Dear America

Dear America is a series of historical fiction novels for older girls published by Scholastic in 1996. The series was cancelled in 2004 with its final release, Hear My Sorrow. However, it was relaunched in the fall of 2010. Each book is written in the form of a diary of a young woman's life during an important event or time period in American history. The Dear America series covers a wide range of topics, including: the Pilgrims' journey to the New World, the Salem Witch Trials, the French and Indian War, the American Revolution, the American Civil War, World War I, World War II, western expansion, slavery, immigration, nineteenth-century prairie life, the California Gold Rush of 1849, the Great Depression, Native Americans' experiences, racism, coal mining, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, the fight for women's suffrage, the sinking of the RMS Titanic, the Battle of the Alamo, the Vietnam War, and more. The breadth of historical topics covered in these books through fiction makes the Dear America series a favorite teaching device of history schoolteachers around the country. The re-launch series and releases contain a new cover style and different pictures of the main characters then those of the original releases. Originally all the books had a ribbon inserted as a bookmarks for the books but were removed in the later releases. Several of the stories were filmed and released on videotape. There is also a televised adaptation on Qubo.

P Reign

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Raynford Humphrey (born January 8, 1986), better known by his stage name P Reign, is a Canadian hip hop artist and songwriter of Guyanese descent. He is signed to Reps Up Records and RCA Records.

Early life

P Reign was born on January 8, 1986, in Little Burgundy, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.P reign is of Guyanese descent. He later moved and grew up in the Kingston-Galloway neighborhood in the West Hill section of Scarborough, Toronto, Canada. His rap name stems from two sources. "P" stands for Preme (Supreme) which was the alias of notorious drug trafficker Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff. "Reign" was borrowed from his given name Raynford (although for many years P Reign was known as Avery).

Career

P Reign, also known as The King, the King of Da North and the Canadian Dream, released his debut solo single in 2008 entitled "You Know I'm Fly", which topped the PunchMuch Canadian interactive music channel. His follow-up singles are "Money in My Pocket" (2009) and "In My Hood" (2010), produced by T-Minus.

Shyne

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Moses Michael Levi (born Jamal Michael Barrow), better known by his stage name Shyne, is a Belizean rapper, who moved from Belize to the Brooklyn borough of New York City as a teenager to live with his mother. He is perhaps best known for his time under Bad Boy Records and a 1999 shooting incident that led to his nine-year incarceration. He was released from prison in 2009 and was subsequently deported back to Belize.

Early life

Shyne was born Jamal Michael Barrow in Belize City, Belize to Frances Imeon Myvette and Dean Barrow, the current Prime Minister of Belize. His mother, Frances Imeon Myvette, is the sister of Michael Finnegan, one of Dean Barrow's long-time political colleagues. Shyne's mother moved to the United States, leaving three-year-old Shyne with his uncle in Belize City. When he was 8 years old, he moved to Brooklyn to live with his mother in East Flatbush.

Shyne's father and mother were first to welcome him back to their home country upon his return in 2009.

Shyne (album)

Shyne is the self-titled debut album by rapper Shyne with Sean "P. Diddy" Combs' Bad Boy Records and was released on September 26, 2000. Shyne had been hyped prior to the album's release as similar in style and delivery to the deceased Notorious B.I.G.. Shyne had also drawn unfavorable media attention for being convicted in June 2000 for his involvement in a nightclub shooting; Shyne was incarcerated at the time of this album's release. The album peaked #5 on the Billboard Top 200. It sold very well, eventually achieving Gold status. It contained fewer guest artists than most Bad Boy releases. The singles from the album, "Bad Boyz," "Bonnie & Shyne" (which both feature Barrington Levy), and "That's Gangsta," were only moderate hits.

Critical reception

Rolling Stone (10/12/00, p. 89) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...Like a 5-car pileup of luxury autos: a mix of beauty and destruction..."

Spin (12/00, pp. 218–9) - 6 out of 10 - "...Cops black gangster dreams straight from the pages of F.E.D.S....[its] strong producers...dress up his rhymes in frenetic electro beats, tweaked synths, and the old steel drum..."