All Books
- Eat Plants, B*tch: 91 Vegan Recipes That Will Blow Your Meat-Loving Mind
Eat Plants, B*tch: 91 Vegan Recipes That Will Blow Your Meat-Loving Mind
by Pinky Cole
$28.99From the Slutty Vegan herself, a collection of ninety-one delicious, guilt-free, plant-based recipes that you will love to indulge in from the comfort of your own home.
When Pinky Cole opened her first Slutty Vegan food truck in 2018, she was inspired by her love of vegan comfort food. Now, after having expanded to restaurants, a bar, and a philanthropic organization, Cole is ready to bring her best recipes straight to you.
With mouth-watering photographs and easy-to-follow instructions, Eat Plants, B*tch celebrates Cole’s belief that it’s fun and accessible to cook and enjoy irresistible vegan comfort food. From Avocado Egg Rolls to her Black Pea Cauliflower Po’Boy or Oyster Mushroom Parm and everything in between, it won’t be long before you will also be declaring Cole’s timeless mantra: Eat Plants, B*tch! - Take Note: Real Life Lessons by Toni Tone
Take Note: Real Life Lessons by Toni Tone
Sold outFollowing on from her Sunday Times best-seller, I Wish I Knew This Earlier, Toni Tone is back again—and this time, filled with advice that goes beyond our dating and romantic lives.
‘In my opinion, change as a form of evolution is wonderful, because nobody should stay exactly the same forever. If you’re not evolving or growing, what are you doing? Embrace personal change if it means the you of today is better than you of yesterday.’
Do you wish you had more confidence in yourself?
Are your friendships changing as you get older and you’re not sure how manage it?
Is your career unfulfilling or taking over your life?
These are the kinds of issues that Toni Tone explores in her brand-new book, Take Note: Real Life Lessons. Threading in her own experiences, and in particular, what she took away from her twenties, Toni provides genuine and insightful advice on a whole array of topics.
Everything from ageing to making (and ending) friendships, to reinventing yourself and challenging your comfort zone, to ignoring ‘deadlines’ and going at your own pace – Take Note has all of the ingredients you’ll need to reach your fullest potential, in one handy, accessible place.
- The Official We Do Not Care Club Handbook: A Hot-Mess Guide for Women in Perimenopause, Menopause, and Beyond Who Are Over It: 31
The Official We Do Not Care Club Handbook: A Hot-Mess Guide for Women in Perimenopause, Menopause, and Beyond Who Are Over It: 31
$24.00We. Do. Not. Care.
Hop aboard the Hot Mess Express, Sisters, and welcome to the club!
Do you wake up with night sweats at 3:26 a.m., overstimulated, mad at anything breathing, and ready to put the world on notice?
Do you forget the words you are saying as you are saying them?
If you have a she-shed and no longer care about clothes that fit or cellulite on your legs (legs is legs!), then welcome to the club--the We Do Not Care Club (WDNC). You're now a card-carrying member with an exclusive invite to the biggest hormonal party in town.
This club is for all of our Sisters in perimenopause, menopause, and postmenopause who are over it. Here is a list* of things We Do Not Care about today:* Shaving our legs. That's on our summer bucket list. Winter is here.
* Plucking our chin hair. If we can't see it, neither can you.
* Wearing bras. Be happy we have a shirt on.
* Wearing PJs all day. Clothes is clothes.
* Being on time. Be happy that I showed up -- I don't even want to be here.
* Cancelled plans. We didn't want to go anywhere anyway.
* If you're cold. Don't even think about touching that thermostat.*partial and incomplete
Melani Sanders, founding member of the WDNC, is here to tell you that it's okay not to care. You're not alone. This book is your life raft. Let's hold on for dear life--and get through this together. - Freshwater
Freshwater
by Akwaeke Emezi
Sold outOne of the most highly praised novels of the year, the debut from an astonishing young writer, Freshwater tells the story of Ada, an unusual child who is a source of deep concern to her southern Nigerian family.
Young Ada is troubled, prone to violent fits. Born “with one foot on the other side,” she begins to develop separate selves within her as she grows into adulthood. And when she travels to America for college, a traumatic event on campus crystallizes the selves into something powerful and potentially dangerous, making Ada fade into the background of her own mind as these alters—now protective, now hedonistic—move into control. Written with stylistic brilliance and based in the author’s realities, Freshwater dazzles with ferocious energy and serpentine grace.
- Grown
Grown
by Tiffany Jackson
$15.99Korey Fields is dead.
When Enchanted Jones wakes with blood on her hands and zero memory of the previous night, no one—the police and Korey’s fans included—has more questions than she does. All she really knows is that this isn’t how things are supposed to be. Korey was Enchanted’s ticket to stardom.
