Bayo Ojikutu, Author of 47th Street Black (Random House/Crown 2003) & Free Burning (Random House/Crown 2006) Winner, Washington Prize for Fiction The Great American Book Award

"Kalisha Buckhanon’s latest novel chronicles the voice of a soul restless with the confines of contemporary notions of identity, place, aspiration, knowing and arrival...Though this voice is surely informed by the intonations of grand masters from generations that precede its own, it is still powerfully, poignantly, and often disturbingly calling for a new day."
Publisher's Weekly "At its best, the novel balances a bitter stocktaking with a sorrowful lyricism."
Kirkus Reviews "A poignant, heart-wrenching novel..."
Booklist "...heartfelt and affecting."
Library Journal "Recommend this moving novel to readers who enjoyed Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye or Sapphire's Push."
Washington Post "...Conception remains the work of a gifted young novelist struggling to weld together the various metals of her experience."

APOOO Reviews

 "The book is masterful in that it combines age-old themes of abandonment and its embittering effects on those left behind, particularly the women and the children. The author seemingly has her pulse on the mindset of the youth and delivers to the reader a realistic glimpse of the obstacles, the sense of hopelessness and despair that runs rampant in their world."
Urban Reviews "The imagery in this novel is so emotionally gripping that it will truly touch your soul. Readers will see the transformation of Shivana as she learns about self love and self-preservation. Conception is thought-provoking and insightful."







Publisher’s Weekly

“Buckhanon’s debut novel captures the young lovers’ anger, hope and frustration. The letters are fluid, candid and colloquial…a moving and uplifting story of love and hope in the face of adversity.”
Essence Magazine “Upstate is a sensitive portrayal of young lovers that moves beyond gritty urban fiction.”
People Magazine “A realistic love story that’s set against an urban backdrop as gritty as its characters are memorable.”
Entertainment Weekly “Upstate captures the tenacity and faithfulness of young love, as well as its heartache.”
Elle “The language is urban, urgent, and possessing a poetry uniquely its own.”
Toronto Sun “Young author Buckhanon crams an amazing amount of emotion and description in this coming-of-age tale filled with tragedy, despair and hope.”
Chicago Tribune
(audio CD)
 “Upstate starts out strong and never lets go…moving to tears.”
Detroit Free Press “…A beautifully written tragic love story that will keep you hoping to the end for a victory for love.”
AudioFile Magazine
(audio CD starred review)
 "The Story is compelling, especially since it's told from such personal points of view...listners can hear them grow and change letter by letter, thanks to Buckhanon's words and the narrators' talented voices."
Library Journal "Both funny and sad…recommended."
Book Page "In prose that captures the way real kids from Harlem speak, Kalisha Buckhanon reveals not only her characters’ Romeo and Juliet-like ardor, but also their intelligence and ambition."
Uptown Magazine “…A brilliantly raw debut novel. Buckhanon breaks hearts and offers hope.”
South Florida Herald
Tribune (audio CD)
 “An excorciating look at what it means to be black in the United States…a remarkable listening experience.”
Odyssey Couleur Magazine “[Upstate] dramatically evokes the all-consuming insanity and tempestuousness of first love and the heartache that inevitably results.”
Sapphire, national
bestselling author of Push
 “Wild and beautiful . . . told using the epistolary form with brilliant skill not seen since The Color Purple.”
Dorothy Allison, National
Book Award Finalist and
national bestselling author
of Bastard Out of Carolina
and Cavedweller
 “Heart-wrenching and true . . . I’d read it again just for the power of the language.”
E. Lynn Harris, New York
Times bestselling author of
Invisible Life and What
Becomes of the
Brokenhearted
 "A literary gem. Upstate is a stunning debut. Completely unforgettable."
Achy Obejas, author of
Memory Mambo and We
Came All the Way from
Cuba So You Could Dress
Like This?
 "Upstate is intimate, wrenching ... a story about love, surviving love, and the forgiveness that only love brings."
Zelda Lockhart, winner of
The Hurston/Wright Award
and author of Fifth Born
 “A modern love story that is real and raw in its humor and tragedy.”
Darnella Ford, author of
Rising and Crave
 “Kalisha Buckhanon has unleashed brilliance in this debut novel. Upstate is creative, raw and honest.”
Mary Monroe, author of
God Don't Like Ugly
 "Upstate by Kalisha Buckhanon is a gripping debut by a very talented young author. The story is richly detailed, and offers a fascinating glimpse into a gritty lifestyle that is grossly misunderstood, condemned, and dismissed.”
APOOO BookClub “Poignant, compelling, luminous…Buckhanon is to be commended for bringing dignity and integrity to urban fiction at a time when so much of this genre is thrown at us with sensationalism and caricature-like images.”
RAWSISTAZ “Brilliantly written, Buckhanon’s debut novel is well worth adding to your personal library.”





London Independent
on Sunday
 “By structuring her story in the epistolary form, [Buckhanon] gives it an intimacy and urgency that the best tales always have.”
Time Out London “A raw account of divided love.”
Marie Claire “The street-smart language crackles.”
New Nation Magazine “A heart-breaking depiction of a situation that faces many young Black people in the USA and Britain today.”
TNT Magazine “The moving and compelling story gives voice to young black America.”
London Standard “For a gripping narrative and a thoroughly good cry it is well worth burying your head in Kalisha Buckhanon’s truly original debute novel, “Upstate.”
Sainsbury’s Magazine “Raw, tender and emotional, every word of this accomplished debut rings beautifully and painfully true.”
Black Hair and Beauty “Extraordinarily vivid and honest, their letters to each other narrate the rollercoaster ride of first love with stunning insight.”