A Children's Book Inspired by Far Rockaway

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Tiffany Hansen: This is All Of It. I'm Tiffany Hansen, in for Alison Stewart, and it's also the last day of school for New York City Public Schools. Lots of other kids already out for the summer. Some parents, yes, this could cause a little bit of anxiety. Staving off boredom for the kiddos can become a parent or a caregiver's full-time job during the summer. One of the ways you can answer the cries, "I'm Bored," is with a summer reading list.

We have an addition for you, Yaya and the Sea, a story that follows a young Black girl from Harlem named Yaya, who is over the moon, about her upcoming trip to the beach after meeting her aunties on the train at 125th Street, riding to the Ocean. We soon realize this trip isn't just for fun. The story follows her mom and aunties as they give thanks and offerings to Mama Ocean as Yaya observes. With us to talk about the book is Karen Good Marable. Hi, Karen. Welcome back to All Of It.

Karen Good Marable: Hey. Thank you. That was awesome.

Tiffany Hansen: Oh, yes, you got it. All right. You mentioned actually in the author's note that this is based on true events, so tell us about the true events first.

Karen Good Marable: Back in 2001, my friends and I did this very same ritual. There was one of my friends, her name is Angela, she had her little girl, her name was Yaya. We went to the ocean to do ritual. The funny backstory is of course, that Angela couldn't get a babysitter that morning. Yaya came with us, but what was so beautiful about her presence is Yaya was at the time, five years old. It's just something about being around children that really deepens your purpose. If you're going to do something, you want to model it properly. It was beautiful.

Tiffany Hansen: There are bits of the real Yaya in the storybook Yaya. Are there bits of you in that character too?

Karen Good Marable: Yes, absolutely. I was happy to write this because it reminded me of who I am in that I am somebody who likes to do ritual, who likes to sit in nature, and who likes to write. When we did the ritual, I wrote this book, I didn't know it was going to be a book, but I journaled a lot then. I wrote about the experience on the train back uptown through the eyes of Yaya because I just wondered what she must have been thinking. All of this, I guess, kind of documentarian sort of spirit is there as well as the ritual and intentions and worshiping spirit.

Tiffany Hansen: It is a very New York story.

Karen Good Marable: Such a New York story.

Tiffany Hansen: Such a New York story. That comes across in the illustration I mentioned in the Open 125th Street station. There's all sorts of New York authenticities peppered throughout. Talk about how intentional that was and what you hope folks, especially young people, will take away from that.

Karen Good Marable: Well, I lived uptown for about a year from 2000 to 2001. I wasn't a mom at the time, but I'm a mom now. I live in Atlanta. When I was writing this book, I thought a lot about my daughter who right now is nine years old. I wanted it to feel really authentic. If you know uptown, you know that when you are going on the train to 125th Street, there's the lady saying, "Hair braiding, miss. Hair braiding, miss." They're trying to bring you in. We all know that train ride uptown goes from one side to the other side of the city. Then the cream and sugar, even something as simple as I wanted a regular coffee. That was important to get that right because New Yorkers order all coffees a certain way, so little things like that were important.

Tiffany Hansen: Well, it's a good time to hear about the book from the book itself. How about a little reading for us?

Karen Good Marable: Oh, sure, sure. What I'll do is I'm just going to start from when we walk out the door.

Tiffany Hansen: Sounds good.

Karen Good Marable: Yes. Mommy has brushed her hair into afro puff and they're on their way. Okay, and we start here. "The first stop is the bodega. Mommy gets me an egg and cheese sandwich and orders herself a cup of coffee. "Cream and two sugar." She tells the cashier. The steam from her drink makes smoky puffs in the air. There are not many people outside, just the African ladies near the subway station asking Mommy if they can braid our hair. "Not today, sisters," Mommy says. "We're going to the sea," I shout with a skill. Mommy pays our fare. I push through the turnstile first.

The A train speeds into the station. When the doors open, Mommy's three friends are sitting in the first car. They have bags on their laps and smiles on their faces. "Yaya is here." Says Auntie Renee with a hug. "Perfect." Says Auntie Dream with a nod. "Our a little mermaid," says Auntie Stefanie with a wink. The train rumbles and wishes underground from station to station. I have a book, but I like watching the passengers come and go and listening to Mommy and Aunties talk and laugh. After some-- oh, I'm sorry.

Tiffany Hansen: No, go ahead. No, I was going to say that's a very New York experience. It's also very anticipatory of that trip to the beach, which can just be mythical, right?

Karen Good Marable: Yes.

Tiffany Hansen: When you're in Harlem and you're headed for the beach, I know what that's like. How did you--

Karen Good Marable: Well, that's a long ride anyway.

Tiffany Hansen: Oh, I do know that's a long ride.

Karen Good Marable: That's part of the Rockaway. You better be intentional about the ride.

Tiffany Hansen: You better be excited because it's going to take a while.

Karen Good Marable: Yes.

Tiffany Hansen: The first half of the book is really about building the anticipation about going to the beach, and then the second half is really a lot more spiritual. Talk about that whole Mama Ocean part of this book and what that meant for you and how you see that transition in the book.

Karen Good Marable: When we would go-- in the actual story, we would go I called the Ocean "Mama Ocean" in the story. Other may say "Yemaya," and you go there. I guess in the Europe tradition may say Yemaya. Some others may say Mami Wata, but you go to give the things that Mami Wata or Mama Ocean loves, the shiny coins, the fruit. The reason why we went is to give our offerings and to start our new year, which was the spring Equinox. Some consider that the actual New Year to start our New Year off right. You just go to state your intentions, what do you want for the New Year? We made sure that we did that. I'm making sure I answered your question, but that was--

Tiffany Hansen: You did answer my question. [chuckles]

Karen Good Marable: Yes. That was part of it. You go into the water and you leave everything behind. That's the point of it. The point is to release a lot and to not look back. It's a-- I don't want to say a purification ritual, but it's like releasing the old and starting off with the new.

Tiffany Hansen: You mentioned you're a mom now. How do you imagine parents and caregivers talking about that intention and that essence of intentionality, spirituality that comes with the book?

Karen Good Marable: Well, the way I try to talk about it is we're all different cultures and we all have something to learn from each other and that we shouldn't be afraid of words like ritual and intention because, hey, I'm here in the South. On January 1st, everybody is making black-eyed peas and collard greens. Do you know what I'm saying? That is a ritual. If you're in the Christian Church, you are taking communion. I think the point was to demystify it and tell people how important certain things are. Sisterhood is really important.

Those aunties are a big part of the book. Intention, understanding what you want, and putting it out into the universe to say, "I want this." Those are the things that are important for kids to know. It's a beautiful thing and you can do it. Singing Happy Birthday, as I said in the back of the book, is a ritual.

Tiffany Hansen: Well the book is Yaya and The Sea, the author is Karen Good Marable. Karen, thank you so much for joining us. I appreciate it.

Karen Good Marable: Thank you so much. I appreciate too.

Tiffany Hansen: Coming up on tomorrow's All Of It, we'll hear about the new play, NA, exploring the political divide between two Democratic congresswomen vying for power plus learn about the history of trans and gender fluid stories in cinema. That's coming up on tomorrow's All Of It. I'm Tiffany Hansen, in for Alison Stewart. Thanks so much for your company today.

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