The Sea Birds Are Still Alive

Ten stories of Black life written with Ms. Bambara’s characteristic vigor, sensibility and winning irony. The stories range from the timid and bumbling confusion of a novice community worker in “The Apprentice” to the love-versus-politics crisis of an organizers wife, to the dark and bright notes of the title story about the passengers on a refugee ship from a war-torn Asian nation.

Young girls, weary men, lovers, frauds and revolutionaries — Toni Cade Bambara handles them all the expertise, passion and huge talent. As the Chicago Daily News said, “Ms. Bambara grabs you by the throat…she dazzles, she charms.”