Keep A'Livin'

<p><span><b><span>Kathya Alexander triumphs in bringing the complexities of the civil rights era to life complete with its injustices anger grief and tragedies. This is a very important book for today as the U.S. potentially again finds itself in the grip of the illusion that violence will ever lead to anything good. - </span><span>The Bay Area Reporter</span></b></span><span></span></p><p><span>Grappling with grief ancestral trauma and a family community and society in flux Mandy dares to dream of a future outside the limitations of racism and patriarchy. <br></span></p><p>In the small town of Uz Arkansas Mandy Anderson wakes up on July 4th 1963 her mother's birthday to the sweltering Southern heat a pounding headache and the distinct thumping of her mother Belle kneading biscuit dough. In the raw heat only made worse by Belle’s baking Mandy questions why the white woman her mother works for wouldn’t want to give Belle the day off for her birthday. So begins Mandy’s journey of questioning the structures that define her world a path that carries her through tragedy mystical encounters and her own spiritual and familial legacy.</p><p>Kathya Alexander’s debut historical fiction novel-in-verse follows the fiercely passionate dedicated and cheeky Mandy as she comes of age during the height of the Civil Rights Movement of the 20th century. Twelve-year-old Mandy and her mother Belle experience the extraordinary events of the 1960s finding strength fearlessness and faith along the way.  </p><p>This beautifully lyrical novel explores the reality of activism as more than just a handful of speeches given at protests the costs to those who dedicate themselves to activist work and the passion that drives us ever onward to a better more just future.</p><p><br></p>