A poignant, powerful debut that combines the deep emotion of The House on Mango Street with uniquely creative storytelling, painting a story of survival and healing.  Unfolding in a series of vignettes, A Little Piece of Sky introduces an endearing new novelist and a truly unforgettable main character--Song Byrd, a young girl who keenly reports on the world around her. She is African American in a mostly Hispanic neighborhood and the unwanted product of an adulterous affair. While she is poor in the material sense, Song is extraordinarily rich in spirit and it is that inner strength which saves her. In piercingly insightful prose, Nicole Bailey-Williams takes readers on Song’s journey through life as she struggles with feeling like an outsider and intense guilt over her mother’s murder. Behind it all, places of pure joy, “dreaming the hurt away,” and glorious little pieces of sky shine through. Song’s tales--and Bailey-Williams’s narrative gift--are truly words to treasure. Like a gifted quilter, Bailey-Williams has stitched together the pieces of a woman's life to form a seamless portrait of survival and healing. As a child, Song Byrd is burdened with poverty and abuse: her alcoholic single mother locks her in the bathroom, her sister steals to buy drugs, and one brother is always in jail, while the other is a wanderer. When Song's mother is murdered, her life takes a sudden and unexpected turn, and she must confront feelings of guilt as she grows up. Bailey-Williams, a high school English teacher, has written a debut that reads like an urban diary, filled with hardships but also acts of love and kindness, told matter-of-factly and without melodrama. Her refusal to make Song a victim is refreshing, and her ability to convey so much feeling in so few words makes this novel almost a prose poem. Highly recommended, particularly for young adults. [Harlem Moon is a new paperback imprint focusing on books for African Americans.-Ed.]-Ellen Flexman, Indianapolis-Marion Cty. P.L., I. --Ellen Flexman, Indianapolis-Marion Cty. P.L., IN Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. "Searingly beautiful. Mrs. Bailey-Williams' impressive debut is nuanced, stark, and astonishing." --Diane McKinney-Whetstone, author of Blues Dancing "Crisp, clean, and clear narration. Nicole Bailey-Williams has got what it takes, and you've got to read it." --Omar Tyree, author of For the Love of Money "In a word, captivating. I found myself instantly drawn into Song's world, a place filled with emotion, struggle, and eventual triumph. We can only hope to see more page-turning works by this vibrant new voice on the literary scene." --Patricia Haley, author of Nobody's Perfect "A powerful voice that moves smoothly between narrative and poignant drama. Her clear and fresh voice reads like poetry." --William July II, author of Understanding the Tin Man A poignant, powerful debut that combines the deep emotion of The House on Mango Street with uniquely creative storytelling. Unfolding in a series of tiny vignettes, A Little Piece of Sky introduces an endearing new novelist and a truly unforgettable main character. In the first few chapters we meet a little girl named Song Byrd, who keenly reports on the world around her. She is African American (in a mostly Hispanic neighborhood), unwanted (conceived during an adulterous affair), and poor in the material sense but extraordinarily rich in spirit. In piercingly insightful prose, Nicole Bailey-Williams takes readers on Song?s journey through life as she struggles against outsider status and intense guilt over her mother?s murder. Behind it all, places of pure joy, ?dreaming the hurt away,? and glorious little pieces of sky shine through. Song?s tales--and Bailey-Williams?s narrative gift--are truly words to treasure. A poignant, powerful debut that combines the deep emotion of "The House on Mango Street with uniquely creative storytelling. Unfolding in a series of tiny vignettes, "A Little Piece of Sky introduces an endearing new novelist and a truly unforgettable main character. In the first few chapters we meet a little girl named Song Byrd, who keenly reports on the world around her. She is African American (in a mostly Hispanic neighborhood), unwanted (conceived during an adulterous affair), and poor in the material sense but extraordinarily rich in spirit. In piercingly insightful prose, Nicole Bailey-Williams takes readers on Song's journey through life as she struggles against outsider status and intense guilt over her mother's murder. Behind it all, places of pure joy, "dreaming the hurt away," and glorious little pieces of sky shine through. Song's tales--and Bailey-Williams's narrative gift--are truly words to treasure. NICOLE BAILEY-WILLIAMS is a high school English teacher and has written reviews for Black Issues Book Review , and Publishers Weekly. She is the cohost of "The Literary Review," a book review show that airs on WDAS radio in Phil