African American Literature Fiction

Johnny Washington is a ruthless survivor, a Black teen raised on the streets of LA, a battlefield of broken families, rival gangs, and minimum wage—all under the cold, watchful eye of the men and in blue. But Johnny's found a loophole. He knows the freight yards like the back of his hand. He and his crew, Josh and Buddy, hit them often, stealing just enough to get by. Until Josh is gunned down by a security guard, who gets his brains bashed in by Buddy. Out of options, Johnny turns to Elliot Davis, a local kingpin who recruits and exploits Johnny's sister until she's no longer useful.

Two children from Sierra Leone, Liberty and A’shai, are brought together by chance, only to be forced apart by the most inevitable and tragic fate. Ashley & JaQuavis bring us this classic love story set against modern life’s most horrifying realities.

As the CEO of Building Bridges LLC, Bri is driven by determination for success. However, while planning the wedding of one of Chicago's hottest couples, Bri's focus is shifted when the strum of a nocturnal voice captures her attention. Being an empath has empowered her sense of compassion for others, so she's not only drawn to him because of his broken heart but also from a fierce attraction that sparks her interest and tap dances on a groove on her heart. Getting involved with someone who's not open to love may prove to be the most difficult road Bri has ever journeyed.

A young Nigerian living in New York City goes home to Lagos for a short visit, finding a city both familiar and strange. In a city dense with story, the unnamed narrator moves through a mosaic of life, hoping to find inspiration for his own. He witnesses the "yahoo yahoo" diligently perpetrating email frauds from an Internet café, longs after a mysterious woman reading on a public bus who disembarks and disappears into a bookless crowd, and recalls the tragic fate of an 11-year-old boy accused of stealing at a local market.

No one has ever affected the fierce, potent, and powerful Asa in any way, other than the terms he arranged. As a Dom, he calls the shots, makes the first move, and the odds are always in his favor. While taking an unwanted hiatus from his business, Asa realizes that he's hungry for more than what he has. "The feast" just happens to manifest itself in the form of a slim, 5'4" woman with a curiosity to a lifestyle he is an expert in. Elise is an intellectual who molds the minds of others daily as a adjunct professor and Masters student.

1879, Mississippi. Young dreamer Lettie may have her head in the stars, but her body is on a covered wagon heading westward. Her father, Thomas, promises that Nebraska will be everything the family needs: an opportunity to claim the independence they’ve strived for over generations on their very own plot of land. But Thomas’ hopes—and mouth—are bigger than his ability to follow through. With few supplies and even less money, the only thing that feels certain is danger.

Life can be cruel. Sometimes it's hard to play with the cards you've been dealt. Growing up in the ghetto can be hell; good or bad, everybody has a story. Toni is young and sexy, but her life story is limited with her mother's drug addiction and her older brother, Sheek, doing life in prison. She struggles day by day, stripping and sometimes doing more in underground clubs to support herself and her family. Toni eventually befriends a rich pretty boy from Long Island, whose life was sheltered from poverty since the day he was born.

In the wake of the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Dorothy Thom, Spelman graduate, librarian and Francophile, joins the Women’s Army Corps wanting to do her part for the war effort. Longing for adventure, she has one question for the recruiter: “Do you think I’ll get to go abroad?” As Dorothy and her sister WACs discover, life in the Army is an adventure filled with unexpected deprivations and culture shock. Women from all levels of society, secretaries, teachers, and sharecroppers, work together to navigate a military segregated by race and gender.

Audrielle Freeman hasn't really been dealt a fair hand when it comes to love. After having her heart broken for the last time, she decides to take a breather from relationships and focus on the thriving shoe store she owns with her sister, Ariana. Cairo Broussard isn't looking for love, but at the same time, he's open for it to happen if it comes. He never thought in a million years that he'd practically fall in love at first sight after walking into the custom shoe store one of his players told him about.

NYC, 2013. During late night trips on the A train, we get snapshots of Tyrone's life - his close relationship with his mother, his attempts to flirt with a coworker, Niesha, his job as a bouncer, and his dreams of going back to school. As new traumas accumulate, Tyrone's world becomes as claustrophobic as the subway car, with as few opportunities to exit or change course.

