Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Amerie’s dazzling, satirical adult debut tells the story of a Black man who walks into the light…to find himself in Los Angeles, where he becomes an instant celebrity for being the first visible and verifiable ghost. John’s House provides all he needs. Surrounded by a vast, beautiful ocean under a void of sky, the House is John’s haven. He is alone, but never lonely; he is here now, but neither remembers nor longs for a before. In his House, John is safe and untroubled. But then a terrible shadow creature breaks in—and it wants him out. Pushed from the House, John falls into the light… And finds himself in modern-day Los Angeles, the first person to ever come back from the other side. Though he has no memory of his past life, or even how he died, everyone wants to know more about the Black man who has returned from the dead—is he the second coming? A hoax? Or something beyond explanation? Soon he has brand deals, TV interviews, and politicians aiming to use him for their agendas, yet all John wants is to go home. But going home will require, most unfortunately, help. In search of a way back, John grudgingly joins forces with a mystic holding dubious qualifications, a hard-edged publicist bent on making him famous, and an aspiring actress who is unsettlingly familiar. With this ragtag band of allies, John begins a journey to find his House on the ocean—but getting there will prove more complicated than he imagined, for it will require not only trusting in someone other than himself, but will mean uncovering painful truths about who John was in life and, perhaps most difficult, who he must become. A gorgeous, tender story of hope, sacrifice, and what it means to be human, This Is Not a Ghost Story introduces an astonishing new voice in literary fiction.

This Is Not a Ghost Story

A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR A New York Times bestseller, the incredible true story of a couple that escaped slavery in the South and eventually made their way to the UK, Africa and beyond. The remarkable true story of Ellen and William Craft, who escaped slavery through daring, determination, and disguise, with Ellen passing as a wealthy, disabled White man and William posing as "his" slave. In 1848, a year of international democratic revolt, a young, enslaved couple, Ellen and William Craft, achieved one of the boldest feats of self-emancipation in history. Posing as master and slave, while sustained by their love as husband and wife, they made their escape together across more than 1,000 miles, riding steamboats, carriages, and trains that took them from bondage in Georgia to the free states of the North. Along the way, they dodged slave traders, military officers, and even friends of their enslavers, who might have revealed their true identities. The tale of their adventure soon made them celebrities, and generated headlines around the country. Audiences could not get enough of this charismatic young couple, who travelled the country drawing thunderous applause as they spoke alongside some of the greatest abolitionists of the day. But even then, they were not out of danger. With the passage of an infamous new Fugitive Slave Act in 1850, all Americans became accountable for returning refugees like the Crafts to slavery. Then yet another adventure began, as the Crafts fled to England to embark upon a new life. With three epic journeys compressed into one monumental bid for freedom, Master Slave Husband Wife recounts both a ground-breaking quest for liberty and justice, and an unforgettable love story.

Master Slave Husband Wife

‘Taut, compelling and deliciously dark’ – B. A. Paris Leah Dawson and McKenna Hawkins had a lot in common, but they had never met. They are smart, professional women living in the same sunny, prosperous neighbourhood in lovely houses with picket fences and beautiful gardens. And they were both married to successful, good-looking men who both seem bent on having ‘the perfect wife’. They don’t – ever – find themselves in the same train carriage or meet accidentally at the gym or in the coffee shop. And they don’t – ever – discuss their problems and find common ground. But they do cross paths. And they see something each recognizes in the other. That they are living in hell. Neither narrator is unreliable. They always tell us the truth. And their truth hurts. A lot. Because these two attractive, intelligent professional women are living in a hell of their husband’s making. And there is no way to get out of hell. Is there?

The Favour

“Bold and imaginative.” —Tananarive Due “This stunning allegory will spark much discussion.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) “A truly powerful and riveting story.” —Booklist In a world without white people, what does it mean to be Black? One day, a cataclysmic event occurs: all of the white people in America walk into the nearest body of water. A year later, Charlie Brunton is a Black man living in an entirely new world. Having served time in prison for a wrongful conviction, he’s now a professor of electric and solar power systems at Howard University when he receives a call from someone he wasn’t even sure existed: his daughter Sidney, a nineteen-year-old left behind by her white mother and step-family. Traumatized by the event, and terrified of the outside world, Sidney has spent a year in isolation in Wisconsin. Desperate for help, she turns to the father she never met, a man she has always resented. Sidney and Charlie meet for the first time as they embark on a journey across a truly “post-racial” America in search for answers. But neither of them are prepared for this new world and how they see themselves in it. Heading south toward what is now called the Kingdom of Alabama, everything Charlie and Sidney thought they knew about themselves, and the world, will be turned upside down. Brimming with heart and humor, Cebo Campbell’s astonishing debut novel is about the power of community and connection, about healing and self-actualization, and a reckoning with what it means to be Black in America, in both their world and ours.

Sky Full of Elephants

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “Fascinating…the fullest portrait of Kennedy ever written.” —The Washington Post The first oral biography of John F. Kennedy Jr. is an extraordinarily intimate and detailed look at the real man behind the myth. Sharing never-before-told stories, his closest friends, confidantes, lovers, classmates, teachers, and colleagues paint a vivid portrait of one of the most beloved figures of the 20th century who still captures public imagination twenty-five years after his tragic death. Born into the spotlight, John F. Kennedy Jr. lived a short but remarkable life filled with expectation, ambition, family pressures, love, and tragedy. JFK Jr. dives deep into his complicated psyche and explores the what-ifs, illuminating both the cultural and political moment he inhabited and the way this son of a president, so full of promise, embodied America’s most cherished hopes.

JFK Jr.

A powerful collection of quotations by writers, leaders, and legends on the pain of losing a pet and overcoming grief. An animal’s love is deep, uncomplicated, unconditional, and forgiving. “Affection without ambivalence” is how Sigmund Freud described the connection. “No matter how awful the day, or how awful I am behaving at any given moment, George doesn’t care,” writes journalist John Dickerson. “He finds me smoldering in my chair and dashes to my lap.” Our lives are intricately intertwined with our pets, and together, over time, we establish rituals that are as steady as a metronome. It’s no wonder the grief is crushing when they depart—even those who’ve had time to prepare describe feeling stunned, devastated, and cracked in two. “We were a bit broken up over the death of our black Persian cat,” crime novelist Raymond Chandler confessed. “When I say a bit broken up, I am being conventional. For us it was a tragedy.” Nobel Prize–winning author V. S. Naipaul described the experience as “calamitous,” and writer May Sarton called it a “volcanic eruption of woe.” Poet Emily Dickinson was so bereft she asked for help: “Carlo died,” she announced in a letter to her friend Thomas Wentworth Higginson in 1866. “Would you instruct me now?” The Book of Pet Love and Loss is a collection of quotations—poignant thoughts and memories discovered in letters, journals, diaries, memoirs, and other original sources—from beloved cultural figures who understood this singular experience so deeply, they felt compelled to write about it. This book dignifies the profound connection we share with our animal companions, but it also provides solace as mourners document their heartache over the loss of their cats, dogs, rabbits, birds, and other animals—even, in the case of Pablo Neruda, a mongoose. Their comforting and wise words are what every animal lover needs on this journey of heartbreak and healing.

The Book of Pet Love and Loss

Maxine Chandler and Mya Rivers were once the best of friends, sisters by choice. But distance and a series of misunderstandings came between them. Now, a fifteen-year class reunion cruise to the Caribbean could renew their powerful bond--just when they need it most. After heartbreak and tragedy, Maxi doesn't expect her shipboard romance with former high school rebel Christopher Chandler to be more than a sizzling distraction, but then he offers her a gift so profound she can't refuse it--even when it leaves her vulnerable to crushing loss. Mya, on the other hand, seems blessed with a perfect marriage, home, and beautiful twins. But Mya's work is taking over her life and another woman might be taking husband. . . As each couple struggles with the limits of love, loyalty, and trust, Mya and Maxi reclaim a deep and abiding friendship. . .one that will inspire them with courage to face the future, whatever it may bring.

