REMEMBER TO PICK UP YOUR COPY OF SISTER SOULJAH'S 'MIDNIGHT: A GANGSTER LOVE STORY' TODAY!

Alright you fellow Sister Souljah readers! Today is the day. And I'm not just talking about our historical election. I went to the election polls early just so that I'd have ample time to head over to Barnes & Noble this afternoon. In case some of yall forgot, today, November 4th, is the release date of Sister Souljah's most-anticipated sequel of the decade, Midnight: A Gangster's Love Story. It seems like it was just yesterday we were posting back and forth about how anxious we were to read this follow-up to Soujah's The Coldest Winter Ever. I'm hoping Midnight will be as much of a page-turner as its predecessor. Unfortunately though, the folks over a Publishers Weekly don't think so. You all can peep their review below, but any avid book reader never decides to purchase or not buy a book on the strength of other folks reviews, opinions, etc. Well, at least I don't.

Publishers Weekly
Souljah's follow-up to her bestselling novel, The Coldest Winter Ever, is another gritty coming-of-age tale, picking up the story of Midnight (a character in Coldest Winter) as he tries desperately to navigate American culture, Brooklyn streets and the dicey business of growing up. The novel begins as seven-year-old Midnight and his pregnant mother, Umma, are forced to leave their privileged life in Sudan for a hardscrabble American existence. Midnight spends his formative years in Brooklyn guiding and translating for his loyal, loving and talented mother, helping her get a factory job while encouraging her to start a clothing line. Eventually, Midnight starts working at a Chinatown fish shop, finds love, joins a dangerous hustler's basketball league and tries to disentangle his ambivalent feelings toward romance, family and personal honor.

Souljah's sensitive treatment of her protagonist is honest and affecting, with some realistic moments of crisis. Unfortunately, a slack plot and slow pacing cause serious bloat, and Souljah's distinctive prose is woefully unpolished. Frustrations aside, Souljah has obvious talent and sincere motives, making her a street-lit sophomore worth watching.

I also came across another review written by an anonymous black dude from Michigan. I'm not going to tell you all what website the review was posted on because I'm still miffed that his simple ass wrote a review that contained more spoilers than anything else!! Anyhoo, there is an excerpt of the book available on amazon.com that I thought you all would enjoy reading. CLICK HERE TO READ IT.

Also, I found images from the book which I've posted below. We've already discussed our dislike of the cover art on this book, so some of these pics may not surprise you.

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SISTER SOULJAH'S 'COLDEST WINTER EVER' SEQUEL 'MIDNIGHT: A GANGSTER LOVE STORY' BOOK COVER REVEALED. JUST DON'T JUDGE THE BOOK BY ITS COVER.

Avid readers such as myself, I'mma need yall to brace yourselves. In case you didn't know it or not, we're only six weeks away from the debut of Sister Souljah's Midnight: A Gangster Love Story, the much-anticipated (damn near 10 years in the making) sequel to her best-selling novel The Coldest Winter Ever. As I perused the book forum on LSA, I came upon a thread where the cover art for Midnight was posted. Check it out by clicking on the picture to your left. Like I said in the blog title, let's not judge the book by its cover. I mean, for real. In all reality Midnight (the main character in the sequel) would have to be at least in his mid to late thirties right about now, right? So why does the dude on the cover look as if he just started his sophomore year in high school?! That is not the business. Lord, we got to do better. When I close my eyes and picture Midnight, I see actors like Morris Chestnut, Lance Gross or Terrell Carter portraying him. Not young dude on the cover. Let's just pray that the contents of the book doesn't mirror it's 'what the hell was she thinking?!?' cover. Who knows? Maybe there's a big surprise waiting for us that could explain lil man. Everything in me tells me Sister Souljah will not let us down. Truth be told: I've already pre-ordered my copy through Amazon.com. So in essence, I really don't give a damn about the book cover. Okay, well maybe just a little bit, but not a whole lot. Besides, I've waited too long for this book! On the other hand, that doesn't mean that I don't think the cover's cheesy as hell!

Moving on. Now, I have yet to see an updated synopsis of the book, so check this post out to read what I do have. In the meantime and in between time what I do know is that the book will be distributed in hardcover and will be released nationally on Tuesday, November 4th. And needless to say, I can't wait!!

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'THE COLDEST WINTER EVER' SEQUEL 'MIDNIGHT' TO HIT BOOKSTORES ON OCTOBER 14, 2008.