Before there was a dead body, Enchanted was an aspiring singer, struggling with her tight-knit family’s recent move to the suburbs while trying to find her place as one of the few black girls in high school. But then legendary R&B artist Korey Fields spots her at an audition, and suddenly her dream of being a professional singer takes flight.
Enchanted is dazzled by Korey’s luxurious life but soon her dream turns into a nightmare. Behind Korey’s charm and star power lurks a dark side; one that wants to control her every move with rage and consequences. Except now he’s dead and the police are at the door. Who killed Korey Fields?
All signs point to Enchanted.
- Ghost
Ghost
by Jason Reynolds
Sold outGhost. Lu. Patina. Sunny. Four kids from wildly different backgrounds with personalities that are explosive when they clash. But they are also four kids chosen for an elite middle school track team—a team that could qualify them for the Junior Olympics if they can get their acts together. They all have a lot to lose, but they also have a lot to prove, not only to each other, but to themselves.
Running. That’s all Ghost (real name Castle Cranshaw) has ever known. But Ghost has been running for the wrong reasons—it all started with running away from his father, who, when Ghost was a very little boy, chased him and his mother through their apartment, then down the street, with a loaded gun, aiming to kill. Since then, Ghost has been the one causing problems—and running away from them—until he meets Coach, an ex-Olympic Medalist who sees something in Ghost: crazy natural talent. If Ghost can stay on track, literally and figuratively, he could be the best sprinter in the city. Can Ghost harness his raw talent for speed, or will his past finally catch up to him? - I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
by Maya Angelou
$19.00Maya Angelou’s debut memoir is a modern American classic beloved worldwide. Her life story is told in the documentary film And Still I Rise, as seen on PBS’s American Masters.
Here is a book as joyous and painful, as mysterious and memorable, as childhood itself. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings captures the longing of lonely children, the brute insult of bigotry, and the wonder of words that can make the world right. Maya Angelou’s debut memoir is a modern American classic beloved worldwide.
Sent by their mother to live with their devout, self-sufficient grandmother in a small Southern town, Maya and her brother, Bailey, endure the ache of abandonment and the prejudice of the local “powhitetrash.” At eight years old and back at her mother’s side in St. Louis, Maya is attacked by a man many times her age—and has to live with the consequences for a lifetime. Years later, in San Francisco, Maya learns that love for herself, the kindness of others, her own strong spirit, and the ideas of great authors (“I met and fell in love with William Shakespeare”) will allow her to be free instead of imprisoned.
Poetic and powerful, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings will touch hearts and change minds for as long as people read.
“I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings liberates the reader into life simply because Maya Angelou confronts her own life with such a moving wonder, such a luminous dignity.”—James Baldwin - South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation
South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation
by Imani Perry
$19.99An essential, surprising journey through the history, rituals, and landscapes of the American South—and a revelatory argument for why you must understand the South in order to understand America
We all think we know the South. Even those who have never lived there can rattle off a list of signifiers: the Civil War, Gone with the Wind, the Ku Klux Klan, plantations, football, Jim Crow, slavery. But the idiosyncrasies, dispositions, and habits of the region are stranger and more complex than much of the country tends to acknowledge. In South to America, Imani Perry shows that the meaning of American is inextricably linked with the South, and that our understanding of its history and culture is the key to understanding the nation as a whole.
This is the story of a Black woman and native Alabaman returning to the region she has always called home and considering it with fresh eyes. Her journey is full of detours, deep dives, and surprising encounters with places and people. She renders Southerners from all walks of life with sensitivity and honesty, sharing her thoughts about a troubling history and the ritual humiliations and joys that characterize so much of Southern life.
Weaving together stories of immigrant communities, contemporary artists, exploitative opportunists, enslaved peoples, unsung heroes, her own ancestors, and her lived experiences, Imani Perry crafts a tapestry unlike any other. With uncommon insight and breathtaking clarity, South to America offers an assertion that if we want to build a more humane future for the United States, we must center our concern below the Mason-Dixon Line.
- What She Missed
What She Missed
by Liara Tamani
$19.99Sixteen-year-old Ebony Jones is devastated when her family moves from Houston to her grandmother’s house in the country. There’s absolutely nothing for Ebony in Alula Lake, Texas. So she thinks.
Award-winning author Liara Tamani’s What She Missed is a rich and emotional novel that celebrates change, nature, friendship, growing up, and love, for readers of Sarah Dessen’s The Rest of the Story and Elizabeth Acevedo’s Clap When You Land.
When Ebony and her parents move from Houston, Texas, to her grandmother’s house in a small lake town, Ebony is sure her life is doomed. And to make matters worse, the ghost of Ebony’s beloved grandmother—a strong swimmer who tragically drowned in the lake—is everywhere. Alula Lake does offer one perk: reconnecting Ebony with her childhood friend, Jalen.
