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    Conception
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    Conception
    Unavailable
    Conception
    Audiobook9 hours

    Conception

    Written by Kalisha Buckhanon

    Narrated by Bahni Turpin

    3/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    In the same vein as her critically acclaimed debut novel, Upstate, Kalisha Buckhanon again shares an emotionally beautiful story about today's youth that magnifies the unforgettable power of hope and the human spirit.

    Buckhanon takes us to Chicago, 1992, and into the life of fifteen-year-old Shivana Montgomery, who believes all Black women wind up the same: single and raising children alone, like her mother. Until the sudden visit of her beautiful and free-spirited Aunt Jewel, Shivana spends her days desperately struggling to understand life and confront the challenges she faces growing up in a tough environment. When she accidentally becomes pregnant by an older man and must decide what to do, she begins a journey toward adulthood with only a mysterious voice inside to guide her. Then, when she falls in love with Rasul, a teenager with problems of his own, together they fight to rise above their circumstances and move toward a more positive future.

    Through a narrative that sweeps from slavery onward, Buckhanon unveils Shivana's connection to a past filled with tragedy, courage, and wisdom.


    From the Compact Disc edition.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateFeb 12, 2008
    ISBN9781415948453
    Unavailable
    Conception
    Author

    Kalisha Buckhanon

    Kalisha Buckhanon’s first novel, Upstate, won an American Library Association Alex Award and was nominated for the Hurston/Wright Foundation Legacy Award in Debut Fiction. Terry McMillan selected her to receive the first Terry McMillan Young Author Award in 2006. A recipient of a 2001 Illinois Arts Council Artist Fellowship and an Andrew Mellon Fellow, Buckhanon frequently teaches writing and speaks throughout the country. She has a M.F.A. in creative writing from New School University in New York City, and both a B.A. and a M.A. in English language and literature from the University of Chicago. She was born in 1977 in Kankakee, Illinois.

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    Reviews for Conception

    3/5

    25 ratings5 reviews

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    • 3/5
      I updated you all a few days ago that I would be digging deep down in my TBR pile and pulling out some jewels. Conception is the first of my random choices. This book has been in my possession for approximately two years and so I decided it would be the first to escape the pile. “Planning pregnancy was for white women…(pg 12)”Buckhanon has put together a coming of age story that is set in 1992 inner city Chicago. The odds seem to be stacked against fifteen year old Shivana who is growing up with her mother in an apartment complex that she describes as “not quite” the projects. Shivana and her mother have the normal rebellious teenager, protective mother relationship. Their already rocky relationship really takes a turn for the worse when Shivana gets pregnant by an older married man. The shining light in Shivana’s life is her mother’s baby sister Jewel. Jewel is a well traveled free spirit that enjoys life. Jewel gives Shivana the love and practical advice that she longs for from her mother. Annette, Shivana’s mother, is a bitter woman stuck in a rut that can’t push past her past hurts. While Shivana frantically tries to deal with her pregnancy, while only sharing the news with her best friend Natasha, a new piece is added to this puzzle named, Rasul. Rasul was a breath of fresh air to this whole story. Rasul is this lanky, splotchy faced, seemingly unwanted nineteen year old that is also gentle, kind, and full of wisdom. “…because birth always brings the consequences of confusion, sadness, disappointment, then death. (pg 1)”The twist to this entire novel is that there was a second voice which was that of the Shivana’s unborn child. This addition really makes the story confusing at times. This child is a soul that has never been “anchored” to any of the women that have previously conceived it. The stories of these women that dated back to slavery were quite interesting. I got so wrapped up in these stories that there were moments I hated to go back to the main narrative. The main narrative was kind of bland compared to the “richness” of these stories.I believe I would have enjoyed a collection of short stories with the theme of “conception” more so than the back and forth of this novel. The ending was abrupt and it also felt rushed. I just wish there was more depth to the main narrative.
    • 3/5
      ***SPOILER ALERT**I found this book strange. It was werid how the character's unborn baby had a voice of it's own. It told the story of how the unborn child had been trying to find life in previous mothers but somehow never made it (to be born) I guess it was creative. The ending was a WTF ending. I thought it would be all happy and end nice with the baby being born..but then SHE DIED WTF? Major plot twist! So now the baby never found a home and is going to have to wait to be 're-born' or 'concieved' into another mother. Kinda sad. Eh, I've already listed it on BookMooch to find a new home. An overall..C but a def WTF
    • 2/5
      Took a little while for me to really get into it, but overall it wasn't too bad..but I wouldn't recommend it.
    • 3/5
      Poor Shiviana. Poor, black and 15 years old living in the Chicago projects in the early 90s. She gets pregnant by a married husband of the children she watches, and then proceeds to think about whether to keep the baby for a number of months. To be honest, I skipped over the extended pages from the "baby's" perspective. Not as forceful or as well written as her first book. A little too preachy.
    • 4/5
      An excellent book, but uncomfortably toeing an anti-abortion stance. I love Savannah, and root for her hopes for a better life.