African American English

A piercingly raw debut story collection from a young writer with an explosive voice; a treacherously surreal and, at times, heartbreakingly satirical look at what it's like to be young and black in America.

College Professors Grace and David Andrews are a married couple keeping secrets from each other. This is no run-of-the-mill marital infidelity, though. David doesn’t know that his someone-on-the-side shares a painful link to Grace’s past. One man's actions have resulted in the dismemberment of three families. Now that the loose ends have begun to unravel, will any of them be able to pull their lives back together?

The night Army Specialist Merlin Mills’s identical twin brother, Gavin, slept with his wife, everything changed. Now Merlin must come to grips with the fact that Cojo may be carrying his brother’s child. For Gina Meadows, Merlin’s mother, it’s a brutal reminder of the dysfunction that has always plagued her family. Tension escalates when Gina pops up pregnant after a night of drunken revelry, and an icy finger points to her deviant son as the father. The drama that ensues forces them all to take stock of their lives.

Some secrets will kill you. No one knows that better than Jada, Alex, Miranda, and Candace, who’ve previously lost one of their friends, Stephanie, following a heartbreaking betrayal. Now Stephanie’s boyfriend, Corey, is hitting the streets of Atlanta with a vengeance in an effort to get the haters that took his girlfriend’s life, all while trying to take back his title as the king of the hood. Stephanie may be dead now, but the secrets lingering between the rest of the crew seem to just keep piling up and coming to the forefront.

Shawn Black seems to be a mild-mannered family man who loves music recitals, football games, and family outings. What observers don’t realize is that Shawn is living a life on both sides of the fence. He harbors dangerous secrets that could hurt his family. Shawn makes a mistake when he befriends James, a gold-digger with an agenda. Pushing Shawn head first into a life of lust and deception, he will get what he wants.

At 40, Lena Baker is at a steady and stable moment in life—between wine nights with her two best friends and her wedding just weeks away, she’s happy in love and in friendship—until a confession on her wedding day shifts her world.

Life has never been easy for Ethic. Since he was a young boy he has battled loss after loss while struggling to navigate through a treacherous world. When he met Alani Lenika Hill, he knew that he had met the woman who would love him back to life. They have weathered a storm together, and their love is so fated that neither wants to let it go, but it seems their bubble of happiness is an illusion, because life around them is falling apart.

Not only do I use the Bible (many do); I have done my best to give the solution to a problem that has been spoken of from the founding of this nation. The book validates prophecy that has been buried under misunderstanding and abuses. It educates us on how the sensitive, controversial, and never-reconciled Black/White issue should be viewed and handled so as not to abuse anyone or to perpetuate oppression. The book takes the position that once this issue is reconciled, all similar issues are simultaneously addressed. All ethnicities are acknowledged. All oppression ceases.

"When women get together and talk about men, the news is almost always bad news," writes bell hooks. "If the topic gets specific and the focus is on black men, the news is even worse." In this powerful new book, bell hooks arrests our attention from the first minute. Her title--WeReal Cool; her subject--the way in which both white society and weak black leaders are failing black men and youth. Her subject is taboo: "this is a culture that does not love black males:" "they are not loved by white men, white women, black women, girls or boys.

Anoor is the first blue-blooded ruler of the Wardens' Empire. But when she is accused of a murder she didn't commit, her reign is thrown into turmoil. She must solve the mystery and clear her name without the support of her beloved, Sylah. Sylah braves new lands to find a solution for the hurricane that threatens to destroy her home. But in finding answers, she must make a decision, does she sacrifice her old life in order to raise up her sword once more?

Harriet Ann Jacob's autobiography documents her life as a slave and how she attained freedom for herself and her children. Harrowing in its descriptions of sexual abuse, Jacob's slave narrative is notable for the appeal it made to abolitionist women to open their eyes to the realities of slavery. Deemed too shocking for reading audiences at the time, the book was shelved before it was published in 1861 near the start of the Civil War.

Enzo and Angel are back and this time with a vengeance. Micah was hell-bent on forcing their hands and pushing them back into the lifestyle they'd left behind after Damien Orlando's demise. With time ticking away along with Enzo's desire to keep his career and family intact, he will become the monster Micah accused him of being. Enzo will embrace the darkness that flows freely through his veins and make Micah rue the day he awakened the sleeping giant.

The most ruthless ride-or-die women of Memphis saved their empire by nearly destroying the streets. But as unexpected new rivals rise and brutal secrets shatter lives, betrayal means winner rules all. Putting out chaos with gasoline is one play that even the women of the Dirty South can't control. One merciless kill vaults good-girl-gone-bad Ta'Shara into gangland's power elite - but an enemy she doesn't see is targeting everything she can't afford to lose.

Lieutenant Stuart Lyons is a single father and a well-respected veteran law enforcement officer. In addition, he serves as head of security at the ever-popular New Hope Church in Atlanta and above all, he loves the Lord. When sudden pandemonium strikes his “normal” life and he begins receiving threats from an unknown person who only identifies himself as “Dr. A. H. Satan”, Stuart’s life is turned upside down.

On a cold day in March of 1911, officials marched twelve Black men into the heart of a forest in Maryland. Under the supervision of a doctor, the men were forced to clear the land, pour cement, lay bricks, and harvest tobacco. When construction finished, they became the first twelve patients of the state’s Hospital for the Negro Insane. For centuries, Black patients have been absent from our history books. Madness transports listeners behind the brick walls of a Jim Crow asylum. In Madness, journalist Antonia Hylton tells the 93-year-old history of Crownsville Hospital.

Teenager Kath Ella Sebolt wants desperately to escape the town that she equates with deprivation and lack of opportunity. Months after her boyfriend is killed during a clash between young people in the village and Halifax constables, she moves with her infant son to Montreal. After attending college as a single mother and ultimately marrying a white man, she discovers that as much as she tries, severing ties to her former village is not easy.

In an immersive, exciting narrative nonfiction format, this powerful book follows a selection of people who experienced the Underground Railroad.

Tarana Burke and Dr. Brené Brown bring together a dynamic group of Black writers, organizers, artists, academics, and cultural figures to discuss the topics the two have dedicated their lives to understanding and teaching: vulnerability and shame resilience.

Booker T. Washington fought his way out of slavery to become an educator, statesman, political shaper, and proponent of the "do-it-yourself" idea. In his autobiography, he describes his early life as a slave on a Virginia plantation, his steady rise during the Civil War, his struggle for education, his schooling at the Hampton Institute, and his years as founder and president of the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, which was devoted to helping minorities learn useful, marketable skills.

After they are in a car accident together, video vixen Paisley Lawrence and gospel singer Warren Cobb are mobbed by media speculation. And if that’s not enough, Warren’s wife has a few questions of her own. With rumors flying and speculation rampant, these two must straighten out their stories before tempers get out of control.