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African American Fiction & Non-Fiction November/December 2022 |
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Bet On It
by Jodie Slaughter
Aja Owens is introduced to her favorite bingo buddy's semi-estranged grandson, Walker Abbott, and the attracted pair hastily make a bingo-based sex pact to keep whatever is happening between them from getting out of hand.
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Empty Vows
by Mary Monroe
Popular, generous, forty-something widow Jessie Tucker decides to make herself indispensable to recently widowed Hubert Wiggins but is disappointed when he is not everything she dreamed he would be and instead turns her attentions to a much younger man.
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Good Morning, Love
by Ashley Coleman
An aspiring musician biding her time with a day job has her carefully balanced life thrown into a tailspin after a chance meeting with a rising pop star who throws her reputation and songwriting career into question.
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The Great Mrs. Elias: a Novel
by Barbara Chase-Riboud
"The author of the award-winning Sally Hemings now brings to life Hannah Elias, one of the richest black women in America in the early 1900s, in this mesmerizing novel swirling with atmosphere and steeped in history. A murder and a case of mistaken identity brings the police to Hannah Elias' glitzy, five-story, twenty-room mansion on Central Park West. This is the beginning of an odyssey that moves back and forth in time and reveals the dangerous secrets of a mysterious woman, the fortune she built, and her precipitous fall. Born in Philadelphia in the late 1800s, Hannah Elias has done things she's not proud of to survive. Shedding her past, Hannah slips on a new identity before relocating to New York City to become as rich as a robber baron. Hannah quietly invests in the stock market, growing her fortune with the help of businessmen. As the money pours in, Hannah hides her millions across 29 banks. Finally attaining the life she's always dreamed, she buys a mansion on the Upper West Side and decorates it in gold and first-rate décor, inspired by her idol Cleopatra. The unsolved murder turns Hannah's world upside-down and threatens to destroy everything she's built. When the truth of her identity is uncovered, thousands of protestors gather in front of her stately home. Hounded by the salacious press, the very private Mrs. Elias finds herself alone, ensnared in a scandalous trial, and accused of stealing her fortune from whites. Packed with glamour, suspense, and drama, populated with real-life luminaries from the period, The Great Mrs. Elias brings a fascinating woman and the age she embodied to glorious, tragic life."
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The Hookup Plan
by Farrah Rochon
When she decides to have a no-strings affair with millionaire Drew Sullivan, who happens to be her arch nemesis, successful pediatric surgeon London Kelley finds their relationship turning into something more until she discovers the real reason he's back home.
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Hope and Glory: a Novel
by Jendella Benson
"Glory Akindele returns to London from her seemingly glamorous life in LA to mourn the sudden death of her father, only to find her previously close family has fallen apart in her absence. Her brother, Victor, is in jail and won't speak to her because she didn't come home for his trial. Her older sister, Faith, once a busy career woman, appears to have lost her independence and ambition, and is instead channeling her energies into holding together a perfect suburban family. Worst of all, their mother, Celeste, is headed toward a breakdown after the death of her husband and the shame of her son's incarceration. Rather than returning to America, Glory decides to stay and try to bring them all together again. It's a tall order given that Glory's life isn't exactly working out according to plan either. A chance reunion with a man she'd known in her teens--the perceptive but elusive Julia--gives her the courage to start questioning why her respectable but obsessively private Nigerian immigrant family is the way it is. But then Glory's questioning unearths a massive secret that shatters the family's fragile peace--and she risks losing everyone she deeply cares about in her pursuit of the truth and a reunited family."
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The House of Eve
by Sadeqa Johnson
From the award-winning author of Yellow Wife , a daring and redemptive novel set in 1950s Philadelphia and Washington, DC, that explores what it means to be a woman and a mother, and how much one is willing to sacrifice to achieve her greatest goal.
