#hardcover #africanamericanfiction #blackfiction #midwest #1950s

Light Hardcover (1 lb or less)

California

In Rattlebone, a fictional black community north of Kansas City, the smell of manure and bacon from Armour's Packing House is everywhere; Shady Maurice's roadhouse plays the latest jazz, the best eggs are sold by the Red Quanders, and gospel rules at the Strangers Rest Baptist Church. This is the black Midwest of the 1950s, when towns could count their white folks on one hand - the years before the civil rights movement came along and changed everything. In perfectly cadenced vernacular, Maxine Clair speaks to us through the voices of Rattlebone's citizens: October Brown, the new schoolteacher with a camel's walk and shoulder-padded, to-the-nines dresses; Irene Wilson, naive and wise, who must grapple with her parent's failing marriage as she steps eagerly into adulthood; and Thomas Pemberton, owner of the local rooming house, an old man with a young heart. Sparkling with lyricism, Clair's interconnected stories celebrate the natural beauty of the Midwest and the dignity and vitality of these most ordinary lives.

Rattlebone

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Never been read. There is a black mark on the bottom of the pages (see picture). #paperback #fiction #blackfiction #immigration #ya #youngadult #teen

Light Paperback (1 lb or less)

Michigan

A National Book Award Finalist with five starred reviews! A New York Times Notable Book * Publishers Weekly Flying Start * Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year * ALA Booklist Editors' Choice of 2017 (Top of the List winner) * School Library Journal Best Book of the Year * Kirkus Best Book of the Year * BookPage Best YA Book of the Year American Street is an evocative and powerful coming-of-age story perfect for fans of Everything, Everything; Bone Gap; and All American Boys. In this stunning debut novel, Pushcart-nominated author Ibi Zoboi draws on her own experience as a young Haitian immigrant, infusing this lyrical exploration of America with magical realism and vodou culture. On the corner of American Street and Joy Road, Fabiola Toussaint thought she would finally find une belle vie—a good life. But after they leave Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Fabiola’s mother is detained by U.S. immigration, leaving Fabiola to navigate her loud American cousins, Chantal, Donna, and Princess; the grittiness of Detroit’s west side; a new school; and a surprising romance, all on her own. Just as she finds her footing in this strange new world, a dangerous proposition presents itself, and Fabiola soon realizes that freedom comes at a cost. Trapped at the crossroads of an impossible choice, will she pay the price for the American dream?

American Street

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#hardcover #blackyoungadult #blackfiction #blackya #mentalhealtg #fiction 

Hardcover (1 to 2 lbs)

"Unflinchingly irreverent, laugh-out-loud funny, and heartbreakingly honest." --Elizabeth Acevedo, National Book Award winner and New York Times bestselling author of The Poet X

In the vein of powerful reads like The Hate U Give and The Poet X, comes poet Morgan Parker's pitch-perfect novel about a black teenage girl searching for her identity when the world around her views her depression as a lack of faith and blackness as something to be politely ignored.

Trapped in sunny, stifling, small-town suburbia, seventeen-year-old Morgan knows why she's in therapy. She can't count the number of times she's been the only non-white person at the sleepover, been teased for her "weird" outfits, and been told she's not "really" black. Also, she's spent most of her summer crying in bed. So there's that, too.

Lately, it feels like the whole world is listening to the same terrible track on repeat--and it's telling them how to feel, who to vote for, what to believe. Morgan wonders, when can she turn this song off and begin living for herself?

Loosely based on her own teenage life and diaries, this incredible debut by award-winning poet Morgan Parker will make readers stand up and cheer for a girl brave enough to live life on her own terms--and for themselves.

"Morgan Parker put THIS song on--and I hope it never turns off." --Nic Stone, New York Times bestselling author of Dear Martin and Odd One Out

"A triumphant first impression in the YA space." --Entertainment Weekly

"An incredibly heartfelt, deep story about a girl's coming of age." --Refinery29


Who Put This Song On?

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#paperback #fiction #blackfiction #Janicejones #ebonylove #romance #drama #love #urbanbook
William and Aujanae Rucker have been satisfactorily married for six comfortable years; then along comes maneater April Colston. She is determined to have Aujanae's husband at all costs. April knows William and Aujanae are Christians. Heck, so is she.
David Mathis and Toriyana Kent have been exclusively dating for several years, but David has just moved from Detroit to Phoenix. The pair do all they can to hold on to their relationship across the miles, but distance and the influences of a very beautiful woman, namely David's new pastor's assistant, put a strain on the trust and security they once shared.
Darrin Osborne and Maleeka Davis are engaged to be married; however, after four years and just as many engagement rings, they have yet to set an actual wedding date. Will Maleeka continue to wait patiently for Darrin to get his act together and make their love official, or will Mr. Gerald Miller succeed in showing her how a real man is supposed to take care of his woman?
Janice Jones shows readers that being a Christian couple doesn't always guarantee a happy, trouble-free relationship.

