It's No Wonder: The Life and Times of Motown's Legendary Songwriter Sylvia Moy has been announced among the prestigious listing of non-fiction literature submitted for the 2026 MAAH Stone Book Award. 

To be eligible, all books must have been published in the U.S. with a publication date between April 1, 2025 and March 31, 2026. Only publishers and literary agents could make the submissions; therefore, nothing was considered directly by the author. Also, self-published works where the author is the publisher, e-books, textbooks and anthologies, graphic novels, and co-authored books were not eligible.

A full listing of books submitted can be viewed below in the PDF. 

Jurors represent the finest scholars in the field of African American history and culture, and are chosen deliberately to reflect a range of institutions of higher learning — from valued historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), to venerated State Universities, to the esteemed Ivy League.

The Museum of African American History (MAAH) Stone Book Award is an annual prize that encourages scholarship and writing within the field of African American history and culture by awarding a $50,000 winning prize and two $10,000 finalist prizes for exceptional adult non-fiction books written in a literary style.

Congrats to all of the fellow scholars and authors. Everyone is already a winner!

Be'N Original of Urban Magazine featured the celebrated biography, It's No Wonder: The Life and Times of Motown's Legendary Songwriter Sylvia Moy in the June 15 issue. 

To read the full story, go to: https://www.urbanmag-online.com/dr-margena-a-christian-on-sylvia-moys-legacy-motown-history-and-saving-stevie-wonder/

You can also read it on News Break: https://www.newsbreak.com/urban-magazine-371766894/4712153373975-dr-margena-a-christian-on-sylvia-moy-s-legacy-motown-history-and-saving-stevie-wonder?s=mp_371766894

And, check it out on Apple News: https://apple.news/AkfGPbeedTJG3uQpcqHS1vQ

As mentioned in the article, "[Sylvia] should be remembered not just during Black Music Month, Women's History Month, or Black History Month. Her contributions deserve recognition every day." 

It's No Wonder is available everywhere books are sold.

It's No Wonder was among the select few books reviewed by Goldmine as a top pick.  To see the others and read the full article, go to: https://tinyurl.com/yusyxtew

Goldmine, known as the music collector's magazine, first included a review of It's No Wonder: The Life and Times of Motown's Legendary Songwriter Sylvia Moy in the Spring 2026 issue.

Since 1974, Goldmine has been the world’s most renowned publication for music collectibles and music memorabilia, covering all genres, but anchored in rock and roll.

It's No Wonder is available to order everywhere books are sold. 

Today is National Cancer Survivors Day, a time for celebration and inspiration for warriors and their families. 

To commemorate this special moment, I was a Face of Cancer at the 33rd Annual Cancer Survivors' Celebration Walk & 5K. The event, which took place at Chicago's Grant Park, was put together by Lurie Cancer Center and Northwestern Medicine.

Walking with 4,000 others along the lakefront and seeing the banners with empowering messages was overwhelming. It was a beautiful feeling to have people cheering and clapping as they saw me and others standing next to our banners.  

And, in the words of the singing duo Peaches and Herb, "reunited and it feels so good." It was a full circle moment as I was reconnected with Jack the Rescue Therapist that comforted me on the day of my stage IV ovarian cancer diagnosis a year and two days ago. This time we weren't in my hospital room, but we were out enjoying this lovely, sunny day!

Thank you to Jewell Hillery and WGN News Chicago for the great interview!

Much love to all of my fellow cancer survivors. Faith doesn't make things easy. As a fighter, we know that faith makes things possible!

#NationalCancerSurvivorsDay  #cancerawareness #cancersurvivor #cancerwarrior #LurieCelebrates #FacesofCancer 

Everything is in divine order.

I recall the day that a University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) senior public relations strategist on the University communications team had just read an online article about me in Essence, regarding my esteemed biography It's No Wonder: The Life and Times of Motown's Legendary Songwriter Sylvia Moy.

He saw that The Conversation was looking for a scholar to write about the women of Motown, so he suggested it to me. Talk about perfect timing.

It's always an honor to represent UIC and the mighty English department. People truly enjoyed the May 7, 2026, article I was commissioned to write for The Conversation called "Motown's Black women songwriters and producers were the invisible architects behind the pop music juggernaut." MSN and Yahoo!News also picked up the piece.

Thank you for the opportunity. Thank you to Motown's "Fab Four" women, who made music history for ALL females behind the scenes as songwriters and producers even as their contributions were ignored or overlooked.

The wonderful thing about history is that it is NEVER erased no matter how hard someone tries. Truth prevails.  #OnwardUpward

Read the article here: https://theconversation.com/motowns-black-women-songwriters-and-producers-were-the-invisible-architects-behind-the-pop-music-juggernaut-278514

Model D magazine also featured the story. Read it here: Motown’s Black women songwriters and producers were the invisible architects behind the pop music juggernaut – Model D

Detroit news and storytelling are the heart of Model D. The publication highlights the people, ideas, and innovations shaping communities across Detroit, focusing on solutions-driven journalism that moves the region forward. Model D is focused on the dynamic communities, businesses, and residents of Detroit, and is part of the Issue Media Group family.

It's No Wonder is available to order everywhere books are sold.  

Black Music Month is in full swing, so really get into it by arming yourself with more knowledge. The roots of just about all music traces back to us.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution featured It's No Wonder: The Life and Times of Motown's Legendary Songwriter Sylvia Moy in its "June book recommendations for Black Music Month."  Only six were listed. Such an honor!

To find out the other books that made the ranking, see below and/or go here: UATL’s June book recommendations for Black Music Month

It's No Wonder is available to order everywhere books are sold.