A Little Piece of Sky [Paperback]

Nicole Bailey Williams (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 8, 2002

A poignant, powerful debut that combines the deep emotion of The House on Mango Street with uniquely creative storytelling.

Unfolding in a series of tiny vignettes, A Little Piece of Sky introduces an endearing new novelist and a truly unforgettable main character. In the first few chapters we meet a little girl named Song Byrd, who keenly reports on the world around her. She is African American (in a mostly Hispanic neighborhood), unwanted (conceived during an adulterous affair), and poor in the material sense but extraordinarily rich in spirit.

In piercingly insightful prose, Nicole Bailey-Williams takes readers on Song’s journey through life as she struggles against outsider status and intense guilt over her mother’s murder. Behind it all, places of pure joy, “dreaming the hurt away,” and glorious little pieces of sky shine through. Song’s tales--and Bailey-Williams’s narrative gift--are truly words to treasure.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This story of an African-American girl who beats the odds is certainly familiar, but Bailey-Williams's spare narration and concise prose establish her as a new author with a powerful voice and plenty to say. Song Byrd was born into the ghetto of North Philadelphia with an absent father, a mother who turns to prostitution, a sister who steals to support her drug habit and a brother who winds up in prison for raping an elderly woman. What saves Song is her inner strength and the attentions of a neighbor named Miss Olga, but her pivotal break comes on the heels of tragedy, when her mother is shot by the girlfriend of one of her paramours. Song moves in with her father, although the girl still battles the guilt she feels over her mother's death. That guilt leads to a revelatory sequence of chapters in which Song sees a therapist and comes to terms with her past, while negotiating a new relationship with a young man named Anthony. The narrative appeals, but what really makes the book work is the incisive, succinct and compelling prose, which turns a simple story into an insightful character exploration. Bailey-Williams's success will ultimately rest on her ability to take her plots in different directions, but this debut marks her as a promising figure in this genre.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Like a gifted quilter, Bailey-Williams has stitched together the pieces of a woman's life to form a seamless portrait of survival and healing. As a child, Song Byrd is burdened with poverty and abuse: her alcoholic single mother locks her in the bathroom, her sister steals to buy drugs, and one brother is always in jail, while the other is a wanderer. When Song's mother is murdered, her life takes a sudden and unexpected turn, and she must confront feelings of guilt as she grows up. Bailey-Williams, a high school English teacher, has written a debut that reads like an urban diary, filled with hardships but also acts of love and kindness, told matter-of-factly and without melodrama. Her refusal to make Song a victim is refreshing, and her ability to convey so much feeling in so few words makes this novel almost a prose poem. Highly recommended, particularly for young adults. [Harlem Moon is a new paperback imprint focusing on books for African Americans.-Ed.]-Ellen Flexman, Indianapolis-Marion Cty. P.L., I.
--Ellen Flexman, Indianapolis-Marion Cty. P.L., IN
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Broadway; 1 Reprint edition (October 8, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0767912160
• ISBN-13: 978-0767912167
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.4 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,890,707 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars When hope isn't enough, January 21, 2004

By 

R.E.A.L. Reviewers (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Little Piece of Sky (Paperback)

As a forewarning to readers who decide to pick up Nicole Bailey-William's A Little Piece of Sky: this is not your average piece of fiction. The 155 page book is centered on the troubled female character named Song Byrd, and the novel is put together in much the same lyrical and poetic way as the character's name. The chapters are short, metaphorically deep, snack-sized morsels that the reader is treated to as they read about Song's struggle to overcome the ghetto of Philadelphia that has made her who she is.

The title of the book comes into play when Song divulges to the reader that her mother, who birthed four children from four different men, used to lock Song into the roach infested bathroom of their apartment when her mother was unable to attain a babysitter. Song would look up to the sky as a symbol of hope and day dream to pass the time away. A tragic event occurs, which rattles Song's foundation and makes her decide to never look up ever again.

Fast forward many years later and Song is a graduate of Spelman College with a great job giving back to the community and a man who adores her, but she's still holding on desperately to her past. Despite her personal uplifting experience of no longer relaxing her hair and the education she has under her belt, there are many old issues of hope and self-esteem that she has to struggle through before she can truly move on with her life.

Works of fiction of this sort are great for those who are looking for a profound, triumphant story. This novel does not skimp on major issues like classism, race, intra-racism, and the power of the human spirit to overcome. This should be required reading for every woman of color before heading off for higher learning.

Anna

R.E.A.L. Reviewers

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Average book - More like poetry - hated the Spanish, January 4, 2004

By 

Denise Moseley "gemini32" (Richmond, VA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Little Piece of Sky (Paperback)

The book had it's moments. It's not very in depth at all. Its more of poetry than a novel. It beats around the bush. Chapters that are one page long. Such a short book. Also I don't understand spanish and hated her usage of spanish all throughout the book. It's annoying not to know what the people are saying. She could at least have followed up the spanish with the english translation in parenthesis. Average book.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Book, October 17, 2000

By 

Renee Smith (Ewing,NJ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Little Piece of Sky (Paperback)

A Little Piece of Sky is a book that everyone should read. It tells the story of how a person goes from being an insecure little girl to a self confident and self assured young woman. I would recommend this book to anyone who needs a little peice of sky to get them through lifes stormy madness.