#nonfiction #family #relationships #hardcover #race #racialreconciliation #blackauthor #brendasalterncneil 

Light Hardcover (1 lb or less)

North Carolina

Moving Communities Into Unity, Wholeness and Justice

We can see the injustice and inequality in our lives and in the world. We are ready to rise up. But how, exactly, do we do this? How does one reconcile? Based on her extensive consulting experiences with colleges and organizations, Rev. Dr. Brenda Salter McNeil shows us how to take the next step into unity, wholeness and justice.

Roadmap to Reconciliation

5a167724-e85c-4792-9d9d-641fb3fe85ba-1

D. L. Hughley

Doug Moe

Florida

And Other Advice from White People

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A GOODREADS CHOICE AWARDS FINALIST

"Hilarious yet soul-shaking." --Black Enterprise

The fearless comedy legend--one of the "Original Kings of Comedy"--hilariously breaks down the wisdom of white people, advice that has been killing black folks in America for four hundred years and counting.



200 years ago, white people told black folks, "'I suggest you pick the cotton if you don't like getting whipped." Today, it's "comply with police orders if you don't want to get shot." Now comedian/activist D. L. Hughley-one the Original Kings of Comedy-confronts and remixes white people's "advice" in this "hilarious examination of the current state of race relations in the United States" (Publishers Weekly).

In America, a black man is three times more likely to be killed in encounters with police than a white guy. If only he had complied with the cop, he might be alive today, pundits say in the aftermath of the latest shooting of an unarmed black man. Or, Maybe he shouldn't have worn that hoodie ... or, moved more slowly ... not been out so late ... Wait, why are black people allowed to drive, anyway?

This isn't a new phenomenon. White people have been giving "advice" to black folks for as long as anyone can remember, telling them how to pick cotton, where to sit on a bus, what neighborhood to live in, when they can vote, and how to wear our pants. Despite centuries of whites' advice, it seems black people still aren't listening, and the results are tragic.

Now, at last, activist, comedian, and New York Times bestselling author D. L. Hughley offers How Not to Get Shot, an illustrated how-to guide for black people, full of insight from white people, translated by one of the funniest black dudes on the planet. In these pages you will learn how to act, dress, speak, walk, and drive in the safest manner possible. You also will finally understand the white mind. It is a book that can save lives. Or at least laugh through the pain.

Black people: Are you ready to not get shot! White people: Do you want to learn how to help the cause? Let's go!

How Not to Get Shot

2399e893-a80c-410b-a988-29e3b5edc24a-1

Oregon

Try Not to Stare

The Oscar-nominated Precious star and Empire actress delivers a much-awaited memoir--wise, complex, smart, funny--a version of the American experience different from anything we've read Gabourey Sidibe--"Gabby" to her legion of fans--skyrocketed to international fame in 2009 when she played the leading role in Lee Daniels's acclaimed movie Precious. In This is Just My Face, she shares a one-of-a-kind life story in a voice as fresh and challenging as many of the unique characters she's played onscreen. With full-throttle honesty, Sidibe paints her Bed-Stuy/Harlem family life with a polygamous father and a gifted mother who supports her two children by singing in the subway. Sidibe tells the engrossing, inspiring story of her first job as a phone sex "talker." And she shares her unconventional (of course!) rise to fame as a movie star, alongside "a superstar cast of rich people who lived in mansions and had their own private islands and amazing careers while I lived in my mom's apartment." Sidibe's memoir hits hard with self-knowing dispatches on friendship, depression, celebrity, haters, fashion, race, and weight ("If I could just get the world to see me the way I see myself," she writes, "would my body still be a thing you walked away thinking about?"). Irreverent, hilarious, and untraditional, This Is Just My Face takes its place and fills a void on the shelf of writers from Mindy Kaling to David Sedaris to Lena Dunham.

This Is Just My Face

c9c1b254-3a1f-4ccf-a486-99d203db4418-1

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

The first children's book from the best-selling author of We Should All Be Feminists and Americanah—a tender story about a little girl’s love for her mother’s scarf, and the adventures she shares with it and her whole family. Chino loves the scarf that her mama ties around her hair at night. But when Mama leaves for the day, what happens to her scarf? Chino takes it on endless adventures! Peeking through the colorful haze of the silky scarf, Chino and her toy bunny can look at her whole family as they go through their routines. With stunning illustrations from Joelle Avelino, Mama’s Sleeping Scarf is a celebration of family, and a touching story about the everyday objects that remind us of the ones we love.