1950s Philadelphia: fifteen-year-old Ruby Pearsall is on track to becoming the first in her family to attend college, in spite of having a mother more interested in keeping a man than raising a daughter. But a taboo love affair threatens to pull her back down into the poverty and desperation that has been passed on to her like a birthright.
Eleanor Quarles arrives in Washington, DC, with ambition and secrets. When she meets the handsome William Pride at Howard University, they fall madly in love. But William hails from one of DC's elite wealthy Black families, and his parents don't let just anyone into their fold. Eleanor hopes that a baby will make her finally feel at home in William's family and grant her the life she's been searching for. But having a baby--and fitting in--is easier said than done.
With their stories colliding in the most unexpected of ways, Ruby and Eleanor will both make decisions that shape the trajectory of their lives.
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Maame
by Jessica George
"An utterly charming and deeply moving portrait of the joys––and the guilt––of trying to find your own way in life." ––Celeste Ng, #1 New York Times bestselling author
"Meeting Maame feels like falling in love for the first time: warm, awkward, joyous, a little bit heartbreaking and, most of all, unforgettable." ––Xochitl Gonzalez, New York Times bestselling author of Olga Dies Dreaming
Maame (ma-meh) has many meanings in Twi but in my case, it means woman.
It’s fair to say that Maddie’s life in London is far from rewarding. With a mother who spends most of her time in Ghana (yet still somehow manages to be overbearing), Maddie is the primary caretaker for her father, who suffers from advanced stage Parkinson’s. At work, her boss is a nightmare and Maddie is tired of always being the only Black person in every meeting.
When her mum returns from her latest trip to Ghana, Maddie leaps at the chance to get out of the family home and finally start living. A self-acknowledged late bloomer, she’s ready to experience some important “firsts”: She finds a flat share, says yes to after-work drinks, pushes for more recognition in her career, and throws herself into the bewildering world of internet dating. But it's not long before tragedy strikes, forcing Maddie to face the true nature of her unconventional family, and the perils––and rewards––of putting her heart on the line.
Smart, funny, and deeply affecting, Jessica George's Maame deals with the themes of our time with humor and poignancy: from familial duty and racism, to female pleasure, the complexity of love, and the life-saving power of friendship. Most important, it explores what it feels like to be torn between two homes and cultures—and it celebrates finally being able to find where you belong.
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One-Shot Harry
by Gary Phillips
In 1963 Los Angeles, African American Korean War veteran Harry Ingram and news photographer, when an old army buddys death is ruled an accident, discovers his photographs tell a different story, compelling him to play detective, even if it means putting his own life on the line.
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The Quarter Storm
by Veronica G. Henry
Haitian-American Vodou priestess Mambo Reina Dumond, when a fellow vodouisant is accused of murder, resolves to find the real killer and defend Vodou practice and customs, which pits her against a killer with dangerous magic who thwarts her investigation at every turn.
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Sweep of Stars
by Maurice Broaddus
When the old powers seek to destroy the Muungano empire and all that they've built, three people leader Amachi Adisa, warrior Fela Buhari and captain Stacia Chikeke prepare for battle while searching for the answers that could save them all.
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To Catch a Raven
by Beverly Jenkins
When the Declaration of Independence is stolen by a former Confederate official, fearless grifter Raven Moreaux, forced by the government to get it back, finds both her life and heart on the line when she falls for her partner who is posing as her husband.
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A Woman of Endurance: a Novel
by Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa
A deeply spiritual African woman is captured and sold to a Puerto Rican plantation to breed future slaves and is almost destroyed by the dehumanization of her circumstances but embarks on a journey of healing and love.
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Yinka, Where Is Your Huzband?
by Lizzie Damilola Blackburn
A 30-something, Oxford-educated, British Nigerian woman with a high-paying job and good friends, Yinka, whose aunties frequently pray for her delivery from singledom, must find a date for her cousins wedding with the help of a spreadsheet and her best friend.
