Pocket Launches Faith Fiction Line for African-American Teens

by Amy Tracy, Religion BookLine -- Publishers Weekly, 11/8/2006

This week Pocket Books released the second book in a fiction line targeting 13-19 year-old African-American girls. First announced in June at BookExpo America in Washington, D.C., the line seeks to fill a niche in the flood of titles tailored to the African-American community.

Louise Burke, executive v-p and publisher of Pocket Books, sees this move as a continuation of a trend that's been happening for ten years. "African-American fiction is exploding," said Burke, "and yet we could only find one author writing inspirational fiction for teens in this community. These books will offer them something that's specific to their world."

ReShonda Tate Billingsley and Jacqueline Thomas, already well-known for their adult fiction, are authors of the series. Each book is based on one of the Ten Commandments and deals with issues that are often unique to this population.

Billingsley, also a reporter for KRIV-TV, a Fox affiliate in Houston, Texas—and whose teen-focused book Nothing But Drama released this week—approached Pocket about doing this series after seeing the need among the young women she mentors.

"It's been a challenge finding books that strike the balance between what I want for them and what they want," said Billingsley. "Adult books are based in reality, but too raw. What we're writing is full of action, full of drama, and with a spiritual message."

Billingsley sees the importance of writing specifically to black teenagers. "In the genre of books written for Christian teens, there are language and situations that many African-Americans cannot relate to. Minorities need to see themselves on the pages of the book, and the need is intense," said Billingsley. "Large numbers of churches have embraced these books and purchased them for their youth ministries. My hope is that teens learn how to handle challenges in a better way, and see how faith in God can play out in their lives."

Pocket Books released Simply Divine by Jacqueline Thomas in October. Thomas's second book, Divine Confidential, comes out in February, 2007. Billingsley's series will continue with Blessing in Disguise (Jan. 2007) and With Friends Like These (Apr. 2007).