Mama's Sleeping Scarf

d2cfc6a1-9ced-4613-8789-680001a32656-1

Nicole Sealey

Colorado

A meditation on our times, cast through a reconsideration of the Justice Department's investigation of the Ferguson Police Department In August 2014, Michael Brown—a young, unarmed Black man—was shot to death by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. What followed was a period of protests and turmoil, culminating in an extensive report that was filed by the Department of Justice detailing biased policing and court practices in the city. It is a document that exposes the racist policies and procedures that have become commonplace—from disproportionate arrest rates, to flagrant violence directed at the Black community. It is a report that remains as disheartening as it is damning. Now, award-winning poet Nicole Sealey revisits the investigation in a book that redacts the report, an act of erasure that reimagines the original text as it strips it away. While the full document is visible in the background—weighing heavily on the language Sealey has preserved—it gives shape and disturbing context to what remains. Illuminating what it means to live in this frightening age, and what it means to bear witness, The Ferguson Report: An Erasure is an engrossing meditation on one of the most important texts of our time.

The Ferguson Report: an Erasure

77dbd14b-c471-4549-afe4-7cb0a056b34b-1

Pennsylvania

Gabourey 'Gabby' Sidibe

Read once. Minor flaws posted in pictures above. 

Delaware

Light Paperback (1 lb or less)

Arizona

Poems

William Evans, the award-winning poet and cofounder of the popular culture website Black Nerd Problems, offers an emotionally vulnerable poetry collection exploring the themes of inheritances, dreams, and injuries that are passed down from one generation to the next and delving into the lived experience of a black man in the American suburbs today. In We Inherit What the Fires Left, award-winning poet William Evans embarks on a powerful new collection that explores the lived experience of race in the American suburbs and what dreams and injuries are passed from generation to generation. Fall under the spell of Evans’s boldly intimate, wise, and emotionally candid voice in these urgent, electrifying poems. This eloquent collection explores not only what these inheritances are composed of, but what price the bearer must pay for such legacies, and the costly tolls exacted on both body and spirit. Evans writes searingly from the perspective of the marginalized, delivering an unflinching examination of what it is like to be a black man raising a daughter in predominantly white spaces, and the struggle to build a home and a future while carrying the weight of the past. However, in beautiful and quiet scenes of domesticity with his daughter or in thoughtful reflection within himself, Evans offers words of hope to readers, proving that resilience can ultimately bloom even in the face of prejudice. Readers of Ta-Nehisi Coates and Hanif Abdurraqib will find a brilliant, fresh new talent to add to their lists in William Evans.

We Inherit What the Fires Left

9c8d5669-e317-4607-af77-bae663ddf391

#hardcover #actress #bio #blackauthor #blackgirlmagic #blackwoman #empire #nonfiction 

Virginia

#hardcover #bio #blackauthor #blackgirlmagic #nonfiction #actress 

New York

Brandy Colbert

Read once. YA contemporary romance, political engagement focus.

Hardcover (1 to 2 lbs)

California

From Stonewall Award-winning author Brandy Colbert comes an all-in-one-day love story perfect for fans of The Sun is Also A Star. Marva Sheridan was born ready for this day. She's always been driven to make a difference in the world, and what better way than to vote in her first election? Duke Crenshaw is do done with this election. He just wants to get voting over with so he can prepare for his band's first paying gig tonight. Only problem? Duke can't vote. When Marva sees Duke turned away from their polling place, she takes it upon herself to make sure his vote is counted. She hasn't spent months doorbelling and registering voters just to see someone denied their right. And that's how their whirlwind day begins, rushing from precinct to precinct, cutting school, waiting in endless lines, turned away time and again, trying to do one simple thing: vote. They may have started out as strangers, but as Duke and Marva team up to beat a rigged system (and find Marva's missing cat), it's clear that there's more to their connection than a shared mission for democracy. Romantic and triumphant, The Voting Booth is proof that you can't sit around waiting for the world to change?but some things are just meant to be.

The Voting Booth

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#hardcover #romance #contemporaryfiction #family #Nigeria #bookofthemonth #relationships #fiction #Janeigharo #blackauthor 

The Sweetest Remedy 

#hardcover #fiction #botm #botms #bookofthemonth #contemporary #blackauthor #contemporaryromance 

New Jersey

The Girl with stars in her Eyes

Anthony Chin-Quee

A Memoir

At first glance, Anthony Chin-Quee looks like a traditional success story. A smart, ambitious kid who grew up to become a board-certified otolaryngologis - an ear, nose, and throat surgeon. Yet the truth is more complicated. As a self-described 'not white, mostly Black, and questionably Asian man,' Chin-Quee knows that he doesn't fit easily into any category. Growing up in a family with a background of depression, he struggled with relationships, feelings of inadequacy, and a fear of failure that made it difficult for him to forge lasting bonds with others. To repair that, he began his own unflinching examination of what it means to be both a physician and a Black man today. What saved him and his sanity was not medicine but storytelling: By sharing stories from his life and career, Chin-Quee learned how powerful the truth can be in helping to forgive yourself and others as it charts a new way forward. By turns harrowing and hilarious, honest and human, I Can't Save You is the fascina

I Can't Save You

36806cff-f3df-4393-a8b1-d4710e939f2e-1

Massachusetts

Elise Bryant

From the author of Happily Ever Afters comes another irresistible YA romantic comedy full of self-discovery and Black love--and a dreamy European cruise. Perfect for fans of Nicola Yoon and Jenny Han, with crossover appeal for readers of Jasmine Guillory and Talia Hibbert romances.

