Felicia Pride

Felicia Pride

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Felicia Pride is a writer, literacy advocate, and hip-hop baby. She’s the book blogger for AOL Black Voices’ book blog, More than Words, a frequent contributor to Publishers Weekly and the managing editor of Mosaic literary magazine.

She’s also the founder of BackList (www.thebacklist.net), an organization and literary website dedicated to keeping books in style. Her writing about hip-hop, books, publishing, and pop culture has appeared in various publications including VIBE, PopMatters, and the Baltimore City Paper.

She’s also the coauthor of the young adult anthology Hallway Diaries (Harlequin/Kimani Tru, September 2007) and the author of Everybody Hates First Girlfriends (Simon & Schuster, September 2007), a chapter book in the literary series based on the award-winning television show Everybody Hates Chris. Felicia has been an invited speaker at various events and panels and serves on the board for the Literary Freedom Project. She has a M.A. in writing and publishing from Emerson College and is based in Maryland.

For press and bookings, email promotion@thebacklist.net.

The Message: 100 Life Lessons from Hip-Hop's Greatest Songs
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Hardcover: 256 pages
Publisher: Thunder's Mouth/Running Press (October 7, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1568583354

Watch Video and read about Felicia's NYC Book Launch Party

Who would have thought that you could get deep life lessons from hip-hop? Learn to deal with regrets by jamming to Jay-Z? Foster self-esteem listening to Mos Def? Exert your self-worth based on cues from a Queen Latifah song? Get career advice from an Ice-T rhyme? Reflect on spirituality through a Kanye West tune?

In her new book The Message: 100 Life Lessons from Hip-Hop's Greatest Songs (Thunder’s Mouth Press/October 2007/$15.95), Felicia Pride extracts empowering lessons embedded within the genre’s most popular songs. Growing up with hip-hop, she has come to realize the way it shaped how she thinks, writes, and reacts, making her the person she is today. In The Message, she uses short essays, aptly titled after a hip-hop song, and written in the language of the culture, to explore the themes of spirituality, success, business, and love. Incorporating her own experiences and reflections with the rapper’s message, Pride goes on to share the wisdom she has learned from hip-hop and focuses on the positive influence the music has on its audience.

The Message turns the often negative perceptions of hip-hop completely around, offers a fresh perspective on why the culture is loved worldwide, and simultaneously provides motivational material for the hip-hop generation culled from its own unique artistic expression. In the introduction she writes, “This book is about searching for the power within and using motivational aspects of hip-hop music to help us successfully maneuver our worlds.”

The Message unleashes the power in the music and leaves readers with a compendium of wisdom to incorporate in their own lives, proving in Pride’s words that “we can learn from hip-hop.”

For more information and to read an excerpt from The Message, visit www.feliciapride.com and www.myspace.com/thebookchick.

Hallway Diaries: How To Be Down\Double Act\The Summer She Learned To Dance
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by Felicia Pride, Debbie Rigaud, Karen Valentin

Reading level: Ages 9-12
Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Harlequin (September 1, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 037383084X

Book Description
Three girls. Three high schools. Three gotta-read stories.

How To Be Down by Felicia Pride
When Nina Parker decides to straighten her Afro, lose her valley-girl accent and get a total makeover for her new school in the hood, the cutest guy notices—yes! But so does the meanest girl, Vivica, queen bee of her crew, who wants Jeffrey for herself.

Double Act by Debbie Rigaud
In the hood, Mia Chambers is 'the smart girl,' but at her prestigious new prep school she hardly stands out. So Mia does what it takes— only to be accused of selling out by her old friends!

The Summer She Learned To Dance by Karen Valentin
At first, Giselle Johnson hates spending the summer with her cousin from the Dominican Republic. But she soon starts loving the island and even learns to dance to her own rhythm. That is, until her cousin attracts Giselle's high school crush…

Everybody Hates First Girlfriends (Everybody Hates Chris)
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Reading level: Ages 4-8
Paperback: 96 pages
Publisher: Simon Spotlight (September 18, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1416937986

Chris has a girlfriend! "You're my Prince Charming," she says. And normally he would love all the attention, but this so-called girlfriend is Teresa Johnson, and she annoys Chris more than Tonya does. Teresa simply forced him to be her boyfriend -- and he just didn't know how to say no. After all, their mothers are good friends. But after enduring a visit to the beauty salon with Teresa, hearing her discuss their future with his mom, and not having any time to hang out with Greg, Chris has had enough. Now he has to put Operation R.O.O.T. -- Rid Ourselves of Teresa -- into action. Does Chris's plan succeed, or is he stuck with Teresa for the rest of his life?

Everybody Hates School Politics (Everybody Hates Chris)
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Reading level: Ages 4-8
Paperback: 96 pages
Publisher: Simon Spotlight (March 25, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1416949372