But as Ebony settles into life, she finds herself drifting away from Jalen and gravitating to his older sister, Lena. Lena is chaotic, disorderly, and rebellious, yet she offers a reprieve for the anger and sadness Ebony feels about losing so much.
An ode to nature, art, friendship, history, family, and love, this lyrical coming-of-age story explores one girl’s summer of self-discovery as she reimagines the world and her place in it. What She Missed is for fans of Sarah Dessen, Nina LaCour, and Nicola Yoon.
- Jazz
Jazz
by Toni Morrison
Sold outFrom the acclaimed Nobel Prize winner, a passionate, profound story of love and obsession that brings us back and forth in time, as a narrative is assembled from the emotions, hopes, fears, and deep realities of Black urban life. With a foreword by the author.
“As rich in themes and poetic images as her Pulitzer Prize–winning Beloved.... Morrison conjures up the hand of slavery on Harlem’s jazz generation. The more you listen, the more you crave to hear.” —Glamour
In the winter of 1926, when everybody everywhere sees nothing but good things ahead, Joe Trace, middle-aged door-to-door salesman of Cleopatra beauty products, shoots his teenage lover to death. At the funeral, Joe’s wife, Violet, attacks the girl’s corpse. This novel “transforms a familiar refrain of jilted love into a bold, sustaining time of self-knowledge and discovery. Its rhythms are infectious” (People). - Potty Party!
Potty Party!
by Dionna L Mann
$7.99A potty party’s coming through! Celebrate the milestone of potty training with this energetic board book that features a diverse group of children as they ditch their diapers and flush like big kids do.
Going potty can be a party for everyone! Perfect for all children, this book touches on the aspects of potty training, including feeling the need to go, sitting and waiting, and picking out underwear. Get down and celebrate at toilet time with this fun and imaginative board book. - Ours: A Novel
Ours: A Novel
by Phillip B. Williams
$22.00Chosen as a Most Anticipated Book of 2024 by Oprah’s Book Club, Reader's Digest, The Rumpus, Kirkus Reviews, The Millions, Lit Hub, and more. “Fans of The Underground Railroad, The Water Dancer, and Let Us Descend will devour this lyrical and surreal saga.” – Oprah Daily From a writer of singular voice and vision, a mesmerizing epic that reimagines the past to explore the true nature of freedom In this ingenious, sweeping novel, Phillip B. Williams introduces us to an enigmatic woman named Saint, a fearsome conjuror who, in the 1830s, annihilates plantations all over Arkansas to rescue the people enslaved there. She brings those she has freed to a haven of her own creation: a town just north of St. Louis, magically concealed from outsiders, named Ours. It is in this miraculous place that Saint’s grand experiment—a truly secluded community where her people may flourish—takes root. But although Saint does her best to protect the inhabitants of Ours, over time, her conjuring and memories begin to betray her, leaving the town vulnerable to intrusions by newcomers with powers of their own. As the cracks in Saint’s creation are exposed, some begin to wonder whether the community’s safety might be yet another form of bondage. Set over the course of four decades and steeped in a rich tradition of American literature informed by Black surrealism, mythology, and spirituality, Ours is a stunning exploration of the possibilities and limitations of love and freedom by a writer of capacious vision and talent.
- Autobiomythography of
Autobiomythography of
by Ayokunle Falomo
$24.95Autobiomythography of sifts through Nigerian stories and mythologies, both inherited and invented, to explore the self, family, and nationhood.
In an attempt at decolonization, it is an exploration of what it means to be a subject—a person, yes, but also a literary subject—in the wake and afterlife of colonization. Intimate and personal, it is interested in figuring out how to wrest subjectivity—one’s notion of self—from this failed project of modernity.
As the title suggests, the book spans and swirls together autobiography, mythology, biography, history (shared and personal), and geography. Amidst myriad speakers in the collection, there is a prominent speaker who, in search of his self/voice, tries on multiple voices—including Frederick Lugard’s—and other personas: some closer to who/what he is, whatever that is, and others diametrically opposite.
Tangentially, this is a book about a son's relationship with his father. Poem after poem, the speakers interrogate the perceptions of identity, reality, and ownership, and in the pursuit of Truth they erode the boundaries between fact and fiction to show us the fragility of the lines we draw in service to these abstractions, of the beliefs we hold about them, of the acts we perform in service to them. - Model Home: A Novel
Model Home: A Novel
by Rivers Solomon
from $18.00Welcome to Rivers Solomon's dark and wondrous Model Home, a new kind of haunted-house novel.
