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Tenelle Ottley-Matthew

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Top Posts

My Most-Anticipated Upcoming Book Releases (2020/21)
Book Review: Rainbow Milk by Paul Mendez
4 Self-Help Books & Online Platforms That Helped Me During Lockdown

#BlackLivesMatter

Please check out my Linktree, which contains Black Lives Matter resources and a selection funds you can donate to that are by and for black people.

Read my Medium essay on representation in children’s & YA literature

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Children's books by black authors✨
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Happy Monday folks. I hope your weekend was as chilled and carefree as my little brother in this photo ❤️
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SWIPE to see a selection of books with black characters.
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Black children need to read a range of books that represent them and reflect their experiences. It’s great that we’re seeing more books that celebrate inspirational black figures and feature black characters living their everyday lives.
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While I’m always here for black joy in literature, I firmly believe that black children (all children, actually) need stories that focus on racial oppression and discuss the more painful aspects of our history. Younger readers should learn about the horrors of slavery and colonialism and about those who resisted enslavement and fought back against colonial violence. New books like Cane Warriors by Alex Wheatle and Queen of Freedom: Defending Jamaica by Catherine Johnson are brilliant examples of this.
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I’m glad there is now a children’s version of David Olusoga’s Black and British: A Forgotten History. Going forward, I’d love to see more books discussing the black presence in Britain before Windrush because black people have been in this country since way before June 1948.
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Let me know if you’ve read any of these books and please share your recommendations below!
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Books pictured:
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• Look Up! by Nathan Bryon
• Clean Up! by Nathan Bryon
• My Hair by Hannah Lee
• Young, Gifted & Black by Jamia Wilson
• Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History by Vashti Harrison
• Queen of Freedom: Defending Jamaica by Catherine Johnson
• Coming to England by Floella Benjamin

DOPENESS according to Ovie Soko = the ability to l

DOPENESS according to Ovie Soko = the ability to live life listening to your internal compass and being guided by what you agree with and what agrees with you.
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You ever felt like a book arrived at the perfect time for you? For me that book is You Are Dope by Ovie Soko (yes, the one & only Ovie from Love Island UK). It's an inspiring guide to living your best life that explains how we can achieve dopeness by following our intuition and embracing our individuality.
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It’s divided into four main chapters: Family, Basketball, Love and How to Achieve Dopeness. The first chapter talks about fitting in and the pressure to live up to other people’s expectations. We also meet Soko’s family as he tells us what it was like growing up in a Nigerian household in North London.
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The book is full of pearls of wisdom that Soko has gained throughout his life. Some of my favourites include ‘Love Lessons I’ve Learned’, ‘Advice for my Younger Self’ and ‘Ovie’s Guide to Positive Masculinity’.
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What I love about this book is its practicality. It contains writable pages with reflective exercises and prompts from Soko. You Are Dope feels like having a chat with a good friend and Soko knows how to keep readers engaged. Soko isn’t telling us his life story here; he’s sharing the experiences, events and people that have impacted his life. His humour and earnestness shine through in his writing and I appreciate how Soko embraces the entirety of the human emotional experience. You Are Dope doesn’t push an unhealthy and toxic “positive vibes only!” mindset. Instead, Soko gives us range and balance without ever coming across as patronising or insincere.
You Are Dope is a motivational and uplifting book with lots of valuable advice on authenticity, vulnerability, self-love and more.
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Tap the link in bio for my full review✨

The Legacy of Notting Hill Carnival
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For the first time, Notting Hill Carnival was an online affair this year. Being unable to celebrate NHC on the streets felt very strange. I’ve wanted to learn more about the origins of NHC and the history behind 'Europe’s biggest street party’ for a while.
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I managed to get my hands on Carnival: A Photographic and Testimonial History of the Notting Hill Carnival by Ishmahil Blagrove and Margaret Busby (now out of print). Until recently, I didn’t realise just how painful the history behind NHC is. The 1958 Notting Hill race riots were the catalyst for the first-ever indoor Caribbean Carnival, organised by Trinidadian activist Claudia Jones to celebrate Caribbean culture in the face of racist hate. Jones’ Caribbean Carnival took place in January 1959 and was televised by the BBC, just months before the racist murder of Antiguan carpenter Kelso Cochrane in West London.
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In 1966, Rhaune Laslett conceived the first outdoor Notting Hill Festival, which eventually became the two-day event we now know as NHC. Although Carnival is a distinctly West Indian tradition, Laslett’s festival wasn’t widely considered to be a predominantly West Indian/black affair. As the event underwent more developments and new leadership, steel bands and playing mas became more prominent aspects of NHC and other characteristics like sound systems, live stages, increased police presence/surveillance and commercialisation emerged.
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NHC was conceived against a backdrop of violent anti-black racism and hostility. It's not merely a "street party", but a West Indian tradition rooted in slavery, spirituality and resistance. No matter how large NHC becomes, we ought to properly understand and respect its origins.
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Big up Emma at @dauntbooks Holland Park for putting aside their final copy of Carnival for me 💛

2021 is around the corner and there are so many bo

2021 is around the corner and there are so many book releases to be excited about.
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I’m thrilled to share the trailer for MADAM, the debut novel by @phoebewynnewrites!
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Synopsis:
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Madam is a contemporary Gothic novel, set within the walls of prestigious and remote boarding school Caldonbrae Hall, an institution which instills the young women in its care with four key qualities: confidence, courteousness, charm and courage.

Our protagonist Rose is a Classics teacher like Phoebe was herself, and the novel opens with her becoming the first new teacher at Caldonbrae Hall in over a decade. The institution is shrouded in mystery, and stands on an isolated patch of the Scottish coastline, with local villagers steering clear of the imposing building and its inhabitants.

Rose will soon discover that not all is as it seems at the historic institution, and as she begins to uncover what happened to her predecessor, the dark history of the school will come to light...
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I have a thing for dark narratives with female leads so I’m really looking forward to this one. If you’re a fan of Margaret Atwood and Daphne du Maurier and love books like Circe, Madam is one to look out for!
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Madam is out February 2021 via @QuercusBooks and is available to pre-order now from @Waterstones.
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Will you be picking this up next year?
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#startthefire #madam #phoebewynne #bookstagram #bookreveal #coverreveal #debutnovel #gothicfiction #contemporaryfiction

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