Pulse: Creative Buzz

Penn writing prof Lorene Cary (Black Ice; The Price of a Child) has written her first young adult book, Free!, a collection of nonfiction stories about the Underground Railroad (Third World Press; $15). … Drexel English prof Allison Whittenberg’s Sweet Thang, also for young adults, is a black girl’s coming-of-age story set in Philadelphia in the 1970s (Random House; $15.95). …West Philly’s L.A. Banks offers up The Forsaken, the latest in her fabulously successful Vampire Huntress series (St. Martin’s Press; $14.95). … Germantown Friends grad Robin Hathaway’s mystery, The Doctor Rocks the Boat, is all about murder and mayhem on the scullin’ Schuylkill (St. Martin’s Minotaur; $23.95). … West Philly native Miasha has a second “street lit” novel out, Diary of a Mistress (Touchstone; $12).