Also noted. - Fire in My Soul; Freedom in the Family: A Mother-Daughter Memoir of the Fight for Civil Rights; Another Day at the Front: Dispatches from the Race War; Tougher than Leather: The Rise of Run-DMC; E.A.R.L. The Autobiography of DMX; Friday Nights at Honeybee's - book review

FIRE IN MY SOUL (Atria Books, $25.00) by Joan Steinau Lester in Conversation with Eleanor Holmes Norton is the story of the struggles and triumphs, both public and private, of the woman they call the "Warrior on the Hill," Congressional Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, and of her four decades as an impassioned civil rights crusader.

FREEDOM IN THE FAMILY: A MOTHER-DAUGHTER MEMOIR OF THE FIGHT FOR CIVIL RIGHTS (One World/Ballantine Books Hardcover, $24.95) by Tananarive Due and Patricia Stephens Due explores the legacy of the civil rights struggle in Florida as seen through the eyes of a mother and daughter. Together in alternating chapters, the two generations provide a bifocal view of the Movement and affirm the stories of those who lived, marched, protested, suffered, survived and died during those tumultuous times. Due is an acclaimed novelist and her mother, Patricia Due Stephens, fought for justice during the civil rights era. NAACP Chairman Julian Bond says the book is a "must-read for those who want to know how Movement is made and sustained."

ANOTHER DAY AT THE FRONT: DISPATCHES FROM THE RACE WAR (Basic Books, $24.00) by Ishmael Reed is a collection of essays on a multitude of topics on race and America. From the confederate flag to the war against affirmative action to the founding fathers and university curriculums, Reed offers a collection of ideas. The book examines what Reed calls the war on Black Americans from slavery to present day.

TOUGHER THAN LEATHER: THE RISE OF RUN-DMC (Consafos Press, $12.95) by Bill Adler takes us behind today's headlines and traces the rise of the pioneering rap trio Run-DMC from obscurity to the top of the music business. With the recent murder of one of the founding members, Jason Mizell (Jam Master Jay), and the group's subsequent retirement announcement, this book provides the necessary background information of a group once hailed as the "Beatles of rap" who helped bring rap and hip-hop culture to the mainstream.

E.A.R.L. THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DMX (Harper Entertainment, $24.95) by DMX as told to Smokey D. Fontaine is a "rags to rapper" story chronicling the rise from poverty, pain, and tragedy to superstardom of a young Black man. The twist is that DMX, born Earl Simmons in a Yonkers, N.Y., housing project, has not only reached onstage stardom with his music and film career but has also found stability in his home life with his wife and their three sons.

FRIDAY NIGHTS AT HONEYBEE'S (Dial Press, $22.95) by Andrea Smith is an impressive debut novel about friendship, heartache, acceptance, love and the tie that binds them alt together: music.

COPYRIGHT 2003 Johnson Publishing Co.
COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group