African American Literature Fiction

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

They say all is fair in love and war, but how do you fight when you don't know the enemy is the one you love? Will the Hoover gang be able to reign supreme, or will they fall at the hands of the women who are supposed to have their backs? The infamous Hoover gang - Babyface, Blaze, Quick, and Shadow - have taken Chicago by storm. These four are not your average street thugs. Bank robbers by day and club owners by night, they have held on to their place at the top by never trusting anyone enough to allow them in their circle. The moment they do, all hell breaks loose.

Gideon “Gee” Powers has one hundred and eighty days to secure his rightful place as head of the family. Rhian Barnes has one hundred and eighty days to complete a bucket list. One night in Sin City blurs the lines and two become one.

An exciting new Chiamaka is a Nigerian travel writer living in America. Alone in the midst of the pandemic, she recalls her past lovers and grapples with her choices and regrets. Zikora, her best friend, is a lawyer who has been successful at everything until—betrayed and brokenhearted—she must turn to the person she thought she needed least. Omelogor, Chiamaka’s bold, outspoken cousin, is a financial powerhouse in Nigeria who begins to question how well she knows herself. And Kadiatou, Chiamaka’s housekeeper, is proudly raising her daughter in America—but faces an unthinkable hardship.

Brooklyn Melody James has finally gotten the punishment she deserves after leaving a web of lies, heartache, and betrayal behind her. As her life slips away, Brooklyn remembers the events that shaped her into the cold, calculating creature she became.

Raised on the deadly streets of New Orleans, James Johnson is displeased and disheartened by the drug game and the sickness it's inflicting on his race. Unexpectedly, James has befriended America's most wanted and deadliest fugitive, Osama Bin Laden. Now he and Osama have joined forces in an effort to eliminate the nation's drug trade.

The Red Bottom Bandits may be the world's most fashion-forward gang of masked outlaws. They're the talk of DC for their daring robberies and fly gear. And their latest caper is penned by Ashley Antoinette (of Ashley & JaQuavis) at her sultry, streetwise best.

From the moment Ava Carson and her ten-year-old son, Toussaint, arrive at the Glenn Avenue Family Shelter in Philadelphia in 1985, Ava is already plotting a way out. She is repulsed by the shelter’s squalid conditions: their cockroach-infested room, the barely edible food and the shifty night security guard. She is determined to rescue her son from the perils and indignities of the place, and to save herself from the complicated past that led them there.

Amina “Mimi” Washington thought she had life all figured out when she moved to Atlanta and got the family and the material things she’d always dreamed of. But when things took a turn for the worse, Mimi ended up in big trouble. Now she has come out of a coma and finds herself in a hospital bed, with no recollection of how she got there. When she discovers what happened to her, will she be able to handle the truth? Troy is busy searching the streets for Kaylin and the children with Mark and Jayden’s help. They search all over, but with no luck.

All Zarinah wanted was to fall in love. Growing up, she had kissed her fair share of frogs. When an unconventional situation leads her to Lawson, her wishes might become reality. Lawson is the new CEO of his family's hotel casino chain. He's tired of aimless dating and women just wanting his money. When he meets Zarinah, he instantly feels like she's the one.

After suffering a tragic loss, Amir "Ace" Johnson gave up his stronghold of the streets and put his guns away. He became the doting father that his twin girls needed and turned his back on everything, including love. Out of nowhere, he meets hardworking attorney Aaliyah Bailey who has him feeling a way he never thought he would ever feel again. Ace gets forced back into the game when he starts receiving notes and pictures that convince him that the original love of his life could still be alive.

This edition of Margot Lee Shetterly’s acclaimed book is perfect for young students. It's the powerful story of four African-American female mathematicians at NASA who helped achieve some of the greatest moments in our space program. Before John Glenn orbited the earth, or Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, a group of dedicated female mathematicians known as “human computers” used pencils, slide rules, and adding machines to calculate the numbers that would launch rockets, and astronauts, into space.

A menace, I was, the duration of my life. Unsure of what was next, who was next, or where I was headed next. The only for-sure shit in my world was my paper and my people. The ice around my heart was still intact, never being penetrated or as much as tapped.

Morgan Atkins has depended on men her entire life. First her father, then Ethic Okafor, then came Messiah Williams, and finally Ahmeek Harris. She loves them all for different reasons, but the one thing they all have in common is their unconditional love for her. Morgan is the queen of their worlds, if only she knew her own worth. Trapped by the threat of a deadly secret, Morgan has lost it all. She's engaged to an abusive and powerful man who is willing to bury everyone to keep control over Morgan's heart.

Uzoamaka’s miracle baby, Obiefuna, arrives after a series of miscarriages. As a young boy, he brings luck to his family and joy to those in his orbit, from the teachers at his school to the ladies getting their hair braided at Uzoamaka’s salon. But by adolescence, Obiefuna has grown unsure of himself. After his father brings home an apprentice from a nearby village, the lightness Obiefuna feels is quickly dashed when the two are caught sharing a moment of intimacy.

After marrying her college sweetheart, Ginger Williams gave up her own professional dreams to help her husband follow his dream of building a megachurch. It's not long before Ginger and her husband, Jeremy, turn a small DC church into a burgeoning empire...catapulting the couple into a popular powerhouse. But with a bigger spotlight comes more temptation, and the power is corrupting Jeremy in ways Ginger never imagined.

In 1824, on the island of Trinidad, Marie Ursule, queen of a secret society of militant slaves, plots a mass suicide—a quiet, passionate act of revolt. But she cannot bring herself to kill her small daughter, Bola, whom she smuggles away in the early dawn light. As Bola's children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren spill out across the world to America, Canada and Europe, they find their lives both haunted and vindicated by the dreams and passions of their defiant ancestor.

If you can count on one thing from "Madea" Mabel Simmons, star of Diary of a Mad Black Woman and Madea's Family Reunion, it's that she's got something to say. She's the beloved, hilarious, sharp-witted, pistol-packing grandmother who's watching out and speaking her mind. Now Madea is telling her own story, dishing her memoirs and hard-won, hilarious wisdom in her own inimitable voice (with a little help from her friend Tyler Perry).

Nola is a city full of wonders. A place of sky trolleys and dead cabs, where haints dance the night away and Wise Women help keep the order. To those from Away, Nola might seem strange. To Perilous Graves, it’s simply home. Perry knows Nola’s rhythm as intimately as his own heartbeat. So when the city’s Great Magician starts appearing in odd places and essential songs are forgotten, Perry knows trouble is afoot.

Paul Beatty's hilarious and scathing debut novel, The White Boy Shuffle, is about Gunnar Kaufman, an awkward, black surfer bum who is moved by his mother from Santa Monica to urban West Los Angeles. There, he begins to undergo a startling transformation from neighborhood outcast to basketball superstar, and eventually to reluctant messiah of a "divided, downtrodden people".