Best Children's Books of the Year—Bank Street College of EducationCCBC Choices—Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)The inspiring biography of Ira Aldridge, a Black actor who overcame racism to become one of the greatest Shakespearean actors of the nineteenth century.Ira Aldridge dreamed of being on stage one day and performing the great works of William Shakespeare. He spent every chance he had at the local the...

'An excitement and a wonder' George Saunders'The fiction debut of the year. Bravo young man. We await your encore' Mary Karr'The writing in this outstanding collection will make you hurt and demand your hope' Roxane GayRacism, but "managed" through virtual reality. Black Friday, except you die in a bargain-crazed throng. Happiness, but pharmacological. Love, despite everything.Friday Black tackles u...

When two outlaw lovers from opposite sides of the war face off, their second chance at happily ever after will come at a cost only one crime king and queen pin are willing to pay.Empress reigns as 1930’s Chicago’s cunning Queen Pin, yet sultry Dulce Ella Monroe still longs for freedom from oppression her criminal empire provides. But when rivals threaten all that the influential and glamorous Empress built, her last hope of defense walks through the door in sharp-s...

In an unforgettable portrait of Southern scheming, greed, and brutality a high-end criminal turned suburban mom in hiding must fight against the dangerous fallout from her corrupt past and escape a calculated enemy hell-bent on revenge.She was once the best luxury car thief in the game. But Ava Frost paid a high price when her children were stolen. Forced to confront her ruthless ex-boss, Nick, she uncovered his devious silent partner in the kidnapping: her seeming...

PEN/Jean Stein AwardCarnegie MedalA NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERThe acclaimed debut collection from the author of Chain Gang All Stars; a piercingly raw and, at times, heartbreakingly satirical look at what it’s like to be young and Black in America.From the start of this extraordinary debut, Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah’s writing will grab you, haunt you, enrage and invigorate you. By placing ordinary characters in extraordinary situations, Adjei-Brenyah reveals the...

What happens to fraternal love when identical twins stop being identical? To romantic love when indiscretions done in the dark have a secret witness? What happens to a family when the love that binds also strangles? Inspired by Egyptian mythology and young America’s coming-of-age story, AMERICUS follows the lives of rambunctious identical twins Asar and Set Americus. After Set contracts vitiligo (a skin disease that fades body pigmentation in patches), he goes from family favorite...

A 2016 Coretta Scott King Author Honor BookJust when seventeen-year-old Matt thinks he can’t handle one more piece of terrible news, he meets a girl who’s dealt with a lot more—and who just might be able to clue him in on how to rise up when life keeps knocking him down—in this “vivid, satisfying, and ultimately upbeat tale of grief, redemption, and grace” (Kirkus Reviews) from the Coretta Scott King–John Steptoe A...

Now a BET+ Original Movie directed by Robin Givens!Do family, faith—and fame—go together? In this captivating novel from award-winning author Tiffany L. Warren, two brothers reach for the stars, but are they prepared for a fall?They’re handsome, smart, and musically gifted. Brothers Camden and Blaine Wilson have put their talents together and founded a gospel group. The quieter one, Camden, is the songwriter, while charismatic Blaine is the performer. At first, their Revere...

FBI agent Michael Childs is tasked with tracking down a serial killer with an obsession for victims born with twelve fingers and toes. But he discovers something much more startling about himself …The only link between a series of grisly murders in New York City is that the victims were all born with twelve fingers and twelve toes. These people are known in occult circles as the Nephilim, a forsaken people, descendants of fallen angels.After a break in the case leads to sup...

Inspired by a true story, this supernatural thriller for fans of horror and true crime follows a tale as it evolves every twenty years-with terrifying results. Ella Louise has lived in the woods surrounding Pilot's Creek, Virginia, for nearly a decade. Publicly, she and her daughter Jessica are shunned by their upper-crust family and the Pilot's Creek residents. Privately, desperate townspeople visit her apothecary for a cure to what ails them-until Ella Louise is blamed for the death of a...

New York Times best-selling author Carl Weber and award-winning novelist Eric Pete team up to deliver the first in a much-anticipated new trilogy. The Family Business features two times the heat, two times the fun, and two times the drama as the members of an unforgettable family (not to mention lovers and hangers-on) find their way in and out of trouble. As their many fans will attest, Weber and Pete share a talent for penning juicy fiction that their audience can't get enough of.

The barbershop is where the magic happens. Boys go in as lumps of clay and, with princely robes draped around their shoulders, a dab of cool shaving cream on their foreheads, and a slow, steady cut, they become royalty. That crisp yet subtle line makes boys sharper, more visible, more aware of every great thing that could happen to them when they look good: lesser grades turn into As; girls take notice; even a mother's hug gets a little tighter. Everyone notices. A fresh cut makes boys fly...