Customer Reviews

The Black College Sabbatical: Fall Quarter

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book was such a delightful reading experience for me as well as a welcomed escape from what I typically encounter within my day and work life. For me I can say it was an entertaining read with real life/believable situations! Therefore, in my opinion, this material was well written and thought out. I highly recommend this book by Tracie Christian. I felt as if I was apart of the Heritage University experience along with the characters and "got to know" their families and unique backgrounds! I really appreciated the short chapters which made it easy for me to read and move through the book. And, at the end, inserting the "conversation questions" was a nice surprise and addition for book clubs or as an individual reflection of the contents of the book! Great Job Tracie!!! TWO BIG THUMBS UP! Karen Lynne Duffie

Discussing a college experience is one thing however,writing about the African American college experience is another! Author Tracie Christian takes us into the world of four young ladies from totally various backgrounds linked together through fate. As if freshman year on a black college campus is not overwhelming and challenging enough, Kyla, Ananda, Tina, and Cierra all face tribulations that easily amount up to that old saying,"what dose not kill you will definitely make you stronger." From the deception of lovers to sibling rivalry and deceit,in this juicy read ladies and gentlemen,you get it all! Through her initial literary contribution to the world, Ms. Christian does an terrific job at allowing individuals unaware of the black college experience some eye opening insight and the opportunity for those who attended an historical black institution the opportunity to reminiscence. I hated that the Fall Quarter had to come to an end however,I'm just dieing to read Winter Quarter the 2nd Edition. Hats off to you Ms.Tracie.

Adra Young
Author of: The Everyday Living of Children & Teens Monologues series

Reviewed by Starr Baldwin
UrbanBookSource.com

In The Black College Sabbatical: Fall Quarter, author Tracie E. Christian tells the story of college life at a Historically Black University (HBU) called Heritage State University in New Jersey. The reader is taken on a journey with four young women who meet at freshman orientation by chance and become close friends; each of whom has their own set of issues that are covered randomly throughout the book

The characters are very defined and manage to linger in your mind in such a way that you are often left wondering what will actually happen to them, will things change with them or will they stay the same. You will discover what it is truly like for Tina being a White student trying to succeed in a Black environment; you will hope CeeCee learns to overcome her various problems; you will sympathize with Kyla as she struggles with two important relationships in her life; and you will ache for Ananda, as she struggles with being an overachiever who is not reaching what she feels is her full potential.

You will see more and more of each character with every chapter you read, and by the ending cliffhanger, you will feel compelled to purchase the next installment, because you will want to know what happens to these four friends.

A guardian angel, who is assigned to one of the girls, walks the reader through the book, summarizing events past in early chapters and prepares the reader for the possibility of things to come. At the end of Fall Quarter, I was still unsure as to which young woman the angel was assigned to, because she spoke about and understood each character intimately and completely.

The supporting male characters in the book contribute heavily to the storyline. Even the briefly mentioned characters, such as the parents of some of the main characters, are memorable, and leave you with a lasting impression.

Having attended a HBU myself, I truly enjoyed this glimpse into the magical collegiate world that can only exist at an HBU it brought back a lot of memories when I was a freshman.

What did you like best about this book?
The author gave great insight into what it would be like to attend and what to expect from a prestigious HBU. It gives you a taste of advice on how you could cope with your first real encounter of being away from home, meeting friends that will become your life long friends, and lastly how cool it is to go away to college.

What did you dislike about this book?
I didn't like the angel in the book. I am not sure of the purpose of the angel, because it was more like the angel was there to remind you of what was taking place and never let on to who the angel was there to help out. I didn't like the way the book just ended with a cliffhanger when it really only started to get good around page 150.

How can the author approve this book?
I am a firm believer that the book cover is what grabs the reader's attention first. The cover needs major improvement, it doesn't relate to the title of the book at all. Improve the cover and the editing, take the angel because it's not needed and elaborate more on what is really going on with the characters before you close out with a cliffhanger and never really get to the bottom of things.

In THE BLACK COLLEGE SABBATICAL: Fall Quarter, author Tracie E. Christian tells the story of college life at a Historically Black University (HBU). Four young women meet at freshman orientation and become close friends; each of whom has issues that are covered randomly throughout the book

The characters are well-defined and manage to linger in your mind in such a way that you will feel they are your friends, too. You will sympathize with Tina being a White student trying to succeed in a Black environment; you will cheer for CeeCee as she learns to overcome her various problems; you will mourn with Kyla as she struggles with two important relationships in her life; and you will ache for Ananda, as she struggles with being an overachiever who is not reaching what she feels is her full potential.

You will care more about each character with every chapter you read, and by the ending cliffhanger, you know that you will be purchasing the next installment, because you have to know what happened to your friends. Christian leaves many problems unsolved, but she does it in such a way that it will lead the reader easily into the next book.

A guardian angel walks the reader through the book, summarizing events in previous chapters, and preparing the reader for the possibility of things to come, without giving away the plot. At the end of Fall Quarter, I still wasn't sure exactly which young woman the angel was assigned to, because she seemed to understand each character intimately and completely.

The supporting male characters in the book are wonderful also; and three of them contribute heavily to the storyline throughout the book. Even the briefly mentioned characters, such as the parents of some of the main characters, are memorable, and leave you with a lasting impression.

Not having attended a HBU myself, I truly enjoyed this glimpse into the magical collegiate world that can only exist at an HBU!! Personal friends who did attend HBUs could relate to passages I shared with them, and commended the author on doing a great job of covering the Black Collegiate experience.

I truly look forward to reading the rest of the books in this series! This one was easy to read, and very hard to put down!!

Reviewed by Rowena Winfrey
for The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

In a nod to the new popularity of reality television, books and drama, The Black College Sabbatical is extraordinary in the fact that what happens to its characters is all too ordinary. Readers will be able to follow their heartbreak, their relationships with slimy men and their college experiences and think, "Girl, if you'd only talked to me first I could have already told you that!"

This isn't a story of a woman becoming the first female president, or setting off around the world. Readers will thrill at the knowledge that the things these girls accomplish, the dreams they strive for, are all possible (without the help of a fairy godmother or a gigantic bank account).

A quick heads up to readers, however; the author liberally sprinkles the girls'expressions with the kind of down home profanity that you'd hear in any college. Other than that, however, I found the book engaging and easy to follow. The Black College Sabbatical does a great job of showing the girls' lives from all angles without leaving the reader scrambling to understand what's going on.

Two very enthusiastic thumbs up!