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You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty: a Novel
by Akwaeke Emezi
Learning how to feel joy while healing from loss, Feyi Adekola starts dating the perfect guy, but discovers she has feelings for someone else who is off limits and must decide just how far she is willing to go for a second chance at love.
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Black Market: An Insider's Journey into the High-stakes World of College Basketball
by Merl Code
From a former college basketball player and Executive at Nike, a "riveting" (Sports Illustrated) insider's account into the business of college basketball exposes the corrupt and racist systems that exploit young athletes and offers a new way forward
For Merl Code, basketball was life.
In college he played point guard for Clemson before turning pro. Later, when he pivoted to marketing, he found himself thrust into a startling world of profit-driven college basketball programs. He realized that the NCAA's amateurism rules could be used to exploit young athletes, and athletes of color in particular.
Now, for the first time, Code will share his side of the explosive story of college basketball's dark reality—a system that begins with young talent in AAU programs and culminates at the highest levels of the NBA.
Propulsive, urgent, and eye-opening, Black Market exposes the truth to offer a more just way forward for both colleges and athletes. ~Publisher
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Constructing a Nervous System: a Memoir
by Margo Jefferson
The award-winning critic and memoirist has lived in the thrall of a cast of othersher parents and maternal grandmother, jazz luminaries, writers, artists, athletes, and stars, and she brings these figures to life in a new memoir.
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Gullah Geechee Home Cooking: Recipes from the Matriarch of Edisto Island
by Emily Meggett
"The first major Gullah Geechee cookbook from "the matriarch of Edisto Island," who provides delicious recipes and the history of an overlooked American community. At 89 years old, and with more than 50 grandchildren and great-grandchildren, Meggett is arespected elder in the Gullah community of South Carolina. She has lived on the island all her life, and even at her age, still cooks for hundreds of people out of her hallowed home kitchen. Her house is a place of pilgrimage for anyone with an interest in Gullah Geechee food. Meggett's Gullah food is rich and flavorful, though it is also often lighter and more seasonal than other types of Southern cooking. Heirloom rice, fresh-caught seafood, local game, and vegetables are key to her recipes for regional delicacies like fried oysters, collard greens, and stone-ground grits."
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Hometown Victory: a Coach's Story of Football, Fate, and Coming Home
by Keanon Lowe
"The Blindside meets Friday Night Lights in Keanon Lowe's Hometown Victory when an NFL coach returns home after losing a friend to opiods to coach a team of struggling high school kids on a 23-game losing streak. Keanon Lowe was working as an offensive analyst for the San Francisco 49ers when his childhood friend and former high school teammate suddenly died from an opioid overdose. Keanon dropped everything--including the plum NFL job he had been working towards since childhood--leading him to a position as football coach at a struggling high school back in his hometown. At the time, Parkrose High School was in the middle of a 23-game losing streak--they were the ultimate underdogs. In many ways, the road to Parkrose was paved by Keanon's life-defining experiences--from a childhood spent dodging racist bullies and finding the support and mentorship he craved on the football team, to an NFL season where he worked closely with Colin Kaepernick as he evolved his sideline protest. Keanon was drawn to the young men on the Parkrose team, and to the school itself. After two years, he pushed them to become conference champions, mentoring countless players along the way. But still, there was that nagging sense that his calling wasn't meant to stop there. He was at that school for a reason. In May 2019, he got his answer when a 19-year-old student entered a Parkrose classroom with a trench coat and shotgun. Keanon disarmed him and pulled the boy into a hug, telling him he cared. In the boy, Keanon saw himself, and the young men he grew up with or mentored along the way--and weren't so many of them just looking for acceptance, for comfort, for love? With the heart of favorite football classics--The Blindside, Friday Night Lights, Remember the Titans--Keanon's journey at Parkrose is the true account of a life spent striving forward, even when faced with the unimaginable. Hometown Victory is a story about gratitude, service, and most of all, hope."