Perfect Timing

An outstanding array—52 pieces in all—of selected fiction from the multiple-award-winning, #1 New York Times bestselling author Neil Gaiman, curated by his readers around the world, and introduced with a foreword by Booker Prize-winning author Marlon James Spanning Gaiman’s career to date, The Neil Gaiman Reader: Selected Fiction is a captivating collection from one of the world’s most beloved writers, chosen by those who know his work best: his devoted readers. A brilliant representation of Gaiman's groundbreaking, entrancing, endlessly imaginative fiction, this captivating volume includes excerpts from each of his five novels for adults —Neverwhere, Stardust, American Gods, Anansi Boys, and The Ocean at the End of the Lane—and nearly fifty of his short stories. Impressive in its depth and range, The Neil Gaiman Reader: Selected Fiction is both an entryway to Gaiman’s oeuvre and a literary trove Gaiman fans old and new will return to many times over. Foreword copyright (c) 2020 by Marlon James; Preface copyright 2020 by Neil Gaiman Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

The Neil Gaiman Reader

A New Yorker writer’s intimate, revealing account of Tupac Shakur’s life and legacy, timed to the fiftieth anniversary of his birth and twenty-fifth anniversary of his death. In the summer of 2020, Tupac Shakur’s single “Changes” became an anthem for the worldwide protests against the murder of George Floyd. The song became so popular, in fact, it was vaulted back onto the iTunes charts more than twenty years after its release—making it clear that Tupac’s music and the way it addresses systemic racism, police brutality, mass incarceration, income inequality, and a failing education system is just as important now as it was back then. In Changes, published to coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of Tupac’s birth and twenty-fifth anniversary of his death, Sheldon Pearce offers one of the most thoughtful and comprehensive accounts yet of the artist’s life and legacy. Pearce, an editor and writer at The New Yorker, interviews dozens who knew Tupac throughout various phases of his life. While there are plenty of bold-faced names, the book focuses on the individuals who are lesser known and offer fresh stories and rare insight. Among these are the actor who costarred with him in a Harlem production of A Raisin in the Sun when he was twelve years old, the high school drama teacher who recognized and nurtured his talent, the music industry veteran who helped him develop a nonprofit devoted to helping young artists, the Death Row Records executive who has never before spoken on the record, and dozens of others. Meticulously woven together by Pearce, their voices combine to portray Tupac in all his complexity and contradiction. This remarkable book illustrates not only how he changed during his brief twenty-five years on this planet, but how he forever changed the world.

Changes

What happens in Napa Valley stays in Napa Valley… Right? For Alaskan senator Jessup, a Napa Valley break starts out as an innocent holiday-until he meets Paige. Their chemistry is explosive! And the temptation to have the Hollywood star for himself proves irresistible…but the spotlight’s trained on her every move. Will their holiday romance crash into reality with the return of a familiar face from Paige’s past?

Westmoreland Legacy: The Outlaws

What Happens On Vacation…

Activist and abolitionist Frederick Douglass is one of the most famous anti-slavery writers in American history. Following 20 years of enslavement in Maryland, Douglass made a daring bid for freedom in 1838, travelling north via the ‘underground railroad’ before arriving in New Bedford, Massachusetts, where he would settle. It was not long before Douglass took up the cause of black Americans, risking his freedom through writing and lecturing, and travelling the globe to spread his message. In My Bondage and My Freedom (1855) Douglass lays bare his story, illuminating the plight of slaves, the overwhelming prejudices of the time, and the dignity and determination that led to his emancipation.

World Classics

My Bondage and My Freedom

FBI Agent Alexander King has a special gift for catching vicious predators. He gets inside the twisted minds of psychopaths and hunts them down. However, this case in a small Georgia town is challenging his skills. A serial killer named The Angel Maker has kidnapped and killed six little black girls. Local police did a lackluster investigation, thinking the girls were initially runaways. The black community believes the case is racially motivated and the force ignored all the clues. Tensions rise on both sides of town, threatening riots and more unrest. In steps FBI Agent Haven Barron. She happens to be from the town and knows most of the victims’ parents. She believes she can catch the killer before he makes it to girl number seven. Alexander thinks she’s a beautiful distraction that could get in the way. Headstrong and determined to save her town, Haven thinks he can keep his opinions to himself. It’s a rough start with these two unwilling partners. Still, they race to find the murderer, discovering terrifying clues and unraveling shocking secrets from the town’s past. But as this pair spends more time together, sparks fly and a forbidden attraction looms between them. Meanwhile, the psycho is watching them both. Can they catch this killer? Or will the Angel Maker grab them?

Missing Hearts

This entertaining guide to some of the best short novels of all time, from a bestselling historian, is the “perfect gift for busy bibliophiles” (BookPage). Experience the joys of literature with this this “exciting guide to all that the world of fiction has to offer” (The New York Times Book Review): a compulsively readable, deeply engaging discussion of great short novels. A journey into fiction designed with our contemporary attention spans in mind, Great Short Books suggests fifty-eight excellent short novels, all under 200 pages—easily readable in a week or less—a fresh approach to a fun, fascinating year of reading. From hard-boiled fiction to magical realism, the 18th century to the present day, Great Short Books spans genres, cultures, countries, and time to present an enchanting and diverse selection of acclaimed and canonical novels. From works in translation like Yu Miri’s Tokyo Ueno Station and Marguerite Duras’s The Lover to popular, acclaimed authors like Toni Morrison and James Baldwin, this compilation is a celebration of classics from the historic to contemporary—plus a few bestsellers, including Stephen King and Colson Whitehead. Each entry includes the novel’s opening lines, a spoiler-free plot summary, a “why you should read it” section, and suggestions for what to read next. “An entertaining journey with a fun, knowledgeable guide” (Booklist), this eclectic collection is a fun and practical book for any passionate reader hoping to broaden their literary IQ—or anyone who wants to find an effortless reentry into reading.

Great Short Books

Finalist for the 2023 National Book Award for Fiction A “splendid and grand collection” (Edward P. Jones, Pulitzer Prize­–winning author of The Known World) portraying the lived experiences of Black Muslims grappling with faith, family, and freedom in America. In Temple Folk, Black Muslims contemplate the convictions of their race, religion, economics, politics, and sexuality in America. The ten “beautiful and vivid” (Jacqueline Woodson, National Book Award­–winning and New York Times bestselling author) stories in this collection contribute to the bounty of diverse narratives about Black life by intimately portraying the experiences of a community that resists the mainstream culture to which they are expected to accept and aspire to while functioning within the country in which they are born. In “Due North,” an obedient daughter struggles to understand why she’s haunted by the spirit of her recently deceased father. In “Who’s Down?” a father, after a brief affair with vegetarianism, conspires with his daughter to order him a double cheeseburger. In “Candy for Hanif” a mother’s routine trip to the store for her disabled son takes an unlikely turn when she reflects on a near-death experience. In “Woman in Niqab,” a daughter’s suspicion of her father’s infidelity prompts her to wear her hair in public. In “New Mexico,” a federal agent tasked with spying on a high-ranking member of the Nation of Islam grapples with his responsibilities closer to home. With an unflinching eye for the contradictions between what these characters profess to believe and what they do, Temple Folk accomplishes the rare feat of presenting moral failures with compassion, nuance, and humor to remind us that while perfection is what many of us strive for, it’s the errors that make us human.

Temple Folk

Yemaya, queen of the sea, first emerged in Yorubaland (now in modern Nigeria). A primordial deity, considered the mother of all, she is perceived by some to be at the root of numerous ancient goddesses, including Isis. During the Middle Passage, Yemaya accompanied her enslaved devotees to the Western Hemisphere, where her eventual association with the Virgin Mary helped her veneration take root and flourish. No longer a local water spirit, she is among the most beloved and prominent spirits of Candomblé, Santeria, and other African diaspora traditions. Raven Morgaine, a priest of Yemaya for over three decades, shares his expertise and knowledge in this guidebook, the first full-length English-language book to focus on her. Exploring her history and many forms, including her roles as mother, lover, witch, warrior, and mermaid, he describes Yemaya’s many paths, aspects, and incarnations, as well as her special role in the LGBTQ community. In addition to exploring her mythology, this accessible book is also a hands-on guide to working with Yemaya and includes the following: - Spells and rituals associated with Yemaya, appropriate for the uninitiated - Instructions for building altars and shrines for Yemaya, as well as other methods for working with her, including correct, respectful ways to make appropriate offerings - Recipes that will please Yemaya - A detailed list of flowers, herbs, and other botanicals that radiate the power of Yemaya

