Finally! A Beautiful Black Fantasy Heroine Who Embraces Her Natural Beauty

I couldn’t say this any better than Goodreads’ Fountain Pen Diva.  My BFF Jackie Johnson shared news of Daniel’s latest fantasy book with me because she absolutely loved it.  With Jackie being a writer (her latest book of poetry), my interest was really peaked so I looked Daniel up on Amazon and Goodreads.  Here’s an excerpt from the Fountain Pen Diva.  Her written review echoes Jackie’s verbal review. 

Sierra Santiago is one of those awesome heroines. She’s proudly and fiercely Afro-Latina with a gorgeous mane of fluffy fro and lots of teen attitude (I kept seeing the killer Esmeralda Spalding as Sierra). She’s an artist full of cultural pride despite the colorism that sadly is as much a part of Latino life as it is here in America and other places. I loved how Sierra put her color-struck aunt in check after making a disparaging comment about Robbie, a young Haitian artist, whom Sierra is digging on. And while she digs on Robbie, when it’s time for the mission, finding out exactly what shadowshaping is and how to use her powers, she’s not wasting time hung up on the guy. I really hate when authors do that to the heroine, and far too many YA authors are guilty of what I call “heroine hijacking”…

 Click here for the full review, and look for this book as a new additional to Ms. Marie’s Library this fall! View Daniel’s Youtube video of him talking to a literature class at Princeton University this pass April 2015, which is exactly 2 months before the June 2015 publication of Shadowshapers.

Daniel Jose Older is a NYC young adult author who has written 5 previous titles. This is Daniel’s first hardcover.  Daniel’s band Ghost Star gigs regularly around New York and he facilitates workshops on storytelling from an anti-oppressive power analysis. You can find his thoughts on writing, read dispatches from his decade-long career as an NYC paramedic and hear his music at ghoststar.net/, on youtube and @djolder on twitter.  His blog is at http://ghoststar.net/.