Kimberla Lawson Roby

Hardcover (1 to 2 lbs)

Texas

From the New York Times bestselling author who "writes with high-octane levels of emotion" (USA Today). Befriending Traci Calloway Cole is the best thing Simone Phillips has ever done. Traci is the kind of woman Simone wants to be-in every way possible. She begins copying her role model. Not because she wants to be Traci. She just wants to be exactly like Traci. Traci doesn't worry, though. She knows Simone doesn't mean any harm and that her mimicry is only sincere admiration. Until she discovers how far Simone's obsession has gone. It is then that Simone's entire world begins unraveling, and dreadful secrets from her past are exposed with no warning. Secrets that she'll do almost anything to protect. Email: kim@kimroby.com Facebook.com/kimberlalawsonroby Twitter.com/KimberlaLRoby Instagram.com/kimberlalawsonroby Periscope.com/kimberlalawsonroby

Copycat

380d0bd0-c264-45dd-8d2c-1ab4c2bb98ee-1

Light Hardcover (1 lb or less)

Members Only

New Jersey

In Life and Leadership

It Worked for Me

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Original tales of living, loving and learning told by a perfectly ordinary, quite commonly sensible, and absolutely are inspiring colored woman. #africanamerican #shortstories #folktales #NorthCarolina #heritage #africanamericanheritage #

Maryland

Original Tales of Living, Loving, Longing and Learning, As Told by a Perfectly Ordinary, Quite Commonly Sensible and Absolutely Awe-Inspiring Colored Woman

Sometimes black history doesn't march, Sometimes black history doesn't shout, Sometimes black history just comes wearily down a dirt road, dragging a cotton sack and wearning a head rag....

Just Plain Folks

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#hardcover #historicalfiction #love #friendship  #africanamerican 

Virginia

In her funny, moving, and ambitious debut, Elyse Singleton introduces us to two inseparable and hard-minded idealists. Young Lilian endures the tribulations of Nadir, Mississippi, on the purity of her faith in people and her growing belief in herself. Her best friend, Myraleen, gets by on her sharp tongue and her unwillingness to give in-and perhaps because Lilian is always with her. In this lifelong story, Lilian and Myraleen struggle through dramatically changing times: From the stark realities of life in rural Mississippi, through the different sort of racism they find in workaday Philadelphia and France during World War II. For these women, the road to maturity in the messy American century is long and ragged. Along the way, Myraleen falls for a Tuskeegee flier and Lilian for a German prisoner of war. And each time they reassert their oldest ideals, everything they believe in is tested again--most of all what love requires in such a world.

This Side of the Sky

36312196-61ad-411f-9b80-9ed245ad2b9d-1

Xio Axelrod

New York

A Story of Love, Loss, and Rock-And-roll

Her name's Antonia "Toni" Bennette (yeah, she's heard all the jokes before) and she's not a rock star. Neither are the Lillys--not yet. But the difference between being famous and being almost famous can be a single wrong note...or the start of something that'll change your life forever. Growing up in dive bars up and down the East Coast, Toni Bennette's guitar was her only companion...until she met Sebastian Quick. Seb was a little older, a lot wiser, and before long he was Toni's way out, promising they'd escape their stifling small town together. Then Seb turned eighteen and split without looking back. Now, Toni's all grown up and making a name for herself in Philadelphia's indie scene. When a friend suggests she try out for a hot new up-and-coming band, Toni decides to take a chance. Strong, feminist, and fierce as fire, Toni B. and the Lillys are the perfect match...except Seb's now moonlighting as their manager. Whatever. Toni can handle it. No problem. Or it wouldn't be if Seb didn't still hold a piece of her heart...not to mention the key to her future.

The Girl with Stars in Her Eyes

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Heavy Hardcover (2 to 4 lbs)

After the death of his father, the flamboyant and controversial Judge Oliver Garland, his son Talcott must unravel the truth about his father's life, a quest that brings him face to face with old scandals and family secrets.

The Emperor of Ocean Park

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School library copy. Has school stamps inside on various pages. #hardcover #Christmas #africanamerican #santa #youngadult #ya 

A Novel of Christmas Present and Past

Long, long ago Santa Claus had an African partner named Pete, who helped with the holiday rounds. Together the friends brought the spirit of Christmas to America's first settlers and shaped future celebrations of the holiday. But through the years Pete's contribution was forgotten.

Now "Santa & Pete" restores the legacy in a delightful story of hope and racial harmony as a grandfather passes the tale on to his grandson during the course of a snowy bus ride.