Yemaya

In this “must-read for anyone concerned with race, sports, and politics in America” (William C. Rhoden, New York Times bestselling author), the inspirational and largely unknown true story of the eighteen African American athletes who competed in the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games, defying the racism of both Nazi Germany and the Jim Crow South. Set against the turbulent backdrop of a segregated United States, sixteen Black men and two Black women are torn between boycotting the Olympic Games in Nazi Germany or participating. If they go, they would represent a country that considered them second-class citizens and would compete amid a strong undercurrent of Aryan superiority that considered them inferior. Yet, if they stayed, would they ever have a chance to prove them wrong on a global stage? Five athletes, full of discipline and heart, guide you through this harrowing and inspiring journey. There’s a young and feisty Tidye Pickett from Chicago, whose lithe speed makes her the first African American woman to compete in the Olympic Games; a quiet Louise Stokes from Malden, Massachusetts, who breaks records across the Northeast with humble beginnings training on railroad tracks. We find Mack Robinson in Pasadena, California, setting an example for his younger brother, Jackie Robinson; and the unlikely competitor Archie Williams, a lanky book-smart teen in Oakland takes home a gold medal. Then there’s Ralph Metcalfe, born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, who becomes the wise and fierce big brother of the group. From burning crosses set on the Robinsons’s lawn to a Pennsylvania small town on fire with praise and parades when the athletes return from Berlin, Olympic Pride, American Prejudice has “done the world a favor by bringing into the sunlight the unknown story of eighteen black Olympians who should never be forgotten. This book is both beautiful and wrenching, and essential to understanding the rich history of African American athletes” (Kevin Merida, editor-in-chief of ESPN’s The Undefeated).

Olympic Pride, American Prejudice

Visiting Martin Luther King Jr., at the peak of the Montgomery, Alabama, bus boycott, journalist William Worthy almost sat on a loaded pistol. Just for self defense, King assured him. It was not the only weapon King kept for such a purpose; one of his advisors remembered the reverend's Montgomery, Alabama home as an arsenal. Like King, many ostensibly nonviolent civil rights activists embraced their constitutional right to self-protection—yet this crucial dimension of the Afro-American freedom struggle has been long ignored by history. In This Nonviolent Stuff'll Get You Killed, civil rights scholar Charles E. Cobb Jr., describes the vital role that armed self-defense played in the survival and liberation of black communities in America during the Southern Freedom Movement of the 1960s. In the Deep South, blacks often safeguarded themselves and their loved ones from white supremacist violence by bearing—and, when necessary, using—firearms. In much the same way, Cobb shows, nonviolent civil rights workers received critical support from black gun owners in the regions where they worked. Whether patrolling their neighborhoods, garrisoning their homes, or firing back at attackers, these courageous men and women and the weapons they carried were crucial to the movement's success. Giving voice to the World War II veterans, rural activists, volunteer security guards, and self-defense groups who took up arms to defend their lives and liberties, This Nonviolent Stuff'll Get You Killed lays bare the paradoxical relationshaip between the nonviolent civil rights struggle and the Second Amendment. Drawing on his firsthand experiences in the civil rights movement and interviews with fellow participants, Cobb provides a controversial examination of the crucial place of firearms in the fight for American freedom. This audio edition is masterfully narrated by Leon Nixon, a listener favorite. This audiobook was produced and published by Echo Point Books & Media, an independent bookseller in Brattleboro, Vermont ©2014 Charles E. Cobb Jr. (P)

Applications of Motivational Interviewing

This Nonviolent Stuff'll Get You Killed

New York Times bestselling author Brenda Jackson, now on audio… When reporter Jasmine Carmody began hanging around Savannah’s most respected family looking for a story, protective Wesley Brooks warned her off. Day and night, she sensed him shadowing her every move, felt his every breath and wanted his touch…Wesley would do anything to stop Jasmine's expose on his adopted family – even seduce her. But her unexpected virginity surprised him, and so did their overwhelming passion. Soon he'd have to make a choice – trust her with all his secrets, or risk losing her forever.

Dynasties: The Danforths

Scandal Between The Sheets

New York Times bestselling author Brenda Jackson, now on audio… Cut-throat litigator Brandon Washington isn't used to being ignored. So when Cassie Garrison, the newly discovered half-sister of his firm's biggest client, refused his repeated attempts at contact, he set out to teach the elusive heiress a lesson. He would travel under an assumed identity to her Bahamian home. And using every skill he possessed, he would uncover all of Cassie's secrets. But once his seductive mission was accomplished, would Brandon find his professional mission at war with his very personal interests?

The Garrisons

Stranded With The Tempting Stranger

“Murder, a love triangle, and small-town secrets in Tallahassee, Florida...an unputdownable read.” —The New York Times “A compelling psychological double portrait of what happens when two people are forever bound by a life-altering secret.” —Becky Cooper, bestselling author of We Keep the Dead Close From the critically acclaimed author dubbed “one of today’s finest practitioners of nonfiction” (The New York Times Book Review), a breathless true crime tale of sex, religion, and murder in the deep South. Mike and Denise Williams had a tight knit, seemingly unbreakable bond with childhood friends, Brian and Kathy Winchester. The two couples were devout, hardworking Baptists who lived perfect, quintessentially Southern lives. Their friendship seemed ironclad. That is, until December 16, 2000, when Denise’s husband Mike disappeared while duck hunting on Lake Seminole. After no body was found, everyone assumed that Mike had drowned in a tragic accident, his body eaten by alligators. But things took an unexpected turn when, within five years of Mike’s disappearance, Brian Winchester divorced his wife and married Denise. Their surprising romance set tongues talking. People began wondering how long they had been a couple, and whether they had anything to do with Mike’s death. It took another twelve years for the truth to come out—and when it did, it was unimaginable. Now, the full, shocking story is revealed by Mikita Brottman, acclaimed true crime writer of the “enthralling” (San Francisco Book Review) An Unexplained Death. Through tenacious research and clear-eyed prose, she probes the psychology of a couple who killed and explores how it feels to live for eighteen years with murder on the soul. A fascinating page-turner of modern noir, Guilty Creatures is destined to become an instant true crime classic.

Guilty Creatures

Volponi, a multiple award-winning author, keeps the tension high from the first to last page ...The Final Four is definitely a winner. —VOYA, starred review March Madness is in full swing, and there are only four teams let in the NCAA basketball championship. The heavily favored Michigan Spartans and the underdog Troy Trojans meet in the first game in the seminfinals, and it's there that the fates of Malcolm, Roko, Crispin, and M.J. intertwine. As the last moments tick down on the game clock, you'll learn how each player went from being a kid who loves to shoot hoops to a powerful force in one of the most important games of the year. Which team will leave the Superdome victorious? In the end it will come down to who has the most skill, the most drive, and the most heart. Author Paul Volponi is a writer, journalist, and teacher. His experience teaching incarcerated teens literary and his experience as an ardent basketball player has informed this tense, action packed novel! The Final Four is a gripping read for young adults and older audiences alike. Volponi nails it when it counts in this dynamic story. —Booklist, starred review Volponi adroitly renders authentic and inspired basketball action. —The New York Times Book Review This audiobook is skillfully read by Leon Nixon, and was produced and published by Echo Point Books & Media, an independent bookseller in Brattleboro, Vermont. Audio engineering by Mike Thal.

The Final Four

From Newbery Medal honoree and #1 New York Times bestselling author Jason Reynolds comes the sequel to the hilarious, hopeful, and action-packed middle grade novel Stuntboy, in the Meantime about the greatest young superhero you’ve never heard of, jam-packed with illustrations by Raúl the Third! Portico Reeves is the greatest superhero a lot of people have never heard of. He likes it that way—then no one can get in the way of him from keeping other other people safe. Super safe. He’s Stuntboy. He’s got the moves. And the saves. Except. There’s been one major fail. He couldn’t save his parents from becoming Xs. Which is a word that sounds like coughing up a hairball. But don’t talk to him about the divorce, because of the hairball thing, and also, it gives Portico the frets. What’s also giving him frets is his parents living on two separate floors in their apartment building. He’s never fully with one parent or the other. He’s in-between, all the time. The in-between time. And the elevator is busted, so to get between floors means getting past the bullies who hang in the stairwells. So when Portico and new friend, Herbert, and best best friend, Zola, discover an empty apartment, unlocked, they are psyched. It’s a perfect hideout, and hangout, and it’s not half anyone’s…it’s all theirs. So they decide to make it their own…let’s say with stunts of the drawing kind. Problem is, that gives some Grown Up People the frets, which leads to double frets for Portico. And he’s not sure his arsenal of stunts can combat that.

