American Literature

Urban Books' popular Around the Way Girls series is back, bringing readers more dramatic tales about the lives of some tough, resourceful women who can hold their own when things get rough on the streets. Growing up poor and biracial, Shannon never quite fit in. Not truly accepted by either side of her family, the confused teenager turns to the one thing that loves her back unconditionally - the streets. With a bottle of liquor at her side and a worthless mentality in tow, Shannon allows the local strip club and the pole to become her new family.

Dylan Monroe is the kind of chick females love to hate, but children and dogs mysteriously adore. She's a material girl, living in a material world filled with diamonds, furs, limousines, celebrities, and private planes. To the world, she has it all, but behind closed doors, she has nothing. Almost bankrupt, she finds solace with State, a wealthy entrepreneur with a heart of steel, the man who breaks her heart time and time again.

Only the world's most beautiful models make the roster of Picture Perfect Modeling agency, and they only do shoots for the most elite photographers and magazines. They are fashionista royalty - and the owners, Bentley L. Dean and his beautiful partner Alexandra, know it. But even Picture Perfect isn't immune from hard times; so when Sterling Sneed, a rich, celebrity party planner promises to pay a ridiculously high fee for some models, Bentley finds he can't refuse.

When Desa Rae Jenkins ended her tumultuous relationship with Roc, it seemed like the appropriate thing to do; but now she's second-guessing her decision. Roc moved away to Kansas City, leaving street life back in St. Louis up to the brothas who can handle it. He continues to live his life on the edge, though, and when he returns to St. Louis, Desa Rae shows up at his doorstep to reconcile. Roc is reluctant to go there with the one woman who ripped his heart from his chest.

Now that she's happily married-for-security, there's nothing Mercedes Crystal won't do to hold on to what she's got. She didn't sweat it when her rich businessman husband had a down-and-dirty ego-boosting affair. But she's not going to stand for him falling in love with luscious Arizona Remington - or Arizona unleashing all kinds of shenanigans to keep him. And Mercedes' take-no-prisoners ways are just what her siblings need to take down all those out to game them.

Thalia, a 25-year-old wild girl gone good, moves back to her old neighborhood after a failed engagement and manages to catch the eye of the town's most wanted man - the incredibly sexy, single, devoted, and charismatic Reverend Isaac. Not only is there a large age difference between Thalia and the middle-aged pastor, but he also happens to be the father of Madison, her best friend since junior high school. Madison isn't trying to deal with her father dating anyone after her mother's death.

In her fantastically fun new series, Ellis' debut novel introduces a Kardashian-style family of money-hungry women who are determined to have it all. Over three generations, the Gibbons women of Chesterton have built their reputation as a family of shameless - but refined - gold diggers. But now one of them is abandoning the tradition.

Sasha Campbell’s sizzling debut follows Nikki Truth, a radio talk show host who has no trouble dishing out relationship advice on the air, yet can’t seem to follow that advice in her own life. With Nikki’s marriage on the rocks and her husband overseas, her best friend Trinette urges her to seek happiness elsewhere. But once Nikki realizes she’s not ready to move on, she may have already lost her husband for good.

Coreen Treadwell heads a prominent social welfare agency, but she is haunted by her past. Raped and impregnated as a teenager, she gave up her baby without ever seeing her. Now the legacy of violence continues in her daughter's life. Abused by her adoptive father, the young woman has vowed vengeance on Coreen for abandoning her.

Chyanne Johnson has finally gotten her act together. She's found a man to call her own and is raising a son. After all of the drama that ensued behind finding out that Aric McHale, former boss, lover, and father to her son, was married, Chyanne finally has it made in the shade...or so she thinks. Stephanie, Aric's ex-wife, may have been found guilty of attempted murder, but she hasn't been sentenced yet and is still free to walk to streets.

Denali Peters was sure her life would never get any better. She had two children with a man who showed her with time just how impure his intentions were. At the top of her priority list was being a great mom, but working two jobs and raising her man along with their kids began to take a toll on Denali. Eventually, she realized the importance of self-care and her own happiness…but that happiness came with a hefty price.

Tiffany and Kory are settling into their happily-ever-after and enjoying matrimonial bliss, but they are missing the one thing that would make their family complete - a baby. After several months of trying to conceive, with no success, Tiffany shifts her focus on her career and her new role as CEO at TiMax. Eager and ready to move up the corporate ladder, Tiffany convinces her best friend, Rose, to move to L.A., offering her a new start. It's something Rose simply can't refuse, an opportunity not only for success, but also for love.

Patricia Haley’s inspirational series following the drama-filled Mitchell family shot her to the number-one spot on the Essence best-seller list. Anointed transports listeners back to the saga’s beginning, when Dave and Madeline Mitchell were still married, raising a family, and building a million-dollar business. Then Dave hires a pretty young assistant named Sherry Henderson, and temptation gives way to desire - setting events in motion that will haunt the Mitchell clan for decades to come.

Picking up where the suspenseful Payback with Ya Life left off, we’re plunged back into the hip-hop drama, where the men are hot and dangerous, the women know their shoes from their Choos, and they will stop at nothing to get what they want. In a game of power and intrigue where the stakes are high and the rewards are dazzling, the losers are gonna discover there’s always a price to pay.

Nationally best-selling author Niobia Bryant lays down smooth and sexy fiction for her adoring fans. Here, four friends must deal with a shocking betrayal from within their group. Jaime, Renee, Aria, and Jessa have stuck together through it all. But the group is stunned when Jessa texts the other three a confession regarding an affair with someone’s husband—and she won’t reveal whose man she’s been sleeping with.

Khian "Khi" Prince has the ladies going crazy. He's a certified boss with what seems to be the weight of the world on his shoulders. After failing at love twice, Khi's not ready to give up yet, and when he runs into Cuba Lance, he's certain he has finally gotten it right. But when Cuba shatters his heart all over again, will Khi give up on love once and for all? Daelan "Dae" Prince is the ultimate bad boy. With the love of his life and their five-year-old son by his side, Dae seems to have his happily ever after. But things are never what they seem.

From the author of the YA-crossover hit The Marrow Thieves, a propulsive, stunning and sensuous novel inspired by the traditional Métis story of the Rogarou - a werewolf-like creature that haunts the roads and woods of Métis communities. A messed-up, grown-up "Little Red Riding Hood".

Best-selling author Rick Riordan presents Kwame Mbalia's epic fantasy, a middle grade American Gods set in a richly-imagined world populated with African American folk heroes and West African gods. Tristan is dreading the month he's going to spend on his grandparents' farm in Alabama, where he's being sent to heal from a tragedy. But on his first night there, he accidentally ripps open a chasm into the MidPass, a volatile place with a burning sea, haunted bone ships, and iron monsters that are hunting the inhabitants of this world.

Candace Chen, a millennial drone self-sequestered in a Manhattan office tower, is devoted to routine. With the recent passing of her Chinese immigrant parents, she’s had her fill of uncertainty. She’s content just to carry on: She goes to work, troubleshoots the teen-targeted Gemstone Bible, watches movies in a Greenpoint basement with her boyfriend. So Candace barely notices when a plague of biblical proportions sweeps New York.

At once a powerful evocation of his early life in Harlem and a disturbing examination of the consequences of racial injustice to both the individual and the body politic, James Baldwin galvanized the nation in the early days of the civil rights movement with this eloquent manifesto. The Fire Next Time stands as one of the essential works of our literature.