Santa and Pete

62f28297-12c6-4744-b4e1-a60745d3c72f-1

Sharon Sochil Washington

Kansas

A Novel

A powerful work of Afro-magic realism that interrogates the legacy of slavery and roots of poverty, witnesses the beauty and power in survival, and asks whether belief, magic, and intention can forge new realities



Blue's daughter, Tsitra, is dying a horrific death. Thousands of miles away, Blue feels time slowing and hears voices, followed by an 18-month stillness. More than a century before, Blue's grandparents, Amanda and Palmer, attend a salon party in New Orleans. It's a veritable array of who's-who within pre-Civil War social circles. Conversations get heated quickly as Ismay, the hostess who hails from French royalty, antagonizes Palmer, a landowner whose parents had been sold into American slavery and who's there to seek revenge, and Amanda, a shapeshifter and puzzlemaker who had been enslaved until this very gathering. At this party, Amanda learns of a plot that will doom a line of her--and Palmer's--family to poverty. She devises her own counter-plot to undo the damage.



Meanwhile, Blue comes out of her stillness, broke and devoid of inspiration. In profound grief and consumed by guilt, Blue travels to The Ranch where the voices grow louder and she has visions of two women from the distant past. As time collapses and Blue and Amanda meet in the space of possibility, Blue feels the spark of a power and creative energy she has only glimpsed. A novel of invention but grounded in the real, The Blue Is Where God Lives is a dual-timeline, time-bending novel of undeniable beauty, magic, and possibility.

The Blue Is Where God Lives

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#hardcover #fiction #youngadult #awardwinningauthor #africanamerican #botm 

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

Sing, Unburied, Sing

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Zane

Delaware

Total Eclipse of the Heart

2a2fd8c5-33cd-47f0-9f66-fcbd4bb28e7f-1

James E. Ransome

Recipient of a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Award A Kirkus Reviews Best Picture Book of 2019 A young slave girl witnesses the heartbreak and hopefulness of her family and their plantation community when her brother escapes for freedom in this brilliantly conceived picture book by Coretta Scott King Award winner James E. Ransome. Every single morning, the overseer of the plantation rings the bell. Daddy gathers wood. Mama cooks. Ben and the other slaves go out to work. Each day is the same. Full of grueling work and sweltering heat. Every day, except one, when the bell rings and Ben is nowhere to be found. Because Ben ran. Yet, despite their fear and sadness, his family remains hopeful that maybe, just maybe, he made it North. That he is free. An ode to hope and a powerful tribute to the courage of those who ran for freedom, The Bell Rang is a stunning reminder that our past can never be forgotten.

The Bell Rang

327c2632-3753-4740-8191-6a33a261c48e-1

Light Paperback (1 lb or less)

New Hampshire

Hailed by Newbery winner Kelly Barnhill as "stunning, moving, and marvelously strange," this tale of a young girl who stumbles into a magical realm ruled by a wicked witch is a haunting and ultimately uplifting middle grade novel about grief, family, and decades-old magic.

Still grieving the loss of her mother, Eden visits Safina Island, her ancestral home, as a healing balm. But when she discovers an old sketchbook that belonged to her mother, she's haunted by the images she sees drawn there. A creepy mansion covered with roots and leaves. A monstrous dog with dagger-sharp teeth. And a tall woman with wind-blown hair and long, sharp nails who is as beautiful as she is terrifying.

Days later, exploring the island alone, Eden follows a black cat through a rift in the bright day. She stumbles into Everdark, a parallel world where the sun never rises, where spirits linger between death and the afterlife, and where everything from her mother's drawings is all too real--especially the Witch of Everdark, who wants to make Eden her eternal daughter.

Can Eden find a way to defeat the witch's magic? Or will she remain trapped in Everdark forever?

Eden's Ever dark (Arc)

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"An absolute page turner, I'm Not Dying with You Tonight is a compelling and powerful novel that is sure to make an impact. "--Angie Thomas, New York Times bestselling author of The Hate U Give Over the course of one night, two girls with two very different backgrounds must rely on each other to get through the violent race riot that has enveloped their city. Lena has her killer style, her awesome boyfriend, and a plan. She knows she's going to make it big. Campbell, on the other hand, is just trying to keep her head down and get through the year at her new school. When both girls attend the Friday-night football game, what neither expects is for everything to descend into sudden mass chaos. Chaos born from violence and hate. Chaos that unexpectedly throws them together. They aren't friends. They hardly understand the other's point of view. But none of that matters when the city is up in flames, and they only have each other to rely on if they're going to survive the night. Additional Praise for I'm Not Dying with You Tonight: "A vital addition to the YA race relations canon."--Nic Stone, New York Times bestselling author of Dear Martin "An astounding achievement. This novel is an incendiary experience, one that does not shy away from difficult questions about privilege and violence. But Jones and Segal don't hold our hands to provide us easy answers; this is a book meant to be devoured in a single sitting and discussed for years to come."--Mark Oshiro, author of Anger is a Gift "I'm Not Dying With You Tonight is a powerful examination of privilege, and how friends are often found in surprising places. Jones and Segal have penned a page-turning debut, as timely as it is addictive."--David Arnold, New York Times bestselling author of Mosquitoland and Kids of Appetite

I'm Not Dying with You Tonight

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De'Shawn Charles Winslow

Florida

For readers of The Twelve Tribes of Hattie and The Turner House, an intimately told story about a woman living by her own rules and the rural community that struggles to understand her.

