrounds it have pervaded all our lives. The History of Rap Music examines rap through three decades, from the impact of ground-breaking rappers like Kurtis Blow, Run-DMC, and Public Enemy, to successful contemporary artists such as Lauryn Hill, Snoop Doggy Dogg, and will Smith. It also looks at the rap world''s influence on language, dance, and fashion. Plus a chronology of rap, some classic rap albums, suggested books, and morel

In 1839, a young man is brutally kidnapped from his homeland and imprisoned on the slave ship "Amistad" with 52 other Africans. But this man is brave beyond his years, and for him destiny has another plan. His name is Joseph Cinque, and, with former president John Quincy Adams as his ally, he will change the course of history. Full color.

Separated from her best friend in Brooklyn, thirteen-year-old Marisol spends a year with her grandmother in Panama where she secretly searches for her real father.

On the streets of Brooklyn in the 1970s, Veronica Chambers mastered the whirling helixes of a double-dutch jump rope with the same finesse she brought to her schoolwork, her often troubled family life, and the demands of being overachieving and underprivileged. Her mother—a Panamanian immigrant—was too often overwhelmed by the task of raising Veronica and her difficult younger brother on her meager secretary''s salary to applaud her daughter''s achievements. From an early age, Veronica understood that the best she could do for her mother was to be a perfect child—to rewrite her Christmas wish lists to her mother''s budget, to look after her brother, to get by on her own. Though her mother seemed to bear out the adage that "black women raise their daughters and mother their sons," Veronica never stopped trying to do more, do better, do it all. And now, as a successful young woman who''s achieved more than her mother dared hope for her, she looks back on their mother-daughter bond. The critically acclaimed Mama''s Girl is a moving, startlingly honest memoir, in which Chambers shares some important truths about what we all really want from our mothers—and what we can give in return.

At twenty-four John Singleton became the youngest filmmaker and only African American ever to be nominated for Best Director (and Best Screenplay) for Boyz N the Hood, his debut feature film. Only a year after receiving such sensational acclaim for that debut, Singleton has returned to the Hood. His new film, Poetic Justice, which stars Janet Jackson and features the poetry of Maya Angelou, gives voice to young African-American women.