Virgin Soul

The story of a young Black woman in Bay Area California going through college and not only being schooled academically, but learning street smarts as well. In fact the book is broken into four parts, Freshman, Sophomore, Junior and Senior. Each part serves as a backdrop for that particular year of C......more

This is a fiction coming of age story based on the real life story of the author (fictionalized auto-biography? That a thing?). It follows an African American college girl during the 1960s in Oakland, CA while she’s going to university and becoming involved with the Black Panther Party. As someone w......more

Virgin Soul is a rare treat and insight to the happenings of a city (San Francisco in the world's sights. For those who think Flower Power was all crazy kids, it had a huge impact on society beyond the daisies in the hair and the LSD bad trips. The 1960's was a turbulent and riveting time historical......more

This novel is set in the 1960s in the Bay Area, during the rise of the Black Panther Party. Geniece, the central character, tells of her role within the party--as a journalist, cook, general aid, etc. Though the novel is told in her voice at the time of the events, the voice contains vestiges of a m......more

I've been on something of a reading jag lately reading books set in my home region (Berkeley/Oakland). The previous book I read was Michael Chabon's Telegraph Avenue, which sadly annoyed the heck out of me. This one felt much more authentic; the author less pleased with every cutesy turn of phrase.......more