EVENT CANCELED! Award Winning author Sharon Draper April 30th! 17.03.2013

We regret to announce the cancellation of the April 30th Sharon Draper event due to unforeseen circumstances beyond our control.  We will be rescheduling this event sometime in the near future- possibly late this summer. Please stay tuned for more details. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Award Wining Young Adult author Sharon Draper presented by Book Beat and the Southfield Library

The Book Beat and the Southfield Public Library are proud to present Sharon Draper, five-time winner of the Coretta Scott King Award. The author will be at theSouthfield Public Library on April 30th at 6:30pm. The Southfield Library is located at  26300 Evergreen in Southfield. This event is free and open to the public, co-sponsored by Book Beat and the Southfield Public library.


Sharon M. Draper is a New York Times bestselling author who has received the Coretta Scott King Award for both Copper Sun and Forged by Fire. Her Out of My Mind has won multiple awards. She will be speaking and signing copies of her latest book, Panic, a fast-paced tale of a teenage girl who makes an “adult” decision that  has tragic results.


I learned to dream through reading, learned to create dreams through writing, and learned to develop dreamers through teaching. I shall always be a dreamer. Come dream with me. –Sharon Draper
“Out of My Mind speaks volumes and reveals the quiet strength and fortitude it takes to overcome disabilities and the misconceptions that go with them.” -SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL

“It’s impossible to close this book without thinking about the world differently.”
–Jennifer M. Brown, PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

On Sharon Drapper’s Copper Sun: “Draper isn’t after a history lesson. Instead, she brings emotional life to the appalling details of forced servitude. From the opening pages, readers become engrossed with the heartbreaking journey of Amari, a 15-year-old African girl captured and enslaved in 1738.” –Cleveland Plain Dealer

Draper’s latest Book, Panic,  is a  gripping and chillingly realistic novel that shows that all it takes is one bad decision for everything to change.
“Draper does a great job showing the insecurities that teenage girls deal with and the unique format of Panic make it a novel you should try. If you can get past the way they talk, the characters are very well developed and their devotion to dancing is a great example of how you can deal with negative emotions/events by doing something rather than drowning it in alcohol or drugs.”  – Source: -Simply Infatuated Blog

“…this is a riveting exploration of power: how quickly we can lose it—and how we can take it back.”    -The Teen Bookworm
Diamond knows not to get into a car with a stranger.But what if the stranger is well-dressed and handsome? On his way to meet his wife and daughter? And casting a movie that very night—a movie in need of a star dancer? What then?     Then Diamond might make the wrong decision.

Dr. Sharon M. Draper is a professional educator as well as an accomplished writer. She has been honored as the National Teacher of the Year, is a five-time winner of the Coretta Scott King Literary Awards, and is a New York Times bestselling author. She was selected as Ohio’s Outstanding High School Language Arts Educator, Ohio Teacher of the Year, and was chosen as a NCNW Excellence in Teaching Award winner. She is a Milken Family Foundation National Educator Award winner, and was the Duncanson Artist-in-Residence for the Taft Museum. She is a YWCA Career Woman of Achievement, and is the recipient of the Dean’s Award from Howard University School of Education, the Pepperdine University Distinguished Alumnus Award, the Marva Collins Education Excellence Award, and the Governor’s Educational Leadership Award. Last year she was named Ohio Pioneer in Education by the Ohio State Department of Education, received the Beacon of Light Humanitarian award, as well as the Doctor of Laws Degree from Pepperdine University. In 2012 she received The 33rd annual Jeremiah Ludington Memorial Award by the Educational and Media Association.

 Visit her at SharonDraper.com.
Posted in: African-American Lit, Author signings, Book Signings, Children's Books, Young Adult books | No Comments »
Beverly Jenkins at Book Beat Saturday, March 23rd! 02.03.2013

Best-selling romance author Beverly Jenkins will be appearing at Book Beat Saturday, March 23rd from 3-5 pm. She will be presenting her newest novel Destiny’s Embrace, an Avon Romance. We are pleased to welcome Beverly back and to meet and greet all her local Detroit area devoted fans. This event is free and open to the public. Please call Book Beat at (248) 968-1190 with any questions.

“Beverly Jenkins has reached romance superstardom .”
- Detroit Free Press

“Jenkins’s sassy heroines, well drawn secondary characters and seamless incorporation of black history result in a fresh, winning historical.”
- Publishers Weekly

Ms. Jenkins is the nation’s premier writer of African-American historical romance fiction and specializes in 19th century African American life. She has 30 published novels to date.

She has received numerous awards, including: five Waldenbooks/Borders Group Best Sellers Awards; two Career Achievement Awards from Romantic Times Magazine; a Golden Pen Award from the Black Writer’s Guild, and in 1999 was named one of the Top Fifty Favorite African-American writers of the 20th Century by AABLC, the nation’s largest on-line African-American book club.

She has also been featured in many national publications, including the Wall Street Journal, People Magazine, Dallas Morning News and Vibe Magazine. She has lectured and given talks at such prestigious universities as Oberlin University, the University of Illinois, and Princeton. She speaks widely on both romance and 19th century African-American history.

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Author and Illustrator Javaka Steptoe @ DPL on April 12th! 01.04.2011

Author, illustrator, and artist Javaka Steptoe will be speaking at the Main Branch of the Detroit Public Library (Friends Auditorium- A Level) on Tues. April 12th from 10am to 11 am, and signing books from 11:30 am to 12:30 pm as part of National Library Week.

Javaka is the author of the recent Coretta Scott King Honor-winning title, Jimi Sounds Like a Rainbow: A Story of the Young Jimi Hendrix, among many other titles.  This event is free and open to the public.  Book Beat will be selling books for the author at this event.  Please RSVP by April 6, 2011 by calling the Childrens/ Teen Servies Office at (313) 481-1361 or (313)  481-1409.  Or call the Book Beat at (248) 968-1190 if you have any further questions regarding this event.
Posted in: African-American Lit, Author signings, Book Signings, Children's Books | No Comments »
Signed copies of Terry McMillan’s “Getting to Happy” now available! 16.09.2010

SIGNED COPIES AVAILABLE!!  Terri McMillan stopped by the store this morning to autograph copies of her long-awaited sequel to Waiting to Exhale!

“Terry McMillan’s Waiting to Exhale was more than just a bestselling novel-its publication was a watershed moment in literary history. McMillan’s sassy and vibrant story about four African American women struggling to find love and their place in the world touched a cultural nerve, inspired a blockbuster film, and generated a devoted audience.

Now, McMillan revisits Savannah, Gloria, Bernadine, and Robin fifteen years later. Each is at her own midlife crossroads: Savannah has awakened to the fact that she’s made too many concessions in her marriage, and decides to face life single again-at fifty-one. Bernadine has watched her megadivorce settlement dwindle, been swindled by her husband number two, and conned herself into thinking that a few pills will help distract her from her pain. Robin has an all-American case of shopaholism, while the big dream of her life-to wear a wedding dress- has gone unrealized. And for years, Gloria has taken happiness and security for granted. But being at the wrong place at the wrong time can change everything. All four are learning to heal past hurts and to reclaim their joy and their dreams; but they return to us full of spirit, sass, and faith in one another. They’ve exhaled: now they are learning to breathe.” (Penguin USA)
Posted in: African-American Lit, Author signings | 2 Comments »