Showing titles in African American

After years away from home, Summer Graves is back in Austin, Texas, to accept a new teaching position. Of all the changes to the old neighborhood, the most dispiriting one is the slated demolition of the high school her grandmother founded. There’s no way she can let developers destroy her memories and her family legacy. But the challenge stirs memories of another kind.

In Bodyminds Reimagined Sami Schalk traces how Black women's speculative fiction complicates the understanding of bodyminds - the intertwinement of the mental and the physical - in the context of race, gender, and (dis)ability. Bridging Black feminist theory with disability studies, Schalk demonstrates that this genre's political potential lies in the authors' creation of bodyminds that transcend reality's limitations.

Nathaniel is a well-intentioned, if naive, British cleric feeling blessed to educate a West African village about the benevolent power of God. But as slavers encroach, Nathaniel’s endeavor is daunted by the realities unfolding on the beautiful homeland of his congregation. It seems the Devil has power too. What follows for Nathaniel is a profound spiritual upheaval as he questions his purpose and even his humanity.

Audriana Escobar, a.k.a. Audi, is the 18-year-old leader of the Gucci Girlz - a crew made up of her closest friends. Growing up in poverty, their only current goal is to find a way out of the poor town of Aetna and achieve a life of happiness, love, and luxury. When they cross paths with another crew named the Tru Aetna Boyz, all of their wants and desires seem to be coming true.

A community of Black faith healers witness an event that will change their lives forever in this novel set in a fictional city in the American South. Though they all united in their search for the healing properties of salt, some of them are centered, some are off-balance; some are frightened, and some are daring. From the men who live off welfare women to the mud mothers who carry their children in their hides, the novel brilliantly explores the narcissistic aspect of despair and the tremendous responsibility that comes with physical, spiritual, and mental well-being.

I don’t believe in objectifying men. I don’t catcall men. I don’t ogle the bodies of men. I don’t view men as objects of my affection rather than complex people with feelings, wants, and needs of their own. I don’t treat men the way society often treats women. I treat men the way I want to be treated as a woman - with respect! So, when Carlos ran into me while I was reviewing my interview questions in the park, it surprised me to see my photography classmate out of class. I was also surprised to see as much of him as I did.

Zoe comes from a line of clairvoyant, empathic women. Each one, including Zoe, is deeply connected to the world around them. Zoe's gifts are much more intense and hard to go unnoticed by those who get close to her, so she often hides what she knows to avoid being seen as unstable. She's always known who the love of her life was going to be, she just hadn't met him yet. He could live halfway across the world for all she knew. But if she saw him...or if she met him...she would know she was meeting her soul mate. The man for her. Her man to love...Rashaad.

Amina Jefferies is a wounded woman, having been raped at the tender age of 19 after a night out with people she thought were here friends. Now a mother of a six-year-old she did not ask for, Amina is still coming to terms with what happened to her. Sex, money, and control are her only escape mechanisms - playing any fool that dared to give her any of the three.

Sixteen-year-old Alexandra Degambia is the daughter of a wealthy African American planter and a social-climbing mother who can pass for White. Balancing on the tightrope between girlhood and the complicated adult world is a treacherous undertaking. Alexandra yearns to establish her own place in the world as an accomplished violinist. She assumes her talent and her family’s wealth will pave the way to her success. Her life becomes a nightmare when her mother dies and her father is murdered by prejudiced officials eager to seize the plantation.

Legend is on a mission, and it happens to be one he can’t speak about. Always a man of little words, keeping things close to the heart has never been a problem. Or at least it never used to be until January began to occupy that space. Now he’s fighting a battle between his mind and his heart, and unlike any battle he’s ever fought before, this is a war that no matter how it ends, sacrifice will be required.

No longer fond of her free-spirited nature, Danaë’s father wants the apple of his eye to put her brains to use and makes her his newest employee. The weekend before starting her new job - or imprisonment as she calls it - Danaë takes a spontaneous night out with her best friend, and the night leads to an innocent game of truth or dare. A game that soon lands Danaë in the path of a dangerous new attraction.

Isaiah "Zay" Davies has screwed up big time with Fallon Walsh, the girl that he's loved since...well forever. It's not the first time, but he's determined to make it the last. He's determined to tear down any barrier she puts in his way and prove to her that he's the only man for her.

Marcus Heavy is the founder of the Heavy Sinners Motorcycle Club. They specialize in the drug game, prostitution, blackmail, and murder. You cross any member of the club, and that’s the end of your life. Marcus’ son, Darius, was supposed to take up the mantle as leader of the club, but Darius doesn’t want that life.

From the day he was born, Martavious “Tank” Young had to fight for what was his. No parents, no family, mentally and physically abused throughout his childhood. The challenges he endured only made him stronger and soon, the man who grew up with nothing had it all. Now, Tank is the man running the streets and the city, both legal and illegal. His money is long, his patience is short, and his reach is far.

Philly Girl 2 will have you re-evaluating the bonds of friendship and love. It will make you think twice about chasing street money, as loyalty is put to the test with drugs, murder, sex, and mayhem in the mix. This quick thriller will have your jaw dropping. Born and raised in the slums of West Philadelphia, Rita is no stranger to the street life. In fact, she indulges in the fast life, getting money from selling drugs just as hard as the men she competes with.

Twenty-year-old Deza was supposed to be just another hot girl emcee, but when a bonus track strikes a surprising social chord, it rockets her album to the top of the charts - and her record label promotes her to headline their first-ever all-female national tour. As Deza attempts to live up to her new reputation, her inexperience generates tour drama. And when her female DJ quits, the label replaces her with the last thing Deza needs: the sexy guy DJ she flirted with at a club.

The 115th volume of the Yale Series of Younger Poets, What Noise Against the Cane is a lyric quest for belonging and freedom, weaving political resistance, Caribbean folklore, immigration, and the realities of Black life in America.

Having enemies was common for the Gachette witches, but they have always been able to conquer during adversity. When the demon of Gehenna rises after being locked away for a hundred years, the great sage of Black Water Bayou falls, leaving the legacy of her ancestors in the hands of her granddaughters, Merigold and Majesty.

Wren Deloryne’s life has never been easy. Coming from a broken wreckage of a childhood, he’s never had much hope for anything and knows he’s the only person he can rely on. And finding a woman to satisfy his baser needs has always been easy as pie, despite his dark past, and as far as he sees it, the only thing that matters is surviving since everything he’s ever gotten came from busting his knuckles.

Growing up as a classically trained ballerina with dreams of being a professional dancer, balance was my life. Everything about me depended on it; my diet, my temper, my sleep and waking schedule. I even dedicated myself to rigorous yoga and martial arts training to learn how to maintain focus by balancing my breath. Balance was literally my everything.