Stuntboy

Stuntboy, In-Between Time

At Canaan’s Edge: America in the King Years, 1965-68 is the final volume in Taylor Branch's magnificent history of America in the years of the Civil Rights Movement and Vietnam War, recognized universally as the definitive account and ultimate recognition of Martin Luther King's heroic place in the nation's history. The final volume of Taylor Branch's monumental, much honored, and definitive history of the Civil Rights Movement (America in the King Years), At Canaan's Edge covers the final years of King's struggle to hold his non-violent movement together in the face of factionalism within the Movement, hostility and harassment of the Johnson Administration, the country torn apart by Vietnam, and his own attempt (and failure) to take the Freedom Movement north. At Canaan's Edge traces a seminal era in our defining national story, freedom. The narrative resumes in Selma, crucible of the voting rights struggle for black people across the South. The time is early 1965, when the modern Civil Rights Movement enters its second decade since the Supreme Court's Brown decision declared segregation by race a violation of the Constitution. From Selma, King's non-violent Movement is under threat from competing forces inside and outside. Branch chronicles the dramatic voting rights drives in Mississippi and Alabama, Meredith's murder, the challenge to King from the Johnson Administration and the FBI and other enemies. When King tries to bring his Movement north (to Chicago), he falters. Finally we reach Memphis, the garbage strike, King's assassination. Branch's magnificent trilogy makes clear why the Civil Rights Movement, and indeed King's leadership, are among the nation's enduring achievements.

At Canaan's Edge

A bestselling historian takes readers on an intellectual and cultural adventure, offering a carefully curated guide to great, short nonfiction works by some of the world’s most influential writers—from Plato to Toni Morrison, Ernest Hemingway to bell hooks, and Marcus Aurelius to Joan Didion. A delightful roadmap to a year’s worth of reading briefly, plus biographies, fascinating facts, and idea-rich insights into the lives of the thinkers, historians, and literary giants who have shaped our world. For both avid readers and those looking to spark a new habit, The World in Books is an invitation to a more lively and meaningful intellectual life. Davis’s literary adventure guides readers through some of the most important works of nonfiction of all time, offering a political, literary, and cultural history through reading. Each of the fifty-two entries provides the book’s opening lines or a brief excerpt from the work; a summary of the work; a biography of the author; why you should read the work; and what to read next. Davis offers insights into some of the most enduring issues of our time—from the existential perspective in Viktor E. Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning, to questions of race in Toni Morrison’s The Origin of Others, and the climate crisis in Elizabeth Kolbert’s Under a White Sky. With insights from ancient times to the present day, Kenneth C. Davis offers a wide-ranging historical education through pleasure reading. In an accessible, conversational style, he explores texts that both mirror our contemporary moment and present new ways to think about our lives. These 52 selections, with books perfect for reading one week at a time, offer a year-long journey through history, philosophy, nature, and personal growth. More than just a literary companion, The World in Books is an education that combines wisdom with practical application. Davis’s work has been called “a wealth of succinct, entertaining advice” (Kirkus Reviews). The World in Books provides an engaging way to explore some of the most influential books ever written. A refresher course for lifelong learners.

The World in Books

Help your children develop moral character with this updated, 30th anniversary edition of the perennial classic The Book of Virtues. Almost 3 million copies of the Book of Virtues have been sold since it was published in 1993. It is one of the most popular moral primers ever written, an inspiring anthology that helps children understand and develop character—and helps parents teach it to them. Thirty years ago, readers thought that the times were right for a book about moral literacy. Back then, Americans worried that schools were no longer parents’ allies in teaching good character. As the book’s original introduction noted, “moral anchors and moorings have never been more necessary.” If that was true in the 1990s, it is even more true today. The explosion of information with the Internet has left many unsure of what is valuable and what is not. Responsibility. Courage. Compassion. Loyalty. Honesty. Friendship. Persistence. Hard work. Self-discipline. Faith. These remain the essentials of good character. The Book of Virtues contains hundreds of exemplary stories offering children examples of good and bad, right and wrong. Drawing on the Bible, American history, Greek mythology, English poetry, fairy tales, and modern fiction, William J. and Elayne Bennett show children the many virtuous paths they can follow—and the ones they ought to avoid. For the 30th anniversary edition, the Bennetts have slimmed down the book’s contents, while also finding room to introduce such figures as Mother Teresa, Colin Powell, and heroes of 9/11 and the War in Afghanistan. Here is a rich mine of moral literacy to teach a new generation of children about American culture, history, and traditions—ultimately, the ideals by which we wish to live our lives. The updated edition of The Book of Virtues will continue a legacy of raising moral children far into a new century.

The Book of Virtues: 30th Anniversary Edition

A Coretta Scott King Honor Book A Boston Globe–Horn Book Poetry Award Winner An “imaginative and moving” (The Horn Book, starred review) portrait of a Black family tree shaped by enslavement and freedom, rendered in searing poems by ALSC Children’s Literature Legacy Award winner Carole Boston Weatherford and stunning art by her son Jeffery Boston Weatherford. I call their names: Abram Alice Amey Arianna Antiqua I call their names: Isaac Jake James Jenny Jim Every last one, property of the Lloyds, the state’s preeminent enslavers. Every last one, with a mind of their own and a story that ain’t yet been told. Till now. Carole and Jeffery Boston Weatherford’s ancestors are among the founders of Maryland. Their family history there extends more than three hundred years, but as with the genealogical searches of many African Americans with roots in slavery, their family tree can only be traced back five generations before going dark. And so from scraps of history, Carole and Jeffery have conjured the voices of their kin, creating an often painful but ultimately empowering story of who their people were in a breathtaking book that is at once deeply personal yet all too universal. Carole’s poems capture voices ranging from her ancestors to Frederick Douglass to Harriet Tubman to the plantation house and land itself that connects them all, and Jeffery’s evocative illustrations help carry the story from the first mention of a forebear listed as property in a 1781 ledger to he and his mother’s homegoing trip to Africa in 2016. Shaped by loss, erasure, and ultimate reclamation, this is the story of not only Carole and Jeffery’s family, but of countless other Black families in America.

“Friendship, love and a beautiful sense of togetherness sew together this gem of a book. B Michael...presents to us a portrait of a woman who was a rare gift to fashion and culture.” —EDWARD ENNINFUL, OBE, Editor-in-Chief, British Vogue & European Editorial Director, Vogue A poignant and glorious photographic memoir that pays homage to the lifelong friendship between the legendary Cicely Tyson and acclaimed fashion designer B Michael, who worked with her to make her gorgeous through her last bow. What greater act of friendship is there than making someone dear look and feel their most beautiful and powerful? That was the priceless gift acclaimed designer B Michael gave to one of Hollywood’s greatest actresses, Cicely Tyson over the course of their close, decades-long relationship. In this glorious memoir, B Michael recalls the bond they shared and what it was like to dress the Queen of Hollywood for all the extraordinary events of her life. In 2005, B was summoned to create a suitable wardrobe for Ms. Tyson for a high-octane weekend hosted by Oprah Winfrey. That first successful interaction led to a nearly twenty-year-long personal and professional collaboration that defined the Hollywood star’s personal aesthetic and showcased her impeccable personality and style. B was with Ms. Tyson for the most glamorous times—the Academy Awards, the Emmy Awards, White House functions, glittering galas, high-profile funerals—as well as the tenderest days. Their circle included a who’s who of Black celebrities, including Sidney Poitier, Barack Obama, Common, Whitney Houston, Beyoncé, Lenny Kravitz, Viola Davis, Oprah, Tyler Perry, Valerie Simpson, Phylicia Rashad, and many more, most of whom are featured in personal and paparazzi photographs in these pages. Throughout their time together, B and Cicely enjoyed shocking the fashionistas, shattering inane rules limiting what a woman of a certain age should wear, devoted themselves to changing the world for the better through philanthropic efforts, laughed, cried, and inspired and celebrated each other’s excellence. In this stunning book, B shares every aspect of their time together—from the drama of a good sleeve to how to be the best friend possible to those we love. Whether you’re a fan of pop culture, couture, Hollywood, B, or Cicely Tyson, Muse is a reminder that we all have the power to be showstoppers in our own lives. Includes written contributions from Lenny Kravitz, Bridget Foley, Susan Fales Hill, and Valerie Simpson.

