Author Celebrates Success of Wall of Color

Florida author Jeanette Cooper celebrates the success of her book, Wall of Color, set in New Orleans, ISBN: 1-4241-4221-7) published by PublishAmerica.

The book characterizes a young biracial woman’s plight to live within the restrictive boundaries of a society where the rules of segregation allow few exceptions to the all-white, all-black, separate–but-equal divisions upheld by Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896).

When Jeanette taught elementary school, she worked with a few biracial children, who taught her many things about race and ethnicity.

“They were the teachers and I the student,” she said.

She recalled one child, in particular, who gave her a lesson and a glimpse into the agonies of a biracial child’s life. The young fifth-grade student made Jeanette aware of the psychological factors affecting biracial children, by sharing her sense of isolation, loneliness, and lack of identity, as well as her tormented feeling of not belonging to either parent’s race. The same child inspired the writing of Jeanette’s book.

Jeanette states that in the past decade, biracialism and multiracialism have multiplied at a faster pace than literature written about it. “I feel that more literature is needed to establish a cultural heritage for both biracial and multiracial ethnicities,” she said. “My book is for adults, but its relevance to the identity crisis of biracial and multiracial persons is for people of all ages.”

An avid reader of historical novels, Jeanette set her book in 1953. She notes it was a time when the Civil Rights Movement was still in its infancy, and racism, bigotry, and discrimination were on trial (1951) through the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas. It became a landmark case in 1954 when the Supreme Court under Chief Justice Earl Warren unanimously overruled the “separate but equal” doctrine of Plessy v Ferguson.

Hello & Welcome to Jeanette's Blog

Hi everyone,

My name is Jeanette Cooper and I am the author of Wall of Color, Conquered Heart, When Justice is Served, Impending Danger, Desperate Choices, and Violent Visions of Murder. .

A few years after I graduated from high school, married, and gave birth to my son, I eventually decided my brain was deteriorating from lack of food (new knowledge), and yearning for structured learning, I enrolled at the local Junior College, never planning to do more than achieve my Associate of Arts Degree. However, it turned out I hadn't had enough of the classroom yet, and enrolled in the local univeristy to start on my Bachelor's Degree in Education.

Upon graduation, I took a job teaching elementary school, and still having a keen desire to keep learning, I enrolled again at the University to attain my Master's in Elementary Reading Instruction. I taught elementary school for twenty-six years, and then retired.

When the brain sits idle, boredom seeps in like a disease. I discovered retirement wasn't all it was made out to be. I needed something to give me worthwhile purpose in my life.

I learned at an early age the wonder of words on paper, and having always enjoyed writing, I took it up again full time. Needless to say, writing has been a lifesaver for me in my later years. Now, at this time of my life--outside of spending time with my family--nothing gives me greater joy or pleasure than writing.

May anyone reading this who thinks life has become a bore put those thoughts on paper and see where the paper and pen (or computer and word processor) will lead you.

Jeanette Cooper

Wall of Color--By Jeanette Cooper

REVIEWS for WALL OF COLOR

An Ethnic Romance Novel by Jeanette Cooper

ISBN: 1-4241-2441-7
Now online at Amazon and Barnesandnoble.


Reviews:
No one likes to be labeled as different; yet, Rosemarie Delrio was, for a reason over which she had no control, inasmuch as her parents came from different racial backgrounds. If living with such difference is difficult today, imagine what it must have been in 1953! Jeanette Cooper beautifully depicts the period, with all its nuances, to show how Rosemarie found peace with herself and her place in society. Wall of Color is a story that will touch you to the heart.
---Virginia Tolles, author of Tales Along the Way Home http://www.talesalongthewayhome.com/

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Wall of Color is a dramatic story that captures the period it is written in (1953) and characterizes the deep feelings of a young biracial woman's struggle to find acceptance in a segregated society. The plot is filled with conflict and suspense when she falls in love with one man while preparing to marry another. It is definitely a page-turner and a book you will want to read.
---Joyce L. Grissom---

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Jeanette's book, Wall of Color, is intriguing the way it immerses the reader into the feelings of its characters creating a vicarious experience that seems almost real.Wall of Color comes at a needed time and has a message for all people as it speaks to the identity crisis experienced by biracial children and young biracial adults. The novel confirms the idea that no two people think alike in its representation of a wide scenario of feelings by different characters on biracialism and racisim.You are in for a treat reading Wall of Color. The plot is character-driven with just the right touch of conflict to create a suspenseful anticipation to make one want to keep reading to find out what will happen.
---Christina Bell---

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Wall of Color is a classic depicting a period in history for the black race that indirectly bridges the years and speaks to a whole new set of problems dealing with the lives and feelings of young biracial persons today.

---Sandra Sinclair---

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All my life, I think I've had a distrust of anyone with skin that is a different color than my own. However, reading Wall of Color changed me. The book gave me a startling glance into the life and soul of a young biracial girl whose pain was sometimes so intense over the discriminatory remarks toward her that my views and perceptions have totally changed. It is truly a classic and a book well worth anyone reading.

---Wilma Babin---

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