Writer Thulani Davis on the Dawn of the American Civil Rights Movement

Writer ThulaniI (pronounced "tah-lawn-nee") Davis. Her new novel, "1959," is the story of a young black girl coming of age at the dawn of the civil rights movement. Davis' earlier works include reporting for The New York Times and The Washington Post, and writing the libretto for the opera "X: The Life and Times of Malcom X." ("1959" is published by Grove Weidenfeld.)

Journalist, novelist and playwright Thulani Davis traces her roots in My Confederate Kinfolk: a Twenty-First Century Freedwoman Discovers Her Roots. Among the revelations Davis uncovered was that her ancestors include a Scots-Irish clan of cotton planters as well as Africans from Sierra Leone.

Novelist Terry McMillan. The film adaptation of her 1992 novel, "Waiting to Exhale" was last year's box office hit.The book sold nearly 4 million copies. McMillan has recently completed her fourth novel, "How Stella Got Her Groove Back" (Viking) which is available in bookstores this week. It tells the story of a 42-year old career woman on vacation in Jamaica who falls in love with a 20-year old unemployed resort worker. According to McMillan, "it's as close to autobiography as I've written in a long time".