#paperback #fiction #africanamericans #black #historicalfiction #bestseller

Light Paperback (1 lb or less)

California

A New York Times Bestseller; a Goodreads Choice finalist; named one of the Best Books of the Year by NPR, Slate, Publishers Weekly, Hudson Bookseller, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Kirkus Reviews, AudioFile Magazine, and Amazon It is the present-day, and the world is as we know it: smartphones, social networking and Happy Meals. Save for one thing: the Civil War never occurred. A gifted young black man calling himself Victor has struck a bargain with federal law enforcement, working as a bounty hunter for the US Marshall Service. He's got plenty of work. In this version of America, slavery continues in four states called "the Hard Four." On the trail of a runaway known as Jackdaw, Victor arrives in Indianapolis knowing that something isn't right--with the case file, with his work, and with the country itself. A mystery to himself, Victor suppresses his memories of his childhood on a plantation, and works to infiltrate the local cell of a abolitionist movement called the Underground Airlines. Tracking Jackdaw through the back rooms of churches, empty parking garages, hotels, and medical offices, Victor believes he's hot on the trail. But his strange, increasingly uncanny pursuit is complicated by a boss who won't reveal the extraordinary stakes of Jackdaw's case, as well as by a heartbreaking young woman and her child who may be Victor's salvation. Victor himself may be the biggest obstacle of all--though his true self remains buried, it threatens to surface. Victor believes himself to be a good man doing bad work, unwilling to give up the freedom he has worked so hard to earn. But in pursuing Jackdaw, Victor discovers secrets at the core of the country's arrangement with the Hard Four, secrets the government will preserve at any cost. Underground Airlines is a ground-breaking novel, a wickedly imaginative thriller, and a story of an America that is more like our own than we'd like to believe.

Underground Airlines

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Hardcover (1 to 2 lbs)

New Jersey

An American Family

An inspired, intimate history of musical legend Lena Horne and her family, written by Lena's daughter, Gail Lumet Buckley. More than a loving biography of a true show business legend, Lumet Buckley traces Lena's, as well as her own, roots as the latest in a long family line of America's Black elite.

The Hornes

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A mother and daughter with a shared talent for healing—and for the conjuring of curses—are at the heart of this dazzling first novel
 
LONGLISTED FOR THE CENTER FOR FICTION FIRST NOVEL PRIZE • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times • NPR • Parade • Book Riot • PopMatters

“Lush, irresistible . . . It took me into the hearts of women I could otherwise never know. I was transported.”—Amy Bloom, New York Times bestselling author of White Houses and Away

Conjure Women is a sweeping story that brings the world of the South before and after the Civil War vividly to life. Spanning eras and generations, it tells of the lives of three unforgettable women: Miss May Belle, a wise healing woman; her precocious and observant daughter Rue, who is reluctant to follow in her mother’s footsteps as a midwife; and their master’s daughter Varina. The secrets and bonds among these women and their community come to a head at the beginning of a war and at the birth of an accursed child, who sets the townspeople alight with fear and a spreading superstition that threatens their newly won, tenuous freedom.
 
Magnificently written, brilliantly researched, richly imagined, Conjure Women moves back and forth in time to tell the haunting story of Rue, Varina, and May Belle, their passions and friendships, and the lengths they will go to save themselves and those they love.


Praise for Conjure Women

“[A] haunting, promising debut . . . Through complex characters and bewitching prose, Atakora offers a stirring portrait of the power conferred between the enslaved women. This powerful tale of moral ambiguity amid inarguable injustice stands with Esi Edugyan’s Washington Black.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“An engrossing debut . . . Atakora structures a plot with plenty of satisfying twists. Life in the immediate aftermath of slavery is powerfully rendered in this impressive first novel.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Light Hardcover (1 lb or less)

Michigan

Conjure Women

Ayana Mathis

New Hampshire

Traces the story of Great Migration-era mother Hattie Shepherd, who in spite of poverty and a dysfunctional husband uses love and Southern remedies to raise nine children and prepare them for the realities of a harsh world. A first novel.

The Twelve Tribes of Hattie

31e77304-e08a-47fb-bef3-8a5c2d6472b2-1

Cover sleeve shows wear and has some fold and rough edges. Book has some small stains on outside. 

Mississippi

Marcus Major

Louisiana

Passionate feelings for a special woman make Myles Moore come out of his shell of solitude to find happiness in a relationship, but old habits die hard, and he must find a way to keep his male ego in check or risk losing the lady he loves. A first novel. 20,000 first printing.

Good Peoples

f5e656b9-3f15-4eba-af06-8b01a102e3bd-1

Vermont

#nonfiction #africanamericans #paperback 

Florida

The Negro Leagues - Birmingham, Alabama, 1948

A fictionalized account of a young Afro-American lad who joined a baseball league in 1940's Alabama.

The Journal of Biddy Owens

b9cee75f-be85-4598-b37c-f532e3bf67b0

Leesa Cross-Smith

North Carolina

A Novel

From the award-winning Southern writer who Roxane Gay calls "a consummate storyteller" comes a cathartic novel about the life-changing weekend shared between two strangers: a therapist and the man she prevents from ending his life. On a rainy October night in Kentucky, recently divorced therapist Tallie Clark is on her way home from work when she spots a man precariously standing on the side of a bridge. Without a second thought, Tallie pulls over and jumps out of the car into the pouring rain. She convinces the man to join her for a cup of coffee, and he eventually agrees to come back to her house, where he finally shares his name: Emmett. Over the course of the emotionally charged weekend that follows, Tallie makes it her mission to provide a safe space for Emmett, though she hesitates to confess that this is also her day job. But what she doesn't realize is that he's not the only one who needs healing -- and she's not the only one with secrets. Alternating between Tallie and Emmett's perspectives as they inch closer to the truth of what brought Emmett to the bridge's edge -- as well as the hard truths Tallie has been grappling with in her own life -- This Close to Okay is a vibrant, powerful story of two strangers brought together by wild chance at the moment they needed each other most.

