Joshunda Sanders

A Novel

Women of the Post

The Beautiful Darkness focuses on author Joshunda Sanders' three-year journey through loss, grief and solitude, which led to reconciliation, forgiveness, and ultimately healing. The Beautiful Darkness, her candid memoir, begins in 2010 with a phone call that informs her that her father has died by suicide. It is the first of many events that transform her life dramatically for the next three years. To understand the present, she looks to her past. Sanders vividly recalls living in multiple homeless shelters with her mentally ill single mother in 1980s and 1990s New York City when homelessness was at an all-time high. Together, they survived violence, hunger, and fear. While Sanders cared for her abusive mother, she also slowly began to seek a way out of poverty through education. She went on to attend an elite boarding school and Vassar College by way of academic scholarships. Sanders went on to pursue careers in journalism, academia, and communications before her mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2011. Exploring themes of faith, identity and perseverance, Sanders candidly details the heartbreak of caring for a mentally ill parent while also telling the rare story of invisible families who grow up in poverty in New York City and throughout the United States in this unforgettable memoir.

A Handbook for Orphans

The Beautiful Darkness

"Lovely and timely. So glad Joshunda is telling our stories." - Jacqueline Woodson Eight-year-old Ava Murray wants to know why there’s a difference between the warm, friendly Bronx neighborhood filled with music and art in which she lives and the Bronx she sees in news stories on TV and on the Internet. When her mother explains that the power of stories lies in the hands of those who write them, Ava decides to become a journalist. I Can Write the World follows Ava as she explores her vibrant South Bronx neighborhood - buildings whose walls boast gorgeous murals of historical figures as well as intricate, colorful street art, the dozens of different languages and dialects coming from the mouths of passersby, the many types of music coming out of neighbors’ windows and passing cars. In reporting how the music and art and culture of her neighborhood reflect the diversity of the people of New York City, Ava shows the world as she sees it, revealing to children the power of their own voice.

I Can Write the World

Little Ray knows the Bronx better than anyone. He has been a proud train operator for many years. But while the Bronx has always held memories of his mother, Gloria, and his daughter, Lorraine, it also reminds him of the pain of losing the love of his life. Jasmine Castro was the woman of Little Ray's dreams. Beautiful and brilliant, she wouldn't let anyone define or control her. But Jasmine does end up being controlled by something: her addiction. Now the vibrant woman Little Ray fell in love with is hardly more than a ghost. Little Ray is determined to raise their daughter on his own. When Lorraine meets the impulsive street artist Jason, who's determined to go All City with his work, she has to make her own decisions about life and love. In this ode to the romantics and artists of the world, Joshunda Sanders has crafted a beautiful testament to the power of family.

Joshunda Sanders

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