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How to Raise an Antiracist
by Ibram X. Kendi
This guide for parents, caregivers and teachers focuses on strategies for talking to children about racism, how to avoid the mistakes of our past and help dismantle racist behaviors in ourselves and our world.
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Knitting for Radical Self-Care: a Modern Guide
by Brandi Cheyenne Harper
Offering 10 original patterns inspired by revolutionary women of color, this must-have pattern book for modern knitters includes personal essays, alongside detailed instructions, to provide inspiration.
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The Movement Made Us: a Father, a Son, and the Legacy of a Freedom Ride
by David J. Dennis
Pivoting between the voices of a father and son, this unique work of oral history and memoir chronicles the extraordinary story of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and its living legacy embodied in Black Lives Matter, that, taken together, paint a critical portrait of America.
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Paul Laurence Dunbar: the Life and Times of a Caged Bird
by Gene Andrew Jarrett
"This biography explores the life of Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906), a major nineteenth-century American poet and one of the first African American writers to garner international attention and praise in the wake of emancipation. While Dunbar is perhaps best known for poems such as "Sympathy" (a poem that ends "I know why the caged bird sings!") and "We Wear the Mask," he wrote prolifically in many genres, including a newspaper he produced with his friends Orville and Wilbur Wright in their hometown ofDayton, Ohio. Before his early death he published fourteen books of poetry, four collections of short stories, and four novels, and also collaborated on theatrical productions, including the first musical with a full African American cast to appear on Broadway. In this book, Gene Jarrett traces Dunbar's personal and professional life in the context of the historical currents that shaped the author's development-to tell, in Jarrett's words, "the full story of an African American who privately wrestled with the constraints of America in the Gilded Age, but who also sought to express or mitigate this strife through the written and spoken word." Jarrett sketches the life and times of Paul Laurence Dunbar in three main parts. Against the backdrop of the CivilWar, Reconstruction, and the rise of Jim Crow segregation, the first section, "Broken Home," begins with the lives of Joshua and Matilda, Paul's parents, who were born enslaved, and ends with the years leading up to 1893, when Dunbar published his first book, Oak and Ivy, and befriended Frederick Douglass. The second section, "A True Singer," bookends the era when Paul entered his literary prime and became one of the first professional African American writers. The final section, "The Downward Way," details his troubled marriage to Alice Dunbar-Nelson, his illnesses, including tuberculosis and alcoholism, and his death. An epilogue comments on Dunbar's enduring legacy. The book includes more than 40 black-and-white photographs of Dunbar's family, friends, colleagues, and published works."
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Plant Power: Flip Your Plate, Change Your Weight
by Ian K. Smith
The host of The Doctors and #1 New York Times best-selling author presents a guide for dieters who want to utilize the benefits of fruits, vegetables and complex carbs that delivers the most flavorful and favorable plant-based foods for natural and pain-free weight loss.
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Rickey: the Life and Legend of an American Original
by Howard Bryant
A critically acclaimed sportswriter and culture critic presents this definitive biography of the Hall of Famer and the record holder for the most stolen bases in a single game who also stole Americas heart who played for nine different teams throughout his decades-long career.
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Torn Apart: How the Child Welfare System Destroys Black Families--and How Abolition Can Build a Safer World
by Dorothy E. Roberts
"An award-winning scholar exposes the foundational racism of the child welfare system and calls for radical change Many believe the child welfare system protects children from abuse. But as Torn Apart uncovers, this system is designed to punish Black families. Drawing on decades of research, legal scholar and sociologist Dorothy Roberts reveals that the child welfare system is better understood as a "family policing system" that collaborates with law enforcement and prisons to oppress Black communities. Child protection investigations ensnare a majority of Black children, putting their families under intense state surveillance and regulation. Black children are disproportionately likely to be torn from their families and placed in foster care, driving many to juvenile detention and imprisonment. The only way to stop the destruction caused by family policing, Torn Apart argues, is to abolish the child welfare system and liberate Black communities."
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