Humorous, poignant, perceptive, and full of grace, Kathleen Collins' stories masterfully blend the quotidian and the profound in a personal, intimate way, exploring deep, far-reaching issues - race, gender, family, and sexuality - that shape the ordinary moments in our lives.

This stirring coming-of-age tale unfolds in 1930s rural Kansas. A poignant portrait of African-American family life in the early twentieth century, it follows the story of young Sandy Rogers as he grows from a boy to a man. We meet Sandy's mother, Annjee, who works as a housekeeper for a wealthy white family; his strong-willed grandmother, Hager; Jimboy, Sandy's father, who travels the country looking for work; Aunt Tempy, the social climber; and Aunt Harriet, the blues singer who has turned away from her faith.

Cornelius Washington is brimming with ambition and talent before his life is torn apart by a crack addiction. Taking the form of a diary and written in an arresting stream-of-consciousness style, Iced ponders the gritty realities of Cornelius's present and past upheavals that have led him here.

Babe is a charismatic and widely loved man, a gambler with a gift for gab that often gets him out of tricky situations. He’s also a dreamer, something he shares with his patient and loving wife, Rosie. They both yearn for financial stability and see the land they own as insurance for future generations. But when Babe and a few comrades enlist in a scheme that improbably falls apart, he endangers the little security the family has. On the verge of losing everything, what’s a family man to do? If you’re a gambler like Babe, you double down and risk it all for one big score.

Dane Donovan is in Paris, but he is not starting over. Neither is he looking back. He’s picking up where he left off—now, more than ever, determined to get it right. Four years ago she was a mistake, but unfortunately for Dane, walking away may not be an option this time around. To bring her cousin home, Zera Kennedy would give up everything she worked for…but now that the kidnapper’s trail has gone cold, Zera is not sure she’ll be able to achieve her goal, and until she does, returning home is not an option. Neither is staying away from Dane Donovan once he walks back into her life.

On the surface, Saundra Smith seems to have her life in order. As a dedicated kindergarten teacher and loving friend, she's content - enough. But beneath that happy façade, Saundra is also hesitant to love again after a breakup shattered her heart into a million pieces. Corporate executive Chris Parrish is anxious for a fresh start in a new town, far from his ex-wife and the problems that came with her.

Once upon a time, in a small town, lived a young girl who was abandoned by her mother. She was left with a pensive heart because she watched her father die at the hands of his brother. Beauty was left to fend for herself, along with the heartache of having not a soul to genuinely care for her. Daily, she would dream of being rescued by a prince, and he would take away the pain her past life caused. Until this day, Beauty still had those same dreams as she slept. Yet, instead of the knight in shining armor, the tribe of fairies delivered Tuson.

After discovering the depth of betrayal, treachery, and violence perpetrated against her by Mareen’s Tribunal Council and exposing her illegal blood-gift to save her Praetorian squad, Ikenna becomes a fugitive with a colossal bounty on her head. Yet, somehow, that’s the least of her worries. Her grandfather’s longtime allies refuse to offer help, and the Blood Emperor’s Warlord is tracking her. She’s also struggling to control the enormous power she was granted by the Goddess of Blood Rites…and come to terms with the promises she made to get such power.

Cassandra Williams is twelve; her little brother, Wayne, is seven. One day, when they’re alone together, there is an accident and Wayne is lost forever. His body is never recovered. The missing boy cleaves the family with doubt. Their father leaves, starts another family elsewhere. But their mother can’t give up hope and launches an organization dedicated to missing children. As C grows older, she sees her brother everywhere: in bistros, airplane aisles, subway cars.

Unlike their younger brother, André, whose star as a comedian is rising, neither Dwayne nor Brick Duquesne is having luck with his career - and they're unluckier still in love. Former child star Dwayne has just been fired from his latest acting role and barely has enough money to get by after paying child support to his spiteful former lover, while Brick struggles to return to his uninspiring white-collar job after suffering the dual blows of a health emergency and a nasty breakup with the woman he still loves.