Muse

A “lively and sprawling” (The New York Times) oral history of the New York Post and the legendary tabloid’s cultural impact from the 1970s to today as recounted by the men and women who witnessed it firsthand. By the 1970s, the country’s oldest continuously published newspaper had fallen on hard times, just like its nearly bankrupt hometown. When the New York Post was sold to a largely unknown Australian named Rupert Murdoch in 1976, staffers hoped it would be a new beginning for the paper. Now, after the nearly fifty years Murdoch has owned the tabloid, American culture reflects what Murdoch first started in the 1970s: a celebrity-focused, noisy, one-sided media empire that reached its zenith with Fox News. Drawing on extensive interviews with key players and in-depth research, this eye-opening, wildly entertaining oral history shows us how we got to this point. “It’s a juicy, gonzo slice of New York history” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) full of bad behavior, inflated egos, and a corporate culture that rewarded skirting the rules and breaking norms. But working there was never boring and now, you can discover the entire remarkable true story of America’s favorite tabloid newspaper.

Paper of Wreckage

A groundbreaking history of the Black Joke, the most famous member of the British Royal Navy’s anti-slavery squadron, and the long fight to end the transatlantic slave trade. The most feared ship in Britain’s West Africa Squadron, His Majesty’s brig Black Joke was one of a handful of ships tasked with patrolling the western coast of Africa in an effort to end hundreds of years of global slave trading. Sailing after the spectacular fall of Napoleon in France, yet before the rise of Queen Victoria’s England, Black Joke was first a slaving vessel itself, and one with a lightning-fast reputation; only a lucky capture in 1827 allowed it to be repurposed by the Royal Navy to catch its former compatriots. Over the next five years, the ship’s diverse crew and dedicated commanders would capture more ships and liberate more enslaved people than any other in the Squadron. Now, author A.E. Rooks chronicles the adventures on this ship and its crew in a brilliant, lively narrative of the history of Britain’s suppression efforts. As Britain slowly attempted to snuff out the transatlantic slave trade by way of treaty and negotiation, enforcing these policies fell to the Black Joke and those that sailed with it as they battled slavers, weather disasters, and interpersonal drama among captains and crew that reverberated across oceans. In this history of the daring feats of a single ship, the abolition of the international slave trade is revealed as an inexplicably extended exercise involving tense negotiations between many national powers, both colonizers and formerly colonized, that would stretch on for decades longer than it should have. Harrowing and heartbreaking, The Black Joke is a crucial and deeply compelling work of history, both as a reckoning with slavery and abolition and as a lesson about the power of political will—or the lack thereof.

The Black Joke

NOW A NATIONAL BESTSELLER “This man is a gift from God to the world. This book is a gift from Al Sharpton to us. Let’s appreciate them both.”—Michael Eric Dyson Beginning with a foreword by Michael Eric Dyson, Rise Up is a rousing call to action for our nation, drawing on lessons learned from Reverend Al Sharpton’s unique experience as a politician, television and radio host, and civil rights leader. Rise Up offers timeless lessons for anyone who’s stood at the crossroads of their personal or political life, weighing their choices of how to proceed. When the young Alfred Charles Sharpton told his mother he wanted to be a preacher, little did he know that his journey would also lead him to prominence as a politician, founder of the National Action Network, civil rights activist, and television and radio talk show host. His enduring ability and willingness to take on the political power structure makes him the preeminent voice for the modern era, a time unprecedented in its challenges. In Rise Up, Reverend Sharpton revisits the highlights of the Obama administration, the 2016 election and Trump’s subsequent hold on the GOP, and draws on his decades-long experience with other key players in politics and activism, including Shirley Chisholm, Hillary Clinton, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and more. The time has come to take a hard look at our collective failures and shortcomings and reclaim our core values in order to build a clear and just path forward for America. Our nation today stands at a crossroads—and change can’t wait. “Full of history, honesty, and valuable suggestions, Rise Up should be a staple in every home, school and library as an essential primer on civil and political rights in America.”—Martin Luther King, III “If you want to learn how to use your voice to change a nation, you should study closely this man—and this book.” —Van Jones “My Bed-Stuy (do or die) brother has been at the forefront of our battles again and again. From way back in da way back to this present revolution the world is in now, Rev. has been about Black Lives Matter from the jump, also at a time when it was not the most popular or hip thing to be about. I look forward, standing next to him, to see, to witness this new energy, this new day that is about to be in these United States of America.”—Spike Lee Don't miss Rev. Sharpton's new book, Righteous Troublemakers: Untold Stories of the Social Justice Movement in America.

Rise Up

A Napa Valley vacation fling is just the thing…or will the stakes be too high? Find out in this Westmoreland Legacy: The Outlaws novel by New York Times bestselling author Brenda Jackson. What happens in Napa Valley stays in Napa Valley… Right? For Alaskan senator Jessup Outlaw, a Napa Valley vacation starts out as innocent R and R—until he meets Paige Novak. Their chemistry is explosive! And the temptation to have the Hollywood star for himself proves irresistible… but the spotlight’s trained on her every move. Is the timing finally right for Jess’s personal desires to come ahead of his career? Or will their vacation romance crash into reality with the return of a familiar face from Paige’s past? From Harlequin Desire: A luxurious world of bold encounters and sizzling chemistry. Love triumphs in these uplifting romances, part of the Westmoreland Legacy: The Outlaws series: Book 1: The Wife He Needs Book 2: The Marriage He Demands Book 3: What He Wants for Christmas Book 4: What Happens on Vacation...

What Happens on Vacation...

An “irresistibly readable” (David Michaelis, New York Times bestselling author of Eleanor) collection of love letters by American presidents to their wives—and lovers—revealing an intimate and deeply personal side of our leaders. Our presidents loom so large in history that we often forget they are human. Are You Prepared for the Storm of Love Making? is a collection of handwritten love letters that offers a surprising and intimate portrait of the men who occupied the White House. From George Washington to Barack Obama, these are not the presidents we see in history books. “In this varied (and variously entertaining) assortment of excerpted letters…a careful reader will see in the decorous prose of…George Washington and Thomas Jefferson that the hearts of real men beat beneath their stiff frock coats, too.” (The Wall Street Journal) Some of the letters are incredibly romantic—and surprisingly so. It took Richard Nixon years to convince Pat Ryan to marry him: “Someday let me see you again? In September? Maybe?” Others will make you blush. Staid-looking Woodrow Wilson, about to return home from a trip, warned his wife of ten years: “Do you think you can stand the unnumerable kisses and the passionate embraces you will receive? Are you prepared for the storm of lovemaking with which you will be assailed?” In letters to one of his mistresses, Warren G. Harding referred to his penis as “Jerry”—letters which would later be used to blackmail him. All the letters show the writer at his most vulnerable. We see letters of sorrow written about the death of a child or during a time of separation while the president was away on the battlefield. This “lovely book, stuffed with romantic details…[is] a helpful reminder that historical figures are also human beings: petty, sappy, and flawed” (The New York Times Book Review), revealing a never-before-seen side of the men we still honor today.

Are You Prepared for the Storm of Love Making?

