Joan Steinau Lester

NEW NOVEL GETS RAVE REVIEWS!

"The tenderness and truth of your book moved my heart. As well as the enormous love you have."
-- Alice Walker

"Like the current U.S. president, Nina Armstrong is biracial. Unlike him, the character is a teenager, and her black father, Silas, and white mother, Maggie, have decided to divorce...[Silas] is busy rediscovering his African-American roots, which include an enslaved great-grandmother Sarah, whose story Silas is writing. Nina is emotionally, socially, and historically conflicted: who is she, and whose is she? She's got white friends and black friends who inhabit different peer worlds, and the family tension shapes everything. Lester (Fire in My Soul) conjures a credible plot and complications; divorce is a fact of life and racially mixed heritage is conspicuously becoming one. The simple contrapuntal narrative of Sarah Armstrong's escaping slavery distinguishes the book emotionally and psychologically, raising it above other issue-oriented YA novels. Lester writes with social sensitivity and an ear for teen language and concerns. This is engaging treatment of a challenging subject that comes with little precedent." -- Starred Publishers Weekly Review

"Insightful and engaging...Black, White, Other rings true from Page 1. It hooked me very quickly and I think anyone who's felt different as a teenager or has gone through a divorce can empathize with what Nina is going through. This novel is going to appeal to teens and adults alike." -- PopcornReads.com

"Teens will be caught by the alternating stories, and yes, by the messages about...prejudice, then and now, which will make for great group discussion." -- Booklist

"Made me more aware of the challenges biracial teens face." -- A Few More Pages

"Joan Lester knows how to get inside a girl's head. Nina feels like someone you know or really want to know. Readers will cheer her one as she faces the fundamental question of who she is and who she wants to be." -- Marissa Moss, author of the bestselling Amelia's Notebook series.

***************
FIRE IN MY SOUL: ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON (Simon & Schuster)Foreword by Coretta Scott King. Tells the remarkable story of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton: civil rights activist, hard-driving legislator, cutting-edge thinker.

"A well-framed memoir, satisfyingly candid while also abrim with political theory...A gratifying biography." Kirkus Reviews

"A rip-roaring political biography." SF Chronicle

"“Lester’s thorough portrait is a compelling and inspiring homage to a legacy
still in progress.” Publishers Weekly
***************

TAKING CHARGE: EVERY WOMAN'S ACTION GUIDE TO PERSONAL, POLITICAL AND PROFESSIONAL SUCCESS (Conari Press)Best-seller offers proven strategies. Lester urges women to believe there are practical ways to confront even the most stubborn roadblocks.

"Peppered with humorous, helpful anecdotes, provides a lively jump-start to goal-setting." Ms.
**********

THE FUTURE OF WHITE MEN and Other Diversity Dilemmas. This ground-breaking book provides a refreshing look at diversity. Every day we are confronted with new dilemmas--at the office or in our neighborhoods. Most of us are well intentioned; we try to keep abreast of rapidly evolving values and do our best not to offend. Yet the rules are constantly changing.

"In its chatty, no-nonsense way, puts all the taboos on the table...it's tricky territory, but in Lester's hands, the paths are clear." San Francisco Chronicle

"A warm, inviting book by a diversity consultant that doesn't toe the political party lines." Orange County Register

"Lester's generous voice sheds keen insight, humor and practical advice on the polarizing dilemmas of living with diversity." Urvashi Vaid

***************