Georgia

The relationships of three couples flounder when third parties enter each of their situations.

The Book Store Rule

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#nonfiction #paperback #history #fiction #blackfiction #historicalfiction #historical #neworleans Pristine condition, read once, smoke free home

Paperback (1 to 2 lbs)

A Novel

Black Bottom Saints

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#hardcover #fiction #youngadult #socialjustice #ya #blackfiction #bipoc #novelinverse #ibizoboi 

New Jersey

From award-winning, bestselling author Ibi Zoboi and prison reform activist Yusef Salaam of the Exonerated Five comes a powerful YA novel in verse about a boy who is wrongfully incarcerated. Perfect for fans of Jason Reynolds, Walter Dean Myers, and Elizabeth Acevedo. The story that I thought was my life didn't start on the day I was born Amal Shahid has always been an artist and a poet. But even in a diverse art school, he's seen as disruptive and unmotivated by a biased system. Then one fateful night, an altercation in a gentrifying neighborhood escalates into tragedy. "Boys just being boys" turns out to be true only when those boys are white. The story that I think will be my life starts today Suddenly, at just sixteen years old, Amal's bright future is upended: he is convicted of a crime he didn't commit and sent to prison. Despair and rage almost sink him until he turns to the refuge of his words, his art. This never should have been his story. But can he change it? With spellbinding lyricism, award-winning author Ibi Zoboi and prison reform activist Yusef Salaam tell a moving and deeply profound story about how one boy is able to maintain his humanity and fight for the truth, in a system designed to strip him of both.

Punching the Air

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#hardcover #blackyoungadult #blackya #blackfiction #mentalhealtg #fiction 

Texas

Tennessee

Breathtaking oceanfront views, friendly locals, festive meals. At first, award-winning photographer Kennedy Wade's magazine shoot in Barbados is more play than work. Until she loses 48 hours of her life after flirting with a sexy stranger. Until her camera goes missing - and once back in the States, feels certain of being watched.

Snapshot

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#thriller #blackfiction #unconditionalseries #paperback 

Someone Borrowed  Someone Conned

Kimera Davis thought she was finally free from marrying for money - and living way too many lies. Until her obsessed ex-husband ignited the ultimate dark hoax, a malicious deception that's left her family and her best friend, Adria, reeling. Now Kimera and her young son are prisoners at a remote estate, under the thumb of her ex's powerful father. Suddenly Kimera is getting dangerously close to an unlikely ally, but even she can t be sure if she's playing him, if what they have is real... And there's no guarantee that her calculations will earn her and her son's freedom - or cost more than her survival is worth...

The Hearts We Burn (Unconditional Series)

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#paperback #blackfiction #immigration #romance #youngadult #america #fiction #detroit #haitian #americandream 

#hardcover #fiction #youngadult #socialjustice #blackfiction #bipoc #ibizoboi 

Black Indie author. Collection of short stories featuring Black love, Black parenthood, grief, etc. #paperback #Blackauthor #Blackfiction #indieauthor #BlackIndieAuthor #independentlypublished

New York

A Collection of Short Fiction

Afro-Bougie Blues

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#blackfiction #blackauthor #blacklit #drama

A Novel of Love, Sex, and Drama

The fabulously fine, Farah Washington first appeared in "Sex and the Single Sister." A junior correspondent to NBC News, she has always taken the fast track to love and success. Now she's determined to climb to the top of the media ladder, and she's willing to use every weapon in her considerable arsenal to do so. Then Farah meets Lenox Whitworth, a powerful, oh-so-fine lawyer who steps in to negotiate the station's contracts. But what he sees in her is the kind of sophisticated woman he needs and wants on his arm, in his life and in his bed. And Farah, sensing a prime opportunity, allows this powerful, handsome brother, to truly introduce her to the wicked indulgences of the rich and glamorous as he influences her career behind the scenes. They both believe that they've got a handle on a good thing, but they're both about to realize that they've met their match in each other.
Filled with love, sex, drama and glamour, Farah and Lenox take you on a wild ride.