The Wife He Needs Will this billionaire bachelor say “I do” to love? He desires her more than any other woman. But falling in love isn't part of the plan. The arrangement is simple: a two-week getaway, then a marriage of convenience. Until Garth Outlaw’s potential bride is a no-show. Now family pilot Regan Fairchild is sharing his bed—and he can’t get enough…even though he’s vowed never to love again. Can Regan convince him the wife he needs and the woman he desires are one and the same? The Marriage He Demands In the wilds of Wyoming ranch country, he needs something only she can give him. What price is too high to pay? This ranching heir wants it all, including the woman who stands in his way! Businessman Cash Outlaw has inherited almost all of his late mother’s Wyoming ranch…but still needs the fifty acres left to her former caretaker. As negotiations with beautiful, determined Brianna Banks become much more intimate, she reveals she’ll only sell him the property…if he gives her a baby! Cash’s counteroffer? That the mother of his child must become his wife! What He Wants for Christmas A blizzard has trapped this rancher with the one thing he wants under his tree—his ex! When a holiday blizzard traps him with his ex, things really heat up! It's been ten years since she broke his heart, but Leslie Cassidy's elegance still stuns rugged Alaskan executive Sloan Outlaw. Now, thanks to a ruthless enemy targeting Leslie's company, Sloan can use his wealth and influence for something nice—and something naughty. He'll save her company—if she'll spend a week with him at his luxurious winter retreat! But when a snowstorm keeps them cabin-bound, this notorious Outlaw will discover that getting what he wants for Christmas might be more than he bargained for… What Happens on Vacation... A Napa Valley vacation fling is just the thing…or will the stakes be too high? What happens in Napa Valley stays in Napa Valley…right? For Alaskan senator Jessup Outlaw, a Napa Valley vacation starts out as innocent R and R—until he meets Paige Novak. Their chemistry is explosive! And the temptation to have the Hollywood star for himself proves irresistible… but the spotlight’s trained on her every move. Is the timing finally right for Jess’s personal desires to come ahead of his career? Or will their vacation romance crash into reality with the return of a familiar face from Paige’s past? The Outlaw's Claim These friends with benefits are about to become parents…and all bets are off! From friends to lovers to…having a baby? Maverick Outlaw is a man who knows his own mind—and he knew from the beginning that a fling with longtime friend Sapphire Bordella would be more than just sizzling, mind-blowing sex. That is, until Phire says they should go back to being just friends—and then announces that she’s pregnant with Maverick’s child and her father expects her to marry someone else! Maverick may not be ready to give his heart, but nothing will stop him from claiming what’s his… Second Time's the Charm Years ago, family tore them apart. Will sweet revenge lead to a second chance? This one chance at revenge may be their second chance at love. Part-time rancher and world-renowned musician Dylan Emanuel never forgot his college romance with Charm Outlaw. Nor the pain of their sudden break-up and her father’s demands to stay away. So when they cross paths on vacation, Dylan can’t resist inviting her to his ranch—and Charm can’t resist a little seductive payback. But sun-soaked days melt into fiery nights, leaving Charm caught by her own desire. Will revenge lead to a second chance…or the truth about what really happened the first time around? From Harlequin Desire: Passionate and provocative stories featuring rich, powerful heroes and scandalous family sagas. You’ll be swept away by this bold, sizzling romance, part of the Westmoreland Legacy: The Outlaws series.

Westmoreland Legacy: The Outlaws Complete Collection

Winner of the 2024 Pulitzer Prize in Biography “A rich narrative of the Crafts, an enslaved couple who escaped from Georgia in 1848, with light-skinned Ellen disguised as a disabled white gentleman and William as her manservant, exploiting assumptions about race, class, and disability to hide in public on their journey to the North, where they became famous abolitionists while evading bounty hunters.” —The Pulitzer Prizes Named one of the best books of the year by The New York Times, The New Yorker, Time, NPR, Smithsonian Magazine, and Oprah Daily In 1848, a year of international democratic revolt, a young, enslaved couple, Ellen and William Craft, achieved one of the boldest feats of self-emancipation in American history. Posing as master and slave, while sustained by their love as husband and wife, they made their escape together across more than 1,000 miles, riding out in the open on steamboats, carriages, and trains that took them from bondage in Georgia to the free states of the North. Along the way, they dodged slave traders, military officers, and even friends of their enslavers, who might have revealed their true identities. The tale of their adventure soon made them celebrities, and generated headlines around the country. Americans could not get enough of this charismatic young couple, who traveled another 1,000 miles criss-crossing New England, drawing thunderous applause as they spoke alongside some of the greatest abolitionist luminaries of the day—among them Frederick Douglass and William Wells Brown. But even then, they were not out of danger. With the passage of an infamous new Fugitive Slave Act in 1850, all Americans became accountable for returning refugees like the Crafts to slavery. Then yet another adventure began, as slave hunters came up from Georgia, forcing the Crafts to flee once again—this time from the United States, their lives and thousands more on the line and the stakes never higher. With three epic journeys compressed into one monumental bid for freedom, Master Slave Husband Wife is an American love story—one that would challenge the nation’s core precepts of life, liberty, and justice for all—one that challenges us even now.

The newest anthology from Mystery Writers of America explores the theme of home and the crimes that endanger it, with stories by Ellen Hart, Naomi Hirahara, Walter Mosley, Sara Paretsky and more. Everyone comes from someplace. Everyone has somewhere they feel safe. Some people have found their home and are content where they are. Others feel trapped and yearn to go somewhere else. Many are somewhere else and yearn to go back. But evenin these safest of places, sometimes…crime hits home. What happens then? In this volume, MWA brings together some of today’s biggest crime writers—and some of our most exciting new talents—to consider this question. Each writer has defined home as they see fit: a place, a group, a feeling. The crime can come from without or within. What happens when crime hits home? Featuring stories from: Naomi Hirahara David Bart Sara Paretsky Susan Breen Gary Phillips Neil S. Plakcy Renee James Connie Johnson Hambley Gabino Iglesias A.P. Jamison Walter Mosley Tori Eldridge Ellen Hart G. Miki Hayden Jonathan Santlofer Jonathan Stone Ovidia Yu Bonnie Hearn Hill Steve Liskow S.J. Rozan

Mystery Writers of America Series

Crime Hits Home

An unflinching look at a shocking racial tragedy that divides a Southern city—comparable to the recent events in Charlottesville—and the activists who, in their tireless fight for justice, refuse to give up on America’s promised ideals, and pursue racial reconciliation with hope that their fractured city can heal. On November 3, 1979, as activist Nelson Johnson assembled people for a march adjacent to Morningside Homes in Greensboro, North Carolina, gunshots rang out. A caravan of Klansmen and Neo-Nazis sped from the scene, leaving behind five dead. Known as the “Greensboro Massacre,” the event and its aftermath encapsulate the racial conflict, economic anxiety, clash of ideologies, and toxic mix of corruption and conspiracy that roiled American democracy then—and threaten it today. In 88 seconds, one Southern city shattered over irreconcilable visions of America’s past and future. When the shooters are acquitted in the courts, Reverend Johnson, his wife Joyce, and their allies, at odds with the police and the Greensboro establishment, sought alternative forms of justice. As the Johnsons rebuilt their lives after 1979, they found inspiration in Nelson Mandela’s post-apartheid Truth and Reconciliation Commission and Martin Luther King Jr’s concept of Beloved Community and insist that only by facing history’s hardest truths can healing come to the city they refuse to give up on. This intimate, deeply researched, and heart-stopping account draws upon survivor interviews, court documents, and the files from one of the largest investigations in FBI history. The persistent mysteries of the case touch deep cultural insecurities and contradictions about race and class. A quintessentially American story, Morningside explores the courage required to make change and the evolving pursuit of a more inclusive and equal future.

Morningside

The definitive history of Seattle’s 1999 World Trade Organization protests, featuring over 100 original interviews and timed to the event’s twenty-fifth anniversary. One week in late 1999, more than 50,000 people converged on Seattle. Their goal: to shut down the World Trade Organization conference and send a message that working-class people would not quietly accept the runaway economic globalization that threatened their livelihoods. Though their mission succeeded, it was not without blowback. Violent confrontations between police and protestors resulted in hundreds of arrests and millions of dollars in property damage. But the images of tear gas and smashed windows that flashed across TVs and newspapers were not an accurate representation of what actually happened that week. In the oral history One Week to Change the World, award-winning journalist DW Gibson pieces together a complex and compelling account of what really went down in Seattle, immersing you in the angst that defined the end of a millennium, complete with fight clubs and Y2K doomsday scenarios. In more than 100 original interviews with protestors, police, politicians, anarchists, artists, activists, union members, and many others, Gibson reconstructs the events in gripping detail; documents its antecedents and aftermath; and shows how so many of its themes remain just as pressing today, including the vitalness and difficulty of grassroots activism, the aspirations and limitations of globalization, the militarization of policing, the sensationalism of the media, and the undeniable power of the people. Timed to the 25th anniversary of the protests, this book is a page-turning drama, an essential history, and a practical handbook for how to make one’s voice heard.

