Age Ain't Nothing But a Number: Black Women Explore Midlife »

Carleen Brice is the author of Walk Tall: Affirmations for People of Color, which was a Blackboard Bestseller, and Lead Me Home: An African American Guide Through the Grief Journey, and was a contributing editor for R.I.P.: The Complete Book of Death and Dying. She has written for various publications, including Mademoiselle, the Chicago Tribune, and BET.com, and lives in Denver, Colorado.

Finally, a collection that celebrates, considers, contemplates, even criticizes'midlife' from a black woman's point of view. Age Ain't Nothing but a Number ranges over every aspect of black women's lives: personal growth, family and friendship, love and sexuality, health, beauty, illness, spirituality, creativity, financial independence, work, and scores of other topics.

Midlife today isn't your grandmother's'change of life.' Today, black women call hot flashes 'power surges,' and menopause, the 'pause that refreshes.' These days, middle-aged women may be newlyweds or new mothers, as well as grandmothers or widows. They may experience the empty-nest syndrome and then the 'return-to-the-nest syndrome' as adult children move back home. They may navigate the field of Internet dating, travel the world, teach homeless women, take up pottery, or study international business.

This anthology captures all of these aspects of midlife as experienced by some of the finest voices in African-American writing today. Featuring the work of Maya Angelou, J. California Cooper, Pearl Cleage, Nikki Giovanni, Susan L. Taylor, Alice Walker, and dozens of others, Age Ain't Nothing but a Number will make readers think, laugh, and cry and will be the perfect gift book for spring.

Library Journal

In this anthology of essays, plus some fiction and poetry, 41 African American women share their sometimes humorous and sometimes painful experiences with middle age. Divided into four sections-"A New Attitude," "New Bones," "Roots," and "In Search of Satisfaction"-these works focus on relationships, health, spirituality, and other relevant topics. An English professor throws a ball rather than a party in honor of her 50th birthday, a poet says good-bye to her monthly cycle, two doctors discuss menopause myths, a broadcast journalist tells of the joys of adoption, and a woman's health activist comments on safe sex among seniors. Such writers as Nikki Giovanni, Diane Donaldson, Miriam Decosta-Willis, and Maya Angelou speak of the fear of aging, dealing with breast reduction surgery, facing the death of a spouse, and finding romance. Whether these women are celebrating or bemoaning the process of growing old, the result is a wonderful compilation. Recommended for women's collections and for public libraries.-Ann Burns "Library Journal" Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.