Lenore Bennett has always been a force. A star artist and style icon at her high school, she's a master in the subtle art of not giving a . . . well, you know what. But now that graduation is here, she's a little less sure.

She's heading to NYU in the fall with a scarlet U (for "undeclared") written across her chest. Her parents always remind her that Black kids don't have the luxury of figuring it out as they go--they have to be 110 percent prepared. But it's a lot of pressure to be her ancestors' wildest dreams when Lenore's not even sure what her dreams are yet.

When her family embarks on a post-graduation Mediterranean cruise, her friend Tessa is sure Lenore's in for a whirlwind romance. But Lenore knows that doesn't happen to girls like her.

Then she meets Alex Lee. After their parents bond over the Cupid Shuffle, she ends up stuck with him for the remainder of the cruise. He's a hopeless romantic and a golden boy with a ten-year plan. In short, he's irritating as hell.

But as they get to know each other during the picturesque stops across Europe, Alex may be able to help Lenore find something else she's been looking for, even if she doesn't want to admit it to herself: love.

One True Loves

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Brittney Morris

Tennessee

Dear Martin meets They Both Die at the End in this gripping, evocative novel about a Black teen who has the power to see into the future, whose life turns upside down when he foresees his younger brother’s imminent death, from the acclaimed author of SLAY. Sixteen-year-old Alex Rufus is trying his best. He tries to be the best employee he can be at the local ice cream shop; the best boyfriend he can be to his amazing girlfriend, Talia; the best protector he can be over his little brother, Isaiah. But as much as Alex tries, he often comes up short. It’s hard to for him to be present when every time he touches an object or person, Alex sees into its future. When he touches a scoop, he has a vision of him using it to scoop ice cream. When he touches his car, he sees it years from now, totaled and underwater. When he touches Talia, he sees them at the precipice of breaking up, and that terrifies him. Alex feels these visions are a curse, distracting him, making him anxious and unable to live an ordinary life. And when Alex touches a photo that gives him a vision of his brother’s imminent death, everything changes. With Alex now in a race against time, death, and circumstances, he and Isaiah must grapple with their past, their future, and what it means to be a young Black man in America in the present.

The Cost of Knowing

042c15a3-81e0-4769-9f6d-f9c1f5422621-1

Morgan Harper Nichols

Rhode Island

100 Poem Letters

For over a decade, many of the stories and poems I have written eventually turned into songs, and for that, I am grateful. Over the past year, much of what I have written has turned into letters: letters to people, their stories, and the seasons they are in. Even though I suppose, technically, what you will find in this book is considered poetry, I hope they read as letters: letters for people, places, things, seasons, years-letters for the story and for the storyteller. There are one hundred poem letters in this book. I share them with you because I believe you have a story to tell, and I hope these poem letters encourage you to keep telling it. -Morgan Harper Nichols Writer, Artist, Musician

Storyteller

03981821-5935-4fc4-b786-10602b57aea6-1

Louisiana

A Novel

WINNER of the NATIONAL BOOK AWARD and A NEW YORK TIMES TOP 10 BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR A finalist for the Kirkus Prize, Andrew Carnegie Medal, Aspen Words Literary Prize, and a New York Times bestseller, this majestic, stirring, and widely praised novel from two-time National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward, the story of a family on a journey through rural Mississippi, is a “tour de force” (O, The Oprah Magazine) and a timeless work of fiction that is destined to become a classic. Jesmyn Ward’s historic second National Book Award–winner is “perfectly poised for the moment” (The New York Times), an intimate portrait of three generations of a family and an epic tale of hope and struggle. “Ward’s writing throbs with life, grief, and love… this book is the kind that makes you ache to return to it” (Buzzfeed). Jojo is thirteen years old and trying to understand what it means to be a man. He doesn’t lack in fathers to study, chief among them his Black grandfather, Pop. But there are other men who complicate his understanding: his absent White father, Michael, who is being released from prison; his absent White grandfather, Big Joseph, who won’t acknowledge his existence; and the memories of his dead uncle, Given, who died as a teenager. His mother, Leonie, is an inconsistent presence in his and his toddler sister’s lives. She is an imperfect mother in constant conflict with herself and those around her. She is Black and her children’s father is White. She wants to be a better mother but can’t put her children above her own needs, especially her drug use. Simultaneously tormented and comforted by visions of her dead brother, which only come to her when she’s high, Leonie is embattled in ways that reflect the brutal reality of her circumstances. When the children’s father is released from prison, Leonie packs her kids and a friend into her car and drives north to the heart of Mississippi and Parchman Farm, the State Penitentiary. At Parchman, there is another thirteen-year-old boy, the ghost of a dead inmate who carries all of the ugly history of the South with him in his wandering. He too has something to teach Jojo about fathers and sons, about legacies, about violence, about love. Rich with Ward’s distinctive, lyrical language, Sing, Unburied, Sing is a majestic and unforgettable family story and “an odyssey through rural Mississippi’s past and present” (The Philadelphia Inquirer).