This Close to Okay SIGNED PERSONALIZED EDITION

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#hardcover #fiction #youngadult #youngadultfiction #thehateugive #ya #africanamericans #blm 

Texas

8 starred reviews ∙ William C. Morris Award Winner ∙ National Book Award Longlist ∙ Printz Honor Book ∙ Coretta Scott King Honor Book ∙ #1 New York Times Bestseller! "Absolutely riveting!" —Jason Reynolds "Stunning." —John Green "This story is necessary. This story is important." —Kirkus (starred review) "Heartbreakingly topical." —Publishers Weekly (starred review) "A marvel of verisimilitude." —Booklist (starred review) "A powerful, in-your-face novel." —Horn Book (starred review) Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed. Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil’s name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr. But what Starr does—or does not—say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life. And don't miss On the Come Up, Angie Thomas's powerful follow-up to The Hate U Give.

The Hate U Give

27d52d4a-c164-4226-8690-5e844f161c86-1

Angie Thomas

Amandla Stenberg

Heavy Hardcover (2 to 4 lbs)

Minnesota

Chinua Achebe

New York

The contemporary African writer's classic novel depicting the destruction of traditional tribal life by the white man

Things Fall Apart

b51273a5-4b1d-40c7-80fc-bf1be1fc1051-1

#fiction #africanamericans #paperback #ya #jasonreynolds #all-americanboys #allamericanboys #booktok #juvenilefiction #brendankiely 

Paperback (1 to 2 lbs)

All American Boys

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#paperback #africanamericans #oprahsbookclub #fiction 

Wisconsin

A collection of tales about modern African children in crisis includes "An Ex-Mas Feast," in which an eight-year-old child shares in his family's sacrifices to obtain enough food and enable his education.

Say You're One of Them

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Naima Coster

When a county initiative in the Piedmont of North Carolina forces the students at a mostly black public school on the east side to move across town to a nearly all-white high school on the west, the community rises in outrage. For two students, quiet and aloof Gee and headstrong Noelle, these divisions will extend far beyond their schooling. As their paths collide and overlap over the course of thirty years, their two seemingly disconnected families begin to form deeply knotted, messy ties that shape the trajectory of their lives. On one side of the school integration debate is Jade, Gee's steely, single, black mother, grieving for her murdered partner, and determined for her son to have the best chance at a better life. On the other, is Noelle's enterprising mother, Lacey May, who refuses to see her half-Latina daughters as anything but white. The choices these mothers make will resound for years to come. And twenty years later, when Lacey's daughters return home to visit her in hospital, they're forced to confront the ways their parents' decisions continue to affect the life they live and the people they love. WHAT'S MINE AND YOURS is a sweeping, rich tapestry of familial bond and identity, and a sharp, poignant look at the ways race affects even the closest of relationships. This is not just one love story, but many: It's the all-consuming volatile passion of young lovers and the quieter comfort of steady companionship; it's the often tenuous but unbreakable bond between siblings; and it's the unconditional love that runs between parent and child and encompasses adoration, contempt and forgiveness. With gorgeous prose, Naima Coster explores the unique organism that is every family: what breaks them apart and how they come back together.

What's Mine and Yours

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Jesmyn Ward

"A searing and profound Southern odyssey through Mississippi's past and present"--

Sing, Unburied, Sing

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

Pennsylvania

Mildred D. Taylor

Young Cassie Logan endures humiliation and witnesses the racism of the KKK as they embark on a cross-burning rampage, before she fully understands the importance her family attributes to having land of their own.

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

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This Close to Okay

#slaves #undergroundrailroad #unitedstates #harriettubman #africanamericanwomen #africanamericans

A biography of the African American woman best known for her work with the Underground Railroad, describing her childhood as a slave, her escape to the North, her assistance to the Union during the Civil War, and her accomplishments during the Reconstruction years in helping former slaves adapt to freedom.

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Ben H. Winters

Underground Airlines

Gail Lumet Buckley

The Hornes

Afia Atakora

Conjure Women

Ayana Mathis

The Twelve Tribes of Hattie

Ayana Mathis

The Twelve Tribes of Hattie

Marcus Major

Good Peoples

Ayana Mathis

The Twelve Tribes of Hattie

Walter Dean Myers

The Journal of Biddy Owens

Leesa Cross-Smith

This Close to Okay SIGNED PERSONALIZED EDITION

Angie Thomas; Nikki Giovanni (Foreword by)

The Hate U Give

Angie Thomas; Amandla Stenberg

The Hate U Give

Chinua Achebe

Things Fall Apart

Jason Reynolds, Brendan Kiely, Jason Reynolds

All American Boys

Uwem Akpan

Say You're One of Them

Naima Coster

What's Mine and Yours

Jesmyn Ward

Sing, Unburied, Sing

Naima Coster

What's Mine and Yours

Mildred D. Taylor

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

Angie Thomas; Amandla Stenberg

The Hate U Give

Leesa Cross-Smith

This Close to Okay

Nancy J. Nielson; Capstone Press Editors (Contribution by)

Harriet Tubman

Leesa Cross-Smith

This Close to Okay

Naima Coster

What's Mine and Yours

Leesa Cross-Smith

This Close to Okay