3G Book Club

3G Book Club spotlights talents/future writers who need worldwide exposure.  If you are a writer/Publisher and needs a spotlight on your upcoming or already launched book,  contact us; 856 261 3075, 646 8336194 or email; mrcnn247@gmail.com or facebook.com/mrcnn

PRAISE FOR POWDER NECKLACE

“winning debut” — Publisher’s Weekly

“diasporically delightful” — Joan Morgan, author of When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost : My Life as A Hip Hop Feminist

“for readers who enjoyed Edwidge Danticat’s Breath, Eyes, Memory or Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus” — Library Journal

“a welcome addition to the growing list of writers portraying Africa in their own authentic, indigenous voices” — 234next.com

“Brew-Hammond’s colorful descriptions of Ghana and emotionally honest style capture the reader’s attention from the first page.” –J.L. King, New York Times bestselling author 
 
 Contact: Yona Deshommes

(212) 698-7566 Yona.Deshommes@simonandschuster.com

(available for purchase: http://www.amazon.com/Powder-Necklace-Nana-Ekua-Brew-Hammond/dp/1439126100)

Stunning debut novel chronicles the seminal years in the life of

a teenage girl as she is shuttled both physically and emotionally from

London to Ghana to London again, and finally Long Island

POWDER NECKLACE: A Novel

By Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond

“Everything happens for God’s good reason is the cliché my mother has drilled in

my head since I was old enough to ask ‘Why?’—but too young to question why she

didn’t really seem to believe this true regarding her and my father. She would

go off on these paranoid rants about him and how he left us. These tirades were

always followed with a lecture on how I should let that be a lesson to me about

boys, how they only wanted to spoil me (‘spoil’ being her euphemism for sex),

and how much she had sacrificed for my benefit.

So begins Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond’s compelling first novel, POWDER NECKLACE

(Washington Square Press; ISBN: 978-1-4391-2610; $15.00).

Through language interspersed with both humor and bitterness, Nana Ekua

Brew-Hammond deftly explores themes of community, loneliness, preservation of

culture, and assimilation.

When the sexually curious and petulant Lila Adjei makes the fatal error of

inviting a male schoolmate to her London home to play video games—without adult

supervision—her mother flies into a rage and decides to send Lila packing “for

her own good” on an indefinite sojourn to Ghana, her homeland. Lila is

furious at her mother for her seemingly rash decision and terrified at the

thought of being so far away from home in an unfamiliar place. Although her

mother’s explanation for the move is that she is attempting to protect her

daughter from the bad influences of London, Lila is convinced that the

uncongenial relationship between her mother and her estranged father, who lives

in America, is at the core of the decision.

Once in Ghana, Lila arrives at the home of her Auntie Irene and soon discovers

that life there is devoid of the luxuries she was accustomed to in London. Her

aunt, while loving, is strong-willed and determined to have Lila enroll at

Ghana’s most prestigious school for girls. After an interview with the school’s

headmistress, an influential reference, and monetary bribes, Lila is accepted at

the school. However, the harsh reality of being the odd-girl-out amongst “her

own” proves too challenging as she is taunted and robbed by her schoolmates and

constantly reminded she is an outsider. But after a few months, Lila eventually

becomes part of a circle of friends who bond over the reality of frequent water

shortages, the “powder necklaces” formed from their liberal use of talcum when

they are unable to bathe, petty injustices and “ferme”, the homemade moonshine

they concoct. After finally adjusting to the Ghanaian way of life during two

school terms, Lila’s life is once again turned topsy-turvy as her mother

suddenly summons her to come back to London. In a bittersweet departure from

Ghana, her extended family, and from the four friends she has made at school,

she is met at Heathrow airport by her mother-and the new man in her life who has

a daughter Lila’s age. During their conversations and correspondence over the

time Lila has lived in Ghana, hermother has never mentioned this relationship and Lila is stunned

by the development as well as the fact that her mother has purchased a new home

in a new neighborhood. Feeling alienated and alone, Lila attempts to reestablish

previous friendships but learns that her old mates “have moved on.” However,

Lila’s reunion in London is short-lived as her mother—along with her father,

whom she has not seen since she was three years old—decides she should spend the

summer with her father to become acquainted with him. Lila is unhappy

about the decision to uproot her yet again, but after her arrival in America and

an immediate road trip to Disney World, she becomes less tense about the visit

with her father, her stepmother, and her half siblings. Although Lila believes

she will return to London at the end of the summer, she learns she is going to

live with her father and his family on Long Island permanently. Lila initially

feels betrayed by her mother, but in the end, it is in America where she finally

remains and experiences some unexpected successes as she becomes one of the

subjects of a Manhattan photography exhibit and a paid contributing author to a

book.

Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond has written for AOL, Parenting magazine, The Village

Voice, Metro, and Trace Magazine. Her short story, Bush Girl was published in

the May 2008 issue of African Writing and her poem, The Whinings of a Seven

Sister Cum Laude Graduate Working Board as an Assistant, was published in the

2006 anthology Growing Up Girl. A cum laude graduate of Vassar College, she

attended secondary school in Ghana.

The author is available for interviews. Please call Yona Deshommes at (212)

698-7566 or email yona.deshommes@simonandschuster.com<mailto:yona.deshommes@simonandschuster.com>.

POWDER NECKLACE: A Novel

By Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond

Washington Square Press

On-sale: April 6, 2010

ISBN: 978-1-4391-2610-3

$15.00/256 pp.

http://www.amazon.com/Powder-Necklace-Nana-Ekua-Brew-Hammond/dp/1439126100

 

 

3G Congratulates Author; Ato Kwame Dadzie on his book; “Pretending to be President”.  Welcome to the world of Publishing.

The launching of Sankofa, a book written by; NY based Rita Kusi.

Courtesy –  http://www.ritakusi.com/

Biography of Author

Born and raised in Ghana, West Africa until the age of nine Rita “Akosua” Kusi migrated to the United States with her father, mother, three sisters, and brother in 1991. After attaining a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in 2002, from the State University of New York at New Platz, she always knew she had a story to tell and vowed to someday write a book.

Fortunate to have the best of both worlds, Sankofa: Looking Back to Move Forward, is this up and coming author’s first self-published book. It is based on the concept of her life and in it she tells a story about friendship and reflects back to her upbringing in both worlds to take us on the journey to self discovery.

With hopes to inspire and motivate others and give back to a country that gave her her roots. Purchase a copy of Sankofa: Looking Back to Move Forward and 25% of profits will go towards the prevention and fight against Malaria, a common infectious disease caused by parasites, and an enormous public health problem in West Africa.

For book purchase go to;  http://www.ritakusi.com or visit www.Amazon.com, www.B&N.com; and over 25,000 literary venues.

E-mail me @ Rita_Kusi@yahoo.com

Follow me  www.facebook.com/rita.kusi

For book purchase go to;  http://www.ritakusi.com/