In West Mills

bce394c5-67d0-48ef-b47a-7cf342ea5690-1

Afia Atakora

Massachusetts

"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."--Publisher's description.

Conjure Women

014b0d9e-e3ea-4fa3-811d-50efd78d739a-1

David Manning Thomas

Light damage on dust sleeve. The book is mint. C

A Child's First Book of African-American Spirituals

Raise your voice with this musical illustrated songbook of traditional African American spirituals including instructions for piano accompaniment and guitar chords.

Many songs performed at churches, schools, camps, or clubs are African American spirituals. This lively and inspirational picture book shines a light on twenty of the thousand songs that have been collected since the Civil War, including "All Night, All Day," "This Little Light of Mine," "When the Saints Go Marching In," and "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands."

All Night, All Day

2327d6c0-9970-4682-8304-ac85da4e91fe-1

Charles Johnson

Ohio

"Set against the racial turbulence of the Civil Rights era, Dreamer is the first work of fiction to explore King's life. Yet the story, told by Matthew Bishop, one of King's devoted followers, is also a tale of doubles, warring brothers, envy, and inequality." "The novel introduces us to Chaym Smith, a man whose startling physical resemblance to King wins him the job of official stand-in. In the course of training Chaym to shield King from danger, Matthew comes to realize the philosophical magnitude of our greatest civil rights leader and the ambiguities within the Movement itself, and he - and we - are irreversibly changed. What makes one man great and the other just a mirror for greatness? What does it mean to be of African descent in America? What does it take to change the face of a country forever?"--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Dreamer

09487b60-8ad3-417d-89bb-6433df5b49e9-1

Oregon

More Than Anything Else 

Kimberly Jones

Gilly Segal

Rosalyn McMillan

Louisiana

A story of love, family and the search for the right someone to share it all with. Spice Witherspoon, a prosperous Detroit restaurateur, has two grown-up daughters. Mink has always been a joy, but Sterling has always been Trouble.

One Better

01ad6d10-5558-4f89-abfe-03edbf43e95b-1

Poetry For Young People Series

Langston Hughes

Sharee Miller

It seems that wherever Aria goes, someone wants to touch her hair. In the street, strangers reach for her fluffy curls; and even under the sea, in the jungle and in space, she's chased by a mermaid, monkeys and poked by aliens... until, finally, Aria has had enough!

This humorous picture book speaks to a national conversation on strangers touching black hair, and sparks an important conversation on personal boundaries for children as Aria explains that her hair should not be touched without asking for permission first. Commercial, imaginative and fun, Don't Touch My Hair! can be used to teach young readers about personal boundaries and asking for permission - and that it's all right to be told "no" as well.

Author-illustrator Sharee Miller takes the tradition of appreciation of black hair to a fresh, commercial level, as she doesn't seek to convince or remind young readers that their curls are beautiful - she simply acknowledges black beauty while telling a fun, imaginative story.

Don't Touch My Hair!

857dc551-6533-470b-9732-4064a033ee8d-1

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.

Save this search

Kimberla Lawson Roby

Copycat

Sameer Pandya

Members Only

Colin Powell

It Worked for Me

Lorraine Johnson-Coleman

Just Plain Folks

Elyse Singleton

This Side of the Sky

Xio Axelrod

The Girl with Stars in Her Eyes

Stephen L. Carter

The Emperor of Ocean Park

Christopher Paul Moore; Pamela Johnson

Santa and Pete

Sharon Sochil Washington

The Blue Is Where God Lives

Jesmyn Ward

Sing, Unburied, Sing

Zane

Total Eclipse of the Heart

James E. Ransome

The Bell Rang

Karen Strong

Eden's Ever dark (Arc)

Gilly Segal; Kimberly Jones

I'm Not Dying with You Tonight

De'Shawn Charles Winslow

In West Mills

Afia Atakora

Conjure Women

David Manning Thomas

All Night, All Day

Charles Johnson

Dreamer

Marie Bradby

More Than Anything Else

Kimberly Jones; Gilly Segal

I'm Not Dying with You Tonight

Rosalyn McMillan

One Better

Langston Hughes

Langston Hughes

Sharee Miller

Don't Touch My Hair!

William Evans

We Inherit What the Fires Left