I meant to post this 2 weeks ago, so pardon my lateness on the news. Author, activist and the very first lady of urban fiction, Sister Souljah, has announced on her website that after years of "writing, thinking, traveling and creating," in 2008, she will release Midnight, the sequel to her national best-selling (over 1 million copies sold) urban fiction novel of all time, The Coldest Winter Ever. And although I find myself hyperventilating whenever I think about just how dumb I was to let someone 'borrow' my personalized autographed copy of my precious hardback book which I haven't seen in over five years (I'M LOOKING FOR YOU KELLY!), I'm still anticipating this long-awaited sequel like a mug! It's been over nine years! Sister Souljah says, "The sequel I have written will be quite a surprise I think. My readers will have to get their intellectual weight up! I have worked extremely hard to bring this one to the public. I love it. I was completely dedicated to making sure I didn't cheat my million of readers from hoods, burbs, and villages around the world. I am giving you something you can feel, remember, and use in your own lives. All credit goes to God for gracing me with the talent and the insight. I truly believe God is the greatest author of all times."

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY BY CLICKING 'READ MORE AFTER THE JUMP!' AND FIND OUT WHAT 'MIDNIGHT' WILL BE ALL ABOUT.

The Coldest Winter Ever, a gritty tale about the tumultuous street-ridden life of the daughter of a notorious drug dealer, is usually regarded as the predecessor of the urban lit genre. Atria Books VP Emily Bestler credits the book’s success to Souljah’s raw, yet message-driven storytelling and said that Midnight follows in this tradition. “People who love The Coldest Winter Ever,” she adds, “will devour the story.” The sequel centers on Midnight, a secondary but intriguing character from The Coldest Winter Ever. For this book, Souljah conducted extensive research and traveled to three continents, a fact that Bestler said accounts for the long break between the two books.

I swear to yall I was the first person to read The Coldest Winter Ever! No, really, I was. I just happen to be strolling the aisles of Barnes and Noble one night while saying to myself, 'would it kill them to to designate an area for black novels?! I mean, really!' To this day, it's a bitch having to have to hang your head to the side while walking down damn near each and every aisle trying to find books written by Black authors. But I digress. Anyway, lucky for me I happened to be in the right aisle at the exact time a store employee were putting the books on display. Needless to say, I read the book in ONE night. Trust.

Midnight hits bookstores on October 14, 2008. Pre-order your copy now! Oh, and as for that movie that Jada Pinkett Smith gained the copyrights for, yall may want to stop hoping and wishing on that one. Too much stalling and procrastinating. I'm just happy that the sequel has finally come to fruition. I can't wait to see what Winter Santiaga will have up her sleeve.

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SISTER SOULJAH CONFIRMS SEQUEL TO 'THE COLDEST WINTER EVER'; TO BE RELEASED IN 2008.

Finally! Nearly 10 years after urban-fictional novel The Coldest Winter Ever hit bookshelves and took the literary world by storm, its community-activist-turned-best-selling author, Sister Souljah confirmed to her fans via her official website, SISTERSOULJAH.COM, that the highly-anticipated sequel will be released sometime in 2008! The following announcement was posted on her webpage:

After years of writing, thinking, traveling and creating, Sister Souljah's The Coldest Winter Ever sequel will be available in 2008. Sister Souljah says, "The sequel I have written will be quite a surprise I think. My readers will have to get their intellectual weight up! I have worked extremely hard to bring this one to the public. I love it. I was completely dedicated to making sure I didn't cheat my millions of readers from hoods, burbs and villages around the world. I am giving you something you can feel, remember, and use in your own lives. All credit goes to God for gracing me with the talent and insight. I truly believe God is the greatest author of all times."

Now, that's what I'm talking about! And I, for one, can't wait! I don't meant to toot my own horn and whatnot, but I will have you all to know that yours truly was able to cop a first-row seat along with a photo with Sister Souljah AND a personalized, autograph in my copy of The Coldest Winter Ever when she and Tom Joyner's wife, Donna Richardson-Joyner) were featured panelists on the Tampax Total You tour when it made a stop at Florida A&M University's Perry Paige Auditorium several years ago. Now all I have to do is track down a friend of mine who I haven't seen in about 5 years and pray to God she still has my damn book that she was supposed to return to me and....you know what? That's water under the bridge. For now. What's important is the fact that we readers are almost thisclose to finding out what Winter Santiago and her baby sister have been up to for the past 10 years.

Did I say I can't wait?! Urban novelists such as Nikki Turner, Vickie Stringer, Teri Woods, Wahida Clark, T.N. Baker, Deja King, Chunichi, Kiki Swinson wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for Sister Souljah's best-selling novel. And that's real talk too. And I know some folks may be wondering whatever happened to the movie adaptation of the book that had Jada Pinkett Smith was reportedly involved in. Well, it ain't gonna happen. And thank God for that. Besides, I'd rather read a sequel written solely by Sister Souljah than watch some watered down, chewed up and spit out version of it on film a la Terry McMillan's How Stella Got Her Groove Back. I don't care what anyone says, the book was 5 times better than the movie. No disrespect to Angela Bassett and Taye Diggs. But I'm just saying.

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