One Week to Change the World

WINNER OF THE 2023 AUDIE AWARD FOR MIDDLE GRADE! NAMED A 2023 ALA NOTABLE CHILDREN’S RECORDING! An Odyssey Children’s Award winner A Schneider Family Award Honor Book for Middle Grade From Newbery Medal honoree and #1 New York Times bestselling author Jason Reynolds comes a hilarious, hopeful, and action-packed middle grade novel about the greatest young superhero you’ve never heard of, filled with illustrations by Raúl the Third! Portico Reeves’s superpower is making sure all the other superheroes—like his parents and two best friends—stay super. And safe. Super safe. And he does this all in secret. No one in his civilian life knows he’s actually…Stuntboy! But his regular Portico identity is pretty cool, too. He lives in the biggest house on the block, maybe in the whole city, which basically makes it a castle. His mom calls where they live an apartment building. But a building with fifty doors just in the hallways is definitely a castle. And behind those fifty doors live a bunch of different people who Stuntboy saves all the time. In fact, he’s the only reason the cat, New Name Every Day, has nine lives. All this is swell except for Portico’s other secret, his not-so-super secret. His parents are fighting all the time. They’re trying to hide it by repeatedly telling Portico to go check on a neighbor “in the meantime.” But Portico knows “meantime” means his parents are heading into the Mean Time which means they’re about to get into it, and well, Portico’s superhero responsibility is to save them, too—as soon as he figures out how. Only, all these secrets give Portico the worry wiggles, the frets, which his mom calls anxiety. Plus, like all superheroes, Portico has an arch-nemesis who is determined to prove that there is nothing super about Portico at all.

Stuntboy, in the Meantime

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE IN HISTORY A “sensitive, immersive, and exhaustive” portrait of Black workers and white hypocrisy in nineteenth-century Boston, from “a gifted practitioner of labor history and urban history,” (Tiya Miles, National Book Award-winning author of All That She Carried). Impassioned antislavery rhetoric made antebellum Boston famous as the nation’s hub of radical abolitionism. In fact, the city was far from a beacon of equality. In No Right to an Honest Living, historian Jacqueline Jones reveals how Boston was the United States writ small—a place where the soaring rhetoric of egalitarianism was easy, but justice in the workplace was elusive. Before, during, and after the Civil War, white abolitionists and Republicans refused to secure equal employment opportunities for Black Bostonians, condemning most of them to poverty. Still, Jones finds, some Black entrepreneurs ingeniously created their own jobs and forged their own career paths. Highlighting the everyday struggles of ordinary Black workers, this book shows how injustice in the workplace prevented Boston—and the United States—from securing true equality for all.

No Right to an Honest Living

This “superbly researched and engaging” (The Wall Street Journal) true story about five boys who were kidnapped in the North and smuggled into slavery in the Deep South—and their daring attempt to escape and bring their captors to justice belongs “alongside the work of Harriet Beecher Stowe, Edward P. Jones, and Toni Morrison” (Jane Kamensky, Professor of American History at Harvard University). Philadelphia, 1825: five young, free black boys fall into the clutches of the most fearsome gang of kidnappers and slavers in the United States. Lured onto a small ship with the promise of food and pay, they are instead met with blindfolds, ropes, and knives. Over four long months, their kidnappers drive them overland into the Cotton Kingdom to be sold as slaves. Determined to resist, the boys form a tight brotherhood as they struggle to free themselves and find their way home. Their ordeal—an odyssey that takes them from the Philadelphia waterfront to the marshes of Mississippi and then onward still—shines a glaring spotlight on the Reverse Underground Railroad, a black market network of human traffickers and slave traders who stole away thousands of legally free African Americans from their families in order to fuel slavery’s rapid expansion in the decades before the Civil War. “Rigorously researched, heartfelt, and dramatically concise, Bell’s investigation illuminates the role slavery played in the systemic inequalities that still confront Black Americans” (Booklist).

A True Story About Slavery in America

Stolen

In this rich, transparent, and witty memoir, the Co-Founder of WangaWoman LLC, current President & CEO of Essence Ventures, and ambassador of authenticity navigates the lifelong battle between her intuition and inner saboteur delivering “instigational” inspiration with a passion to help every person discover the purpose they were born to deliver to the world. Published by Amistad in collaboration with Lavette Books. It Ain’t Math, it’s MISSION powered by INTUITION. Intuition is like the “endocrine system” of authenticity and purpose. Most of us don’t know its full function until it malfunctions, and every part of your existence that depends on it goes into dysfunction. At that point, every part of your anatomy (humanity) becomes compromised until the system can move into repair and recovery, which is a complex and intrusive restoration journey that will scare you just enough to never “not mind” your intuition ever again. At its apex, you move forward in ways that are generally accepted as good, bad, and most importantly, less-worse. “I’m Highly Percent Sure,” invites your curiosity to my co-existence with intuition, sometimes with foresight but oftentimes, without. You don’t have to agree to engage, but if you aren’t engaging, please only occupy the periphery as seating is reserved for those who intend to #TakeNotesDoItBetter. There is limited space for those who only intend to spectate. #IYKYK Onward!

I'm Highly Percent Sure

Sage Dunbar is dealt a shattering double blow when she discovers that her fiancé has depleted her bank accounts and her father has been having an affair. Reeling with shock, she accepts a job promotion that involves relocating to Anchorage, Alaska. She never expects to cross paths with a man who will challenge everything she thought she knew about love. Gabe’s “sex-only” relationship policy has been working just fine, keeping him free of messy entanglements and emotional baggage. Then he meets Sage, and his no-commitment ways start to lose their appeal. But Sage isn’t ready to give her heart and trust to another man any time soon. With a single-minded determination that surprises even him, Gabe resolves to convince her that true love can erase every obstacle—real or imagined—in its path . . .

Perfect Fit

A New York Times Notable Book | Lambda Literary Award Winner | Long-listed for the PEN Open Book Award “Charles Blow is the James Baldwin of our age.” — Washington Blade “[An] exquisite memoir . . . Delicately wrought and arresting.” — New York Times Universally praised on its publication, Fire Shut Up in My Bones is a pioneering journalist’s indelible coming-of-age tale. Charles M. Blow’s mother was a fiercely driven woman with five sons, brass knuckles in her glove box, and a job plucking poultry at a factory near their segregated Louisiana town, where slavery's legacy felt close. When her philandering husband finally pushed her over the edge, she fired a pistol at his fleeing back, missing every shot, thanks to “love that blurred her vision and bent the barrel.” Charles was the baby of the family, fiercely attached to his “do-right” mother. Until one day that divided his life into Before and After—the day an older cousin took advantage of the young boy. The story of how Charles escaped that world to become one of America’s most innovative and respected public figures is a stirring, redemptive journey that works its way into the deepest chambers of the heart. “Stunning . . . Blow’s words grab hold of you . . . [and] lead you to a place of healing.” — Essence “The memoir of the year.” — A. V. Club

Fire Shut Up in My Bones

New York Times bestselling author David Talbot and New Yorker journalist Margaret Talbot illuminate “America’s second revolutionary generation” in this gripping history of one of the most dynamic eras of the twentieth century—brought to life through seven defining radical moments that offer vibrant parallels and lessons for today. The political landscape of the 1960s and 1970s was perhaps one of the most tumultuous in this country's history, shaped by the fight for civil rights, women’s liberation, Black power, and the end to the Vietnam War. In many ways, this second American revolution was a belated fulfillment of the betrayed promises of the first, striving to extend the full protections of the Bill of Rights to non-white, non-male, non-elite Americans excluded by the nation’s founders. Based on exclusive interviews, original documents, and archival research, By the Light of Burning Dreams explores critical moments in the lives of a diverse cast of iconoclastic leaders of the twentieth century radical movement: Bobby Seale of the Black Panthers; Heather Booth and the Jane Collective, the first underground feminist abortion clinic; Vietnam War peace activists Tom Hayden and Jane Fonda; Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta and the United Farm Workers; Craig Rodwell and the Gay Pride movement; Dennis Banks, Madonna Thunder Hawk, Russell Means and the warriors of Wounded Knee; and John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s politics of stardom. Margaret and David Talbot reveal the epiphanies that galvanized these modern revolutionaries and created unexpected connections and alliances between individual movements and across race, class, and gender divides. America is still absorbing—and reacting against—the revolutionary forces of this tumultuous period. The change these leaders enacted demanded much of American society and the human imagination. By the Light of Burning Dreams is an immersive and compelling chronicle of seven lighting rods of change and the generation that engraved itself in American narrative—and set the stage for those today, fighting to bend forward the arc of history. Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

By the Light of Burning Dreams

Scandal Between the Sheets When reporter Jasmine Carmody began sniffing around Savannah's most respected family looking for a story, watchdog Wesley Brooks warned her off. Day and night, she sensed him shadowing her every move, felt his every breath, wanted his most intimate touch.... Wesley would do anything to stop Jasmine's expos? on his adopted family--even seduce her. But her unexpected virginity surprised him, and so did their overwhelming passion. Soon he'd have to make a choice--trust her with all his secrets, or risk losing her forever. Stranded with the Tempting Stranger Risky Business High-powered lawyer Brandon Washington knew how to win. He had to be ruthless, cutthroat and, for his latest case, irresistible. His biggest client, the family of the late hotel magnate John Garrison, had sent Brandon under an assumed name to the Bahamas to track down their newly discovered half sister. He would find her, charm her and uncover all her secrets. But as soon as Brandon met the beautiful heiress, the lines began to blur. Between the truth and the lies. Between her secrets and his. Between his ambition…and a chance to be loved. And as a storm gathered over the Caribbean, Brandon knew the reckoning was coming. And this time, winning could be the last thing he wanted.