Sing, Unburied, Sing

b6556e5d-d0fb-44ab-9acd-1f97969f2b23-1

Alechia Dow

Wisconsin

Don't miss this spectacular debut novel... Can a girl who risks her life for books and an alien who loves forbidden pop music work together to save humanity? This road trip is truly out of this world! A beautiful and thrilling read for fans of Marie Lu and Veronica Roth. Two years ago, a misunderstanding between the leaders of Earth and the invading Ilori resulted in the deaths of one-third of the world's population. Seventeen-year-old Janelle "Ellie" Baker survives in an Ilori-controlled center in New York City. With humans deemed dangerously volatile because of their initial reaction to the invasion, emotional expression can be grounds for execution. Music, art and books are illegal, but Ellie breaks the rules by keeping a secret library. When a book goes missing, Ellie is terrified that the Ilori will track it back to her and kill her. Born in a lab, M0Rr1S was raised to be emotionless. When he finds Ellie's illegal library, he's duty-bound to deliver her for execution. The trouble is, he finds himself drawn to human music and in desperate need of more. They're both breaking the rules for the love of art--and Ellie inspires the same feelings in him that music does. Ellie's--and humanity's--fate rests in the hands of an alien she should fear. M0Rr1S has a lot of secrets, but also a potential solution--thousands of miles away. The two embark on a wild and dangerous road trip with a bag of books and their favorite albums, all the while creating a story and a song of their own that just might save them both.

The Sound of Stars

137e5855-da07-43a5-8d98-67cd3dd41ed4-1

Paperback (1 to 2 lbs)

Shallow Waters 

#hardcover #blackauthor #ya #africiaamericanauthor #earthsingerchroniclesbook #fantasy #fiction #hardcovernew 

Earthsinger Chronicles, Book One

Orphaned and alone, Jasminda lives in a land where cold whispers of invasion and war linger on the wind. Jasminda herself is an outcast in her homeland of Elsira, where her gift of Earthsong is feared. When ruthless soldiers seek refuge in her isolated cabin, they bring with them a captive - an injured spy who threatens to steal her heart. Jack's mission behind enemy lines to prove that the Mantle between Elsira and Lagamiri is about to fall nearly cost him his life, but he is saved by the healing Song of a mysterious young woman. Now he must do whatever it takes to save Elsira and it's people from the True Father and he needs Jasminda's Earthsong to do it. They escape their ruthless captors and together they embark on a perilous journey to save Elsira and to uncover the secrets of The Queen Who Sleeps. Thrust into a hostile society, Jasminda and Jack must rely on one another even as secrets jeopardize their bond. As an ancient evil gains power, Jasminda races to unlock a mystery that promises salvation. The fates of two nations hang in the balance as Jasminda and Jack must choose between love and duty to fulfil their destinies and end the war.

Browse by categories

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Brenda Salter McNeil

Roadmap to Reconciliation

D. L. Hughley; Doug Moe

How Not to Get Shot

Gabourey 'Gabby' Sidibe

This Is Just My Face

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Mama's Sleeping Scarf

Nicole Sealey

The Ferguson Report: an Erasure

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Mama's Sleeping Scarf

Gabourey 'Gabby' Sidibe

This Is Just My Face

William Evans

We Inherit What the Fires Left

Gabourey 'Gabby' Sidibe

This Is Just My Face

Gabourey 'Gabby' Sidibe

This Is Just My Face

Brandy Colbert

The Voting Booth

Jane Igharo

The Sweetest Remedy

Xoxo Axelrod

The Girl with stars in her Eyes

Anthony Chin-Quee

I Can't Save You

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Mama's Sleeping Scarf

Elise Bryant

One True Loves

Brittney Morris

The Cost of Knowing

Morgan Harper Nichols

Storyteller

Jesmyn Ward

Sing, Unburied, Sing

Alechia Dow

The Sound of Stars

Anita Kopacz

Shallow Waters

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Mama's Sleeping Scarf

L. Penelope

Song of Blood and Stone

Xio Axelrod

The Girl With Stars in Her Eyes