Customer Reviews

The Sista Hood: On the Mic

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Mariposa or "Mari", an intelligent, Puerto-Rican fourteen-year old living in San Francisco, aspires to be an MC. While her parents are going through a divorce, she spends a lot of time alone, writing lyrics that depict her pain and how she sees the world through her eyes. She becomes attracted to Ezekiel "EZ" Mathews, another aspiring MC, whom she meets at summer camp and who also attends her high school. The problem is that EZ, being three years older than Mari, refers to her as Lil' Sis instead of what she really wants to be, and that is his girl.

Due to EZ's urging, Mari befriends his younger sister, Sadie. Along with Mari's best friend, Liza and Sadie's best friend, Evita, the girls form an all-girl group called The Sista Hood. Mari rhymes, Sadie sings, Evita plays keyboards and Liza dances. The girls learn how to bond through their daily rehearsals for their high school's talent show. They end up learning so much about each other and mostly how to have each other's backs through the ups-and-downs that are common, and uncommon, to a teenage girl's life.

E-Fierce does an excellent job of illustrating to the reader what life is like for Mariposa, "butterfly" in Spanish. She touches on issues that any teenage girl growing up in an urban city would witness - divorce, a parent's alcoholism, homosexuality, teen domestic violence, race relations and teen pregnancy. She also makes an admirable effort to show how Mari and her friends come together to be a support to each other, step-by-step. Girls reading this novel will be able to gain so much from this book and hopefully apply Mari's learnings to their own life.

This book was written from Mariposa's voice and sometimes she would say things that were not consistent with her voice/language from other parts of the book. Other than that, I would highly recommend this book to middle and high school girls that struggle with friendship issues.

Lena Willis
APOOO BookClub

The Sista Hood by E-Fierce draws you in from the first page with the bold yet questioning voice of Mariposa as she pines away for school heartthrob EZ (Ezekiel) on the bus home from school. EZ has fallen for Jessica Hoffman, aka J-Ho, and Mariposa's jealousy, after befriending EZ at camp, launches the story. But it's a lot more than a book about a girl pining after a boy. E-Fierce manages to engage many contemporary issues about race, culture, sexuality, and popularity in this engaging tale of friends and sometimes enemies who are all trying to find themselves, as well as separate and learn from their parents. The girls have plenty of very heavy, adult issues to work out, and test the boundaries of family and friendship, forming much more than a clique. How they look out for one another, how they argue, how they learn who's worthy of caring about and investing time in, are important lessons here. Written in a fast-paced style, this had me rooting for the girls to win their talent show.

In a somewhat surprising (to me, at least) turn of events, lesbianism amongst these students comes up, and save for some parental freaking out and macho posturing/homophobia amongst their classmates, it's presented as pretty much normal, just one way of being amongst many. The questions Mariposa asks herself show her to be very self-aware; she's not perfect, and wants to do the right thing, but her confusion over what the "right thing" to do, as evidenced by her various to do lists, proves her willing to work on herself to improve not just her life but those of the people she cares about. Issues of class, race and identity, both in terms of discrimination and how each character feels about her own background, permeate the book, but in a way that makes the reader ask questions as well; Mariposa starts off with some very strong views that she has to rethink as her circumstances and feelings change. The use of hip-hop throughout, both by Mariposa and the influence of that culture, is everywhere in this book, with the idea being that these characters can be a part of hip-hop, not just consumers of it. I'd recommend this to any teenager, or adults like me who like engaging, unique YA novels with strong characters and something to say. I look forward to the next installment in this series.

Written with the ear of today's teen girl and the heart of a cool aunt, The Sista Hood chronicles four high school students who join forces to win a hip hop talent contest.

The Sista Hood: On the Mic is a great book for young girls on so many levels. For starters, it's set within a hip hop background, a place that is hugely populated by men. Second, the novel shows that young women can obtain any dream they have as long as they work hard and persevere. Third, and just as important as the first two and the others not discussed, The Sista Hood illustrates that sometimes, girls (and women) accomplish their goals because of their "sistas," those girlfriends that are beside them through the good and bad times.

A fresh perspective on the urban novel--written by a Latina author, chronicling the struggle of young Latinas struggling to achieve their dreams of reaching the top of the hip-hop world. (summary by the Latino Recommended Reading List from the Association of American Publishers's * Publishing Latino Voices for America Task Force)
The Sista Hood On The Mic is an exciting book for teens who love music and love to read. It's a fast paced book and would make a great movie one day. This is a wonderful new series with strongly written multicultural characters. (BELLA Online)

This Book is "REAL". This book Not only talks about our every day lives (teens). But it also talks about the social issues, of how a Latina is seen in a world different from her's. The author did an awesome job combining 5 characters, who are from different backgrounds, and still have the same interest, hip-hop. Mariposa teached us that whatever you want to do, despite what others say, you can do it.

I was impressed with the clarity of the writing and inspirational message throughout the book.

The main character in the book and Hip Hop singer Mariposa learned that if you believe in yourself, you can accomplish anything. This is one of those books you can't put down, each page keeps you deeply involved and wanting to go to the next page.

I took my copy of the book to work and 10 of my co-workers went to B. Dalton Bookstore that day to not only buy the book but read it and also give it as a gift to a teenager in their life. Knowing that I would be going to one of E-Fierce's book reading and signings in San Francisco, to their excitement I volunteered to bring their books for an autograph---these teenagers are going to love this awe inspiring book.

I also highly recommend this book be available at the Junior High and High School libraries, and that teachers include this book in their reading programs.

Viva La Sista Hood and Gracias E-Fierce.

I was so excited to finally get my own copy of the SISTA HOOD: ON THE MIC. This book was a page turner as it mad me laugh, cry at times and always applaud these amazing young girls on the mic. E-Fierce is so real, authentic and talented in both her writing and portrayal of young girls of color. Gracias mi hermana for being true and exploring new borders!

The first book in one of the most anticipated young adult book series' is now available. The Sista Hood On The Mic by E-Fierce hit book shelves on July 11th.

Girls do more than just like hip-hop music. There is a huge culture of young women who are a part of the hip-hop music. They feel the music and they perform the music. Mariposa likes to flow and she has no problem sharing her lyrics and rhymes with a new male friend named Ezekiel. They spend their first summer as friends together getting closer through the passion they both share-music. The thing is Mariposa (MC Patria) wants Ezekial (MC EZ1)to like her like her, you know like her like a girlfriend rather than a friend who is a girl. When Ezekial hooks up with another female emcee, Mariposa feels the burn.

Things really heat up when the school talent show comes into play. Rather than enter the talent show solo, Mariposa decides to form a crew. Although the three women have differences, they struggle through them with a common goal.

The Sista Hood On The Mic is an exciting book for teens who love music and love to read. It's a fast paced book and would make a great movie one day. This is a wonderful new series with strongly written multicultural characters.

The book also features celebrity surprises!

E-Fierce captures the world of Hip-Hop for young women rarely seen by popular media so eloquently. It's a great book for all ages. So go pick it up! especially if you are a teacher and your looking for hip-hop reading material for your class.