Shayla Fox's life seems to take turn after turn for the worse. First, her estranged father left her mother for good. Then he remarried a woman Shayla does not like in the least. But worst of all, he has a new daughter named Gift --- a daughter born on Shayla's birthday! Shayla feels as if she has nothing of her own any more, not even a special day. Her grandmother, her sister, and her mother all try to help Shayla. Grandma Augustine is a wisecracking wise woman. Although Shayla feels like her drama is unbearable, Grandma Augustine constantly reminds her to be thankful that she is alive and whole and smart. Grandma Augustine knows that Shayla can be melodramatic and so she gently tells her grandchild that her life, like most people's, will be filled with a little rain, but it's up to Shayla to make sure her sorrows don't turn into a big, overwhelming storm.

A girl who does have a stormy life is Shayla's best friend Kambia. (Their friendship was detailed in author Williams's first book, WHEN KAMBIA ELAINE FLEW IN FROM NEPTUNE by Lori Williams.) As this second novel opens, Kambia's life has only gotten more complicated. A year prior, Kambia was found wandering, alone and amnesiac. Adopted by the Dreyfuses, Kambia is caught in a search for her identity as well as having to find a place for herself in the world. Shayla must help Kambia heal, even as anonymous notes and packages start to plague her friend and bring her to the edge of sanity.

In another subplot, Shayla befriends Lemm, the new boy at school who's lost most of his family in a tragic accident. Lemm struggles, feeling as alone and hopeless as Kambia and Shayla. Lemm also has severe problems with substance abuse, and even as Shayla tries to gain some control in her life, she finds she wants to help Lemm with his issues. Most of the time Shayla feels as if she's caught up in a world full of problems whirling about her, just waiting to reach out and snatch her.

SHAYLA'S DOUBLE BROWN BABY BLUES presents a harsh picture of contemporary life in the African American community. The families are strained nearly to the breaking point but held together by a web of women. These woman show their strengths and vulnerabilities while keeping life going, despite upheavals, dangerous events, and secrets from the past. Women like Grandma Augustine carry with them the promise of a brighter future, even when that promise seems to be withheld by violence and uncertainty; they never allow hope to become totally eaten away. By sharing her enduring strength with her granddaughter, Augustine demonstrates that it is possible to bear the shocks of life and, in time, overcome them.

This isn't the kind of book you can say you enjoyed; "enjoy" simply isn't the right word. But it does tell a powerful story in tight well-crafted prose that lingers in the mind and in the soul long after the story has ended. Lori Aurelia Williams's characters are so solid, they seem as if they've been hewn out of rock instead of the airy stuff of imagination. It's the kind of book that makes you want to hold your own family just a little nearer, just a little dearer. See for yourself.

   --- Reviewed by Cassia Van Arsdale


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