Use Me or Lose Me

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#hardcover #fiction #africanamerican #bestsellingauthor #diaryofagroupie #omartyree #blacklit #blackfiction

Keeping close tabs on a range of unsuspecting no-strings-attached and ruthlessly private boyfriends, Tabitha Night is offered a large sum of money to reveal her secrets by a banker who believes one of Tabitha's conquests molested his daughter.

Diary of a Groupie

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#hardcover #aafiction #blackfiction #blacklit #drama 

Malcolm Tremell lives the life that most men can only fantasize about: exotic cars, designer clothes, and a steady stream of sexually available women. In his world, sex is not a game -- it's serious business. For the past twelve years, Malcolm has willingly played the role of temporary companion and lover for a very generous fee. But the interminable nights of meaningless sex and secret rendezvous with married women have begun to play on his conscience. Malcolm soon discovers, however, that a lifestyle change won't come so easily. His best friend, Simon, owner of Club Obsession, the hottest nightclub in Atlanta, tries to steer Malcolm on the right path, not realizing that his own financee might be indulging in some extracurricular maintenance of her own. And Ariel, Club Obsession's manager, thinks her lonely nights are over when she meets a man through a local radio station dating line. Nothing can be further from the truth.In the tradition of New York Times bestselling authors Eric Jerome Dickey and E. Lynn Harris, Michael Baisden weaves a fast-paced, true-to-life story about the drama of male/female relationships. The Maintenance Man is a gripping, raw novel.

The Maintenance Man

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Never read. Book of the Month #hardcover #fiction #theperishing #fantasyfiction #historicalfiction #africanamericanwomen #africanamerican #blackfiction #both #bookofthemonth

Maryland

A Black immortal in 1930's Los Angeles must recover the memory of her past in order to discover who she truly is in this extraordinarily affecting novel for readers of N. K. Jemisin and Octavia E. Butler. Lou, a young Black woman, wakes up in an alley in 1930s Los Angeles with no memory of how she got there or where she’s from. Taken in by a caring foster family, Lou dedicates herself to her education while trying to put her mysterious origins behind her. She’ll go on to become the first Black female journalist at the Los Angeles Times, but Lou’s extraordinary life is about to take an even more remarkable turn. When she befriends a firefighter at a downtown boxing gym, Lou is shocked to realize that though she has no memory of meeting him, she’s been drawing his face for years. Increasingly certain that their paths previously crossed—and beset by unexplainable flashes from different eras haunting her dreams—Lou begins to believe she may be an immortal sent here for a very important reason, one that only others like her can explain. Setting out to investigate the mystery of her existence, Lou must make sense of the jumble of lifetimes calling to her, just as new forces threaten the existence of those around her. Immersed in the rich historical tapestry of Los Angeles—Prohibition, the creation of Route 66, and the collapse of the St. Francis Dam—The Perishing is a stunning examination of love and justice through the eyes of one miraculous woman whose fate seems linked to the city she comes to call home.

The Perishing

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#hardcover #fiction #youngadult #socialjustice #ya #blackfiction #bipoc #ibizoboi 

South Carolina

#hardcover #fiction #blackfiction #chigozieobioma #anorchestraofminorities

A heart-breaking story about a Nigerian poultry farmer who sacrifices everything to win the woman he loves, by Man Booker Finalist and author of The Fishermen, Chigozie Obioma. Set on the outskirts of Umuahia, Nigeria and narrated by a chi, or guardian spirit, AN ORCHESTRA OF MINORITIES tells the story of Chinonso, a young poultry farmer whose soul is ignited when he sees a woman attempting to jump from a highway bridge. Horrified by her recklessness, Chinonso joins her on the roadside and hurls two of his prized chickens into the water below to express the severity of such a fall. The woman, Ndali, is stopped her in her tracks. Bonded by this night on the bridge, Chinonso and Ndali fall in love. But Ndali is from a wealthy family and struggles to imagine a future near a chicken coop. When her family objects to the union because he is uneducated, Chinonso sells most of his possessions to attend a college in Cyprus. But when he arrives he discovers there is no place at the school for him, and that he has been utterly duped by the young Nigerian who has made the arrangements.. Penniless, homeless, and furious at a world which continues to relegate him to the sidelines, Chinonso gets further away from his dream, from Ndali and the farm he called home. Spanning continents, traversing the earth and cosmic spaces, and told by a narrator who has lived for hundreds of years, the novel is a contemporary twist of Homer's Odyssey. Written in the mythic style of the Igbo literary tradition, Chigozie Obioma weaves a heart-wrenching epic about destiny and determination..

