Getting our youth to read

In the age of ipods, xboxes, and rap music (I sound like my mother), getting our young people to read, and I am thinking about our teens, is incredibly difficult, but not impossible.

Barbara Summers has recently edited an anthology entitled Open the Unusual Door: True Life Stories of Challenge, Adventure, and Success by Black Americans. Perfectly packaged for youth ages 13 and up (it's short and pocket-sized), it is a collection of sixteen inspiring essays from a diverse range of African Americans including Derek Jeter, Russell Simmons, and Colin Powell as well as Michael Cottman, Peter Westbrook, and Neil de Grasse Tyson. All in all, these stories teach youth how to recognize the many faces of opportunity and to know that when one door closes, another one is sure to open.

Barbara is a fascinating woman herself. She was a Ford model for 17 years (when there weren't many brown ones) and edited the bestselling I Dream A World and wrote the groundbreaking book about black fashion models, Skin Deep. She's now an educator dedicated toseeing Open the Unusual Door in every school across the country.

In my spare time, I've been helping Barbara reach out to young people about the book. It is definitely a beautiful struggle, but one we both believe in passionately.

So if you know any young people in your life, consider buying them a copy. And as a little incentive, the author, along with her publisher, Houghton Mifflin is sponsoring an Open the Unusual Door Essay Contest. Young people can enter to win cash prizes.

Check out the book at www.opentheunusualdoor.com.