Kizmic's Journey
One hot summer day in Baltimore, 1975, Kizmic Waters’ older sister, Kalaya, gets her period for the very first time while sitting on their marble stoop. After taking that giant Mother-May-I step out of girlhood into young womanhood, the loving and enjoyable Kalaya transforms into a self-absorbed, quarrelsome, boy-crazy teenager with a penchant for plucking their parents’ last nerve and keeping their once happy home in an uproar. Being a tough, fun-loving tomboy, Kizmic concludes that if Kalaya is an example of what puberty is all about, she doesn’t want any part of it. So, at the wise old age of nine, she swears to never grow up, never develop breasts, never have a silly crush on some stupid boy, and never, under any circumstances known to God, begin to menstruate. With this vow, Kizmic lays to rest any fear of her ever following in Kalaya’s troublesome adolescent footsteps.
For three glorious years, Kizmic spends her days rippin’ and runnin’ around her Charm City neighborhood, going from one thrilling adventure to another, living a childhood Peter Pan would envy. Then the morning she starts sixth grade, puberty sneaks up on Kizmic like the Grim Reaper and plants two acorn sized breasts on her once wonderful flat chest and girlish curves on what used to be her narrow, boyish hips. Puberty is doing other strange, frightening, and embarrassing things to her body that bring back to life Kizmic’s fear of walking in her sister’s footsteps right up to that spot on their marble stoop. Worst of all, one of Kizmic’s best friends has a crush on her. The only thing that scares Kizmic more than his crush on her is her crush on him.
With her child’s paradise shattered, Kizmic embarks on an unforgettable journey to live out the rest of her idyllic childhood on her terms. Along the way, Kizmic grows up in ways she never imagined.
In her signature pictorial prose, bestselling author, Odessa Rose, delivers a genuine, classic coming-of-age tale that takes you back to your childhood, no matter when or where you grew up.
What are people saying about Kizmic's Journey?
"Rose's writing pulls the reader into Kizmic's world with detailed descriptions that puts the reader right there with the characters. Once you start reading, you will not look forward to putting it down. Kudos to Rose." Priscilla C. Johnson, Cilla's Book Maniacs
“Kizmic's Journey takes place in Baltimore, Maryland, though it brings back fond memories of my childhood in Bronx, New York. I say kudos and thank you Mrs. Odessa Rose, for sharing your childhood and letting me recall mine.” Cheryl Beebe,
The Page Turners Book Club
"Kizmic's Journey took me to a Judy Blume novel, an episode of Good Times, and the movie Eve's Bayou. Odessa Rose has truly risen to the occasion on this one!!!" Teresa Davis, author of Hysterectomy of the Hood
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Going from childhood to adolescence is a trip.
Water In A Broken Glass
Renowned, Baltimore-based sculptor Tonya Mimms focuses on her artwork to the exclusion of everything, including her thirst for love. Then one day, Tonya’s firm footing in the artworld slips when she takes on a project that pushes her completely out of her artistic realm.
While running from the sculpture, Tonya bumps into Malcolm Holland, a handsome accountant with a dazzling gap between his teeth that lures her in the way a man’s secrets seduces a woman’s ear. Suddenly, Tonya joyfully finds herself in love with a man for the first time in her life. But Tonya’s happiness turns to fearful bliss when she happens upon Satin Pierce, a strikingly beautiful bookstore owner, who has one of Tonya’s sculptures on a shelf in her bedroom. Soon, Tonya becomes the centerpiece of a love triangle in which she is forced to choose between the man of her dreams and the woman destined to be her reality.
A multi-dimensional story, Water In A Broken Glass illustrates the complexity of art, love, and sexuality.
What are people saying about Water In A Broken Glass?
"Rose's meditative insights into family closeness and loyalty and her exquisite sense of detail make this a promising debut and a strikingly unusual romance." Whitney Scott, American Library Association.
“Odessa Rose has painted vivid descriptions of both the characters and the scenes in Water In A Broken Glass and has given us an engaging debut novel.”
R.A.W. SISTAZ
“. . . sensuous story twists and turns . . . It's a joyous journey through eroticism and art alike . . . a major triumph of African-American lesbian literature.”
Accredited Online Colleges.org
“[Rose’s] gift for creating characters of depth, and settings that carry the taste of reality, make this book a real delight for those who prize vivid characters and realistic settings in their fiction.”
Ed Doyle-Gillespie, Word House
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Life is too short for denials and too damn long for regrets.
In The Mirror
What does a woman do when she needs to prove that her boyfriend is not in love with his wife?
This is the dilemma facing physical therapist Jasmine Falls, who goes against her common sense and good home training and becomes romantically involved with Daniel Roberts, a community organizer with a wife and two young children. Jasmine is blissfully content with her secret love affair until it begins to cause friction between herself and her best friend, Candy, who sees Jasmine's love for Daniel as selfish, despicable, and just downright dumb. And then there are Jasmine's parents, who are well on their way to admitting that the daughter they reared to be open-minded but not stupid has fooled around and gotten herself mixed up with somebody else's husband.
Desperate to keep Candy from yip-yapping about her being a homewrecker and to keep her parents from lying awake at night wondering where they went wrong, Jasmine does the unthinkable. She breaks into Daniel's house. But unlike a more infamous other woman, Jasmine's goal is not to knock off Daniel's wife or make goulash out of the family pet. Her only objective is to do what every woman in her position wishes she had the guts and opportunity to do--become a fly on the wall of her lover's life so she can bear witness to the fact that Daniel is in love with her, not the woman he's been married to for the past thirteen years. The question is, does Jasmine see what is meant to be or what never should have been?
In this passionately written story of love, choices, family, adultery, and friendship, Rose shows the other woman in a way she hasn't been seen before, even by herself.
What Are People Saying About In The Mirror ?
“. . . intense . . . kept me coming back again and again until I’d read the entire book.” Talibah Chikwendu, AFRO American Newspaper
“Odessa Rose is the ultimate storyteller and does not disappoint with Mirror. This novel promises to open your eyes to infidelity like you’ve never experienced before.” Lady Brunchers Book Club
“In the Mirror evokes emotion. The story stays with you.” Classy Image Bookclub
“Take a look at In the Mirror. You just might see yourself.” Dahni McPhail, author of My Girl Is Your Girlfriend
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Jasmine is not crazy. She's in love.