An Orchestra of Minorities

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#paperback #urban #africanamericans #baltimore #crime #fiction #blackfiction

A…Baltimore Saga!

Once Upon A Time in…The Pro Jax!

#paperback #fiction #nonfiction #blackfiction #historical #historicalfiction #neworleans #blackbottomsaints #alicerandall

An enthralling literary tour-de-force that pays tribute to Detroit's legendary neighborhood, a mecca for jazz, sports, and politics, Black Bottom Saints is a powerful blend of fact and imagination reminiscent of E.L. Doctorow's classic novel Ragtime and Marlon James' Man Booker Award-winning masterpiece, A Brief History of Seven Killings. From the Great Depression through the post-World War II years, Joseph "Ziggy" Johnson, has been the pulse of Detroit's famous Black Bottom. A celebrated gossip columnist for the city's African-American newspaper, the Michigan Chronicle, he is also the emcee of one of the hottest night clubs, where he's rubbed elbows with the legendary black artists of the era, including Ethel Waters, Billy Eckstein, and Count Basie. Ziggy is also the founder and dean of the Ziggy Johnson School of Theater. But now the doyen of Black Bottom is ready to hang up his many dapper hats. As he lays dying in the black-owned-and-operated Kirkwood Hospital, Ziggy reflects on his life, the community that was the center of his world, and the remarkable people who helped shape it. Inspired by the Catholic Saints Day Books, Ziggy curates his own list of Black Bottom's venerable "52 Saints." Among them are a vulnerable Dinah Washington, a defiant Joe Louis, and a raucous Bricktop. Randall balances the stories of these larger-than-life "Saints" with local heroes who became household names, enthralling men and women whose unstoppable ambition, love of style, and faith in community made this black Midwestern neighborhood the rival of New York City's Harlem. Accompanying these "tributes" are thoughtfully paired cocktails--special drinks that capture the essence of each of Ziggy's saints--libations as strong and satisfying as Alice Randall's wholly original view of a place and time unlike any other.

Massachusetts

#paperback #arc #mystery #thriller #blackfiction #poc #youngadultfiction #youngadult #teenfiction  #awardwinning 

Award-winning author Tiffany D. Jackson delivers another riveting, ripped-from-the-headlines mystery that exposes horrific secrets hiding behind the limelight and embraces the power of a young woman's voice.

When legendary R&B artist Korey Fields spots Enchanted Jones at an audition, her dreams of being a famous singer take flight. Until Enchanted wakes up with blood on her hands and zero memory of the previous night.
Who killed Korey Fields?
Before there was a dead body, Enchanted's dreams had turned into a nightmare. Because behind Korey's charm and star power was a controlling dark side. Now he's dead, the police are at the door, and all signs point to Enchanted.

“Grown exposes the underbelly of a tough conversation-the seductive abuse of older men who prey on teen girls--providing a searing examination of misogynoir, rape culture, and the vulnerability of young Black girls. Groundbreaking, heart wrenching, and essential reading for all in the #MeToo era."
-DHONIELLE CLAYTON,
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE BELLES

Maxine Clair

Rattlebone

Ibi Zoboi

American Street

Morgan Parker

Who Put This Song On?

Janice Jones

The Book Store Rule

Alice Randall

Black Bottom Saints

Ibi Zoboi; Yusef Salaam

Punching the Air

Morgan Parker

Who Put This Song On?

Camryn King

Snapshot

Briana Cole

The Hearts We Burn (Unconditional Series)

Ibi Zoboi

American Street

Ibi Zoboi; Yusef Salaam

Punching the Air

Lauren Wilson

Afro-Bougie Blues

Maryann Reid

Use Me or Lose Me

Omar R. Tyree

Diary of a Groupie

Michael Baisden; Chandra Sparks (Editor); Latanya Davis (Illustrator)

The Maintenance Man

Natashia Deón

The Perishing

Ibi Zoboi; Yusef Salaam

Punching the Air

Chigozie Obioma

An Orchestra of Minorities

King James III

Once Upon A Time in…The Pro Jax!

Alice Randall

Black Bottom Saints

Ibi Zoboi; Yusef Salaam

Punching the Air

Ibi Zoboi; Yusef Salaam

Punching the Air

Tiffany D. Jackson

Grown (ARC)

Ibi Zoboi; Yusef Salaam

Punching the Air