Scandal Between the Sheets & Stranded with the Tempting Stranger

Risky Business High-powered lawyer Brandon Washington knew how to win. He had to be ruthless, cutthroat and, for his latest case, irresistible. His biggest client, the family of the late hotel magnate John Garrison, had sent Brandon under an assumed name to the Bahamas to track down their newly discovered half sister. He would find her, charm her and uncover all her secrets. But as soon as Brandon met the beautiful heiress, the lines began to blur. Between the truth and the lies. Between her secrets and his. Between his ambition…and a chance to be loved. And as a storm gathered over the Caribbean, Brandon knew the reckoning was coming. And this time, winning could be the last thing he wanted.

Stranded with the Tempting Stranger

The uplifting, unlikely, and inspirational true story of the friendships formed between Cam Perron—a white, baseball-obsessed teenager from Boston—and hundreds of former professional Negro League players, who were still awaiting the recognition and compensation that they deserved from Major League Baseball more than fifty years after their playing days were over. Featuring the players’ fascinating stories and original photographs. Cam Perron always loved history, and from an early age, he had a knack for collecting. But when he was twelve and bought a set of Topps baseball cards featuring several players from the Negro Leagues, something clicked. Cam started writing letters to former Negro League players in 2007, asking for their autographs and a few words about their careers. He got back much more than he expected. The players responded with detailed stories about their glory days on the field, and the racism they faced, including run-ins with the KKK. They explained how they were repeatedly kept out of the major leagues and confined to the historic but lower-paying Negro Leagues, even after Jackie Robinson—who got his start in the Negro Leagues—broke the color barrier. By the time Cam finished middle school, letters had turned into phone calls, and he was spending hours a day talking with the players. In these conversations, many of the players revealed that their careers had been unrecognized over time, and they’d fallen out of touch with their former teammates. So Cam, along with a small group of fellow researchers, organized the first annual Negro League Players Reunion in Birmingham, Alabama in 2010. At the celebratory, week-long event, fifteen-year-old Cam and the players—who were in their 70s, 80s, and 90s—finally met in person. They quickly became family. As Cam and the players returned to the reunion year after year, Cam became deeply involved in a complicated mission to help many players get pension money that they were owed from Major League Baseball. He also worked to get a Negro League museum opened in Birmingham, and stock it with memorabilia. Sports fans—and anyone who enjoys a heartfelt story—will have their eyes opened by this book about unlikely friendships, the power of memories, and just how far a childhood interest can go.

Comeback Season

“Powerful memoir. . .Ford’s thought-provoking narrative tells the story of African-American pride and perseverance.” –Publisher’s Weekly (Starred) “A masterful storyteller, Ford interweaves his personal story with the backdrop of the social movements unfolding at that time, providing a revealing insider’s view of the tech industry. . . simultaneously informative and entertaining. . . A powerful, engrossing look at race and technology.” –Kirkus Review (Starred) In this thought-provoking and heartbreaking memoir, an award-winning writer tells the story of his father, John Stanley Ford, the first black software engineer at IBM, revealing how racism insidiously affected his father’s view of himself and their relationship. In 1947, Thomas J. Watson set out to find the best and brightest minds for IBM. At City College he met young accounting student John Stanley Ford and hired him to become IBM’s first black software engineer. But not all of the company’s white employees refused to accept a black colleague and did everything in their power to humiliate, subvert, and undermine Ford. Yet Ford would not quit. Viewing the job as the opportunity of a lifetime, he comported himself with dignity and professionalism, and relied on his community and his ""street smarts"" to succeed. He did not know that his hiring was meant to distract from IBM’s dubious business practices, including its involvement in the Holocaust, eugenics, and apartheid. While Ford remained at IBM, it came at great emotional cost to himself and his family, especially his son Clyde. Overlooked for promotions he deserved, the embittered Ford began blaming his fate on his skin color and the notion that darker-skinned people like him were less intelligent and less capable—beliefs that painfully divided him and Clyde, who followed him to IBM two decades later. From his first day of work—with his wide-lapelled suit, bright red turtleneck, and huge afro—Clyde made clear he was different. Only IBM hadn’t changed. As he, too, experienced the same institutional racism, Clyde began to better understand the subtle yet daring ways his father had fought back.

Think Black

A breakout media and political analyst delivers a sweeping snapshot of American Democracy and the role that African Americans have played in its shaping while offering concrete information to help harness the electoral power of the country’s rising majority and exposing political forces aligned to subvert and suppress Black voters. Black voters were critical to the Democrats’ 2018 blue wave. In fact, 90 percent of Black voters supported Democratic House candidates, compared to just 53 percent of all voters. Despite media narratives, this was not a fluke. Throughout U.S. history, Black people have played a crucial role in the shaping of the American experiment. Yet still, this powerful voting bloc is often dismissed as some “amorphous” deviation, argues Tiffany Cross. Say It Louder! is her explosive examination of how America’s composition was designed to exclude Black voters, but paradoxically would likely cease to exist without them. With multiple tentacles stretching into the cable news echo chamber, campaign leadership, and Black voter data, Cross creates a wrinkle in time with a reflective look at the timeless efforts endlessly attempting to deny people of color the right to vote—a basic tenet of American democracy. And yet as the demographics of the country are changing, so too is the electoral power construct—by evolution and by force, Cross declares. Grounded in the most-up-to-date research, Say It Louder! is a vital tool for a wide swath of constituencies.

Say It Louder!

A sweeping and groundbreaking treasury of the most essential presidential writings, featuring a mix of the beloved and the little-known, from stirring speeches and shrewd remarks to behind-the-scenes drafts and unpublished autobiographies. From the early years of our nation’s history, when George Washington wrote his humble yet powerful Farewell Address, to our current age, when Barack Obama delivered his moving speech on the fiftieth anniversary of the Selma-to-Montgomery marches, America’s presidents have upheld a tradition of exceptional writing. Now, for the first time, the greatest presidential writings in history are united in one monumental treasury: the very best campaign orations, early autobiographies, presidential speeches, postpresidential reflections, and much more. In these pages, we see not only the words that shaped our nation, like Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation and Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Infamy speech, but also the words of young politicians claiming their place in our history, including excerpts from Woodrow Wilson’s Congressional Government and Obama’s career-making convention speech, and the words of mature leaders reflecting on their legacies, including John Adams’s autobiography and Harry S. Truman’s Memoirs. We even see hidden sides of the presidents that the public rarely glimpses: noted outdoorsman Teddy Roosevelt’s great passion for literature or sunny Ronald Reagan’s piercing childhood memories of escorting home his alcoholic father. Encompassing notable favorites like Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address and John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address as well as lesser-known texts like Thomas Jefferson’s Notes on the State of Virginia and James Polk’s candid White House diary, The Best Presidential Writing showcases America’s presidents as thinkers, citizens, and leaders. More than simply a curation of must-read presidential writings, this unique collection presents the story of America itself, told by its highest leaders. Even the most famous speeches find new meanings or fresh connections when read in this sweeping context, making The Best Presidential Writing a trove full of insight and an essential historical document.

The Best Presidential Writing

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