The three Maxwell siblings keep their distance from the lily-white gated enclave outside Dallas where they grew up. When their family moved there, they were the only Black family in the neighborhood. The neighbors acted nice enough, but right away bad things, scary things―the strange and the unexplainable―began to happen in their house. Maybe it was some cosmic trial, a demonic rite of passage into the upper-middle class. Whatever it was, the Maxwells, steered by their formidable mother, stayed put, unwilling to abandon their home, terrors and trauma be damned.
As adults, the siblings could finally get away from the horrors of home, leaving their parents all alone in the house. But when news of their parents' death arrives, Ezri is forced to return to Texas with their sisters, Eve and Emanuelle, to reckon with their family’s past and present, and to find out what happened while they were away. It was not a “natural” death for their parents . . . but was it supernatural?
Rivers Solomon turns the haunted-house story on its head, unearthing the dark legacies of segregation and racism in the suburban American South. Unbridled, raw, and daring, Model Home is the story of secret histories uncovered, and of a queer family battling for their right to live, grieve, and heal amid the terrors of contemporary American life.
- In Deadly Company
In Deadly Company
$18.99An incisive workplace satire and twisty murder mystery featuring a young executive assistant who realizes the peril in being diligently attentive to her boss's whims.
As the assistant of the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, Nicole Underwood has plenty of tasks on her to-do list—one of which is the blowout birthday celebration for her nightmare, one-percenter boss, Xander Chambers. But when the party ends in chaos and murder and Nicole is one of the survivors, suspicion—from the investigators to the media—lands on her. Was she the reason for all the bloodshed?
A year after those deadly events, Nicole tries to set the public record straight by agreeing to consult on a feature film based on her story. However, on the set in LA, she's sidelined by inappropriate casting and persistent, bizarre script changes, while also haunted by the events of that party weekend with visions of her now-deceased boss. It seems clearing her name isn't so simple when the question of guilt or innocence is...complicated.
- BlackCrosswords 1: In Our Own Words (Volume 1)
BlackCrosswords 1: In Our Own Words (Volume 1)
Jan Buckner Walker
Sold outCelebrate Black culture and pop history in this unique and engaging collection of crosswords for puzzlers of all skill levels!
The Original Black Puzzle Experienceâ„¢
Sit back and enjoy. Flex your knowledge and learn hundreds of factoids in the first installment of this engaging puzzle series!
​Nationally syndicated puzzle creator of the Essence and Ebony crosswords, and creator of BlackCrosswords.com, Jan Buckner Walker offers a new collection of crossword puzzles highlighting Black culture and its contributions to North American pop culture and history. From Lorraine Hansberry and N.K. Jemison, to Beyoncé, Barack Obama, Motown and Shonda Rhimes, BlackCrosswords: In Our Own Words covers the wide breadth of the legacy Black Americans have left on history, sports, literature, music, and politics––with a side of quotable wisdom!
- Black Futures
Black Futures
by Kimberly Drew and Jenna Wortham
$25.00Kimberly Drew and Jenna Wortham have brought together this collection of work—art, photos, essays, memes, dialogues, recipes, tweets, poetry, and more—to tell the story of the radical, imaginative, provocative, and gorgeous world that black creators are bringing forth today. The book presents a succession of startling and beautiful pieces that generate an entrancing rhythm: Readers will go from conversations with activists and academics to memes and Instagram posts, from powerful essays to dazzling paintings and insightful infographics.
- A Black Women's History of the United States
A Black Women's History of the United States
by Daina Ramey Berry and Kali Nicole Gross
Sold outA vibrant and empowering history that emphasizes the perspectives and stories of African American women to show how they are—and have always been—instrumental in shaping our country.
A Black Women’s History of the United States reaches far beyond a single narrative to showcase Black women’s lives in all their fraught complexities. Berry and Gross prioritize many voices: enslaved women, freedwomen, religious leaders, artists, queer women, activists, and women who lived outside the law. The result is a starting point for exploring Black women’s history and a testament to the beauty, richness, rhythm, tragedy, heartbreak, rage, and enduring love that abounds in the spirit of Black women in communities throughout the nation.
- The King of Kindergarten
The King of Kindergarten
by Derrick Barnes
$18.99Starting kindergarten is a big milestone--and the hero of this story is ready to make his mark! He's dressed himself, eaten a pile of pancakes, and can't wait to be part of a whole new kingdom of kids. The day will be jam-packed, but he's up to the challenge, taking new experiences in stride with his infectious enthusiasm! And afterward, he can't wait to tell his proud parents all about his achievements--and then wake up to start another day.
Newbery Honor-winning author Derrick Barnes's empowering story will give new kindergarteners a reassuring confidence boost, and Vanessa Brantley-Newton's illustrations exude joy.
- The Deep
The Deep
by Rivers Solomon
Sold outYetu holds the memories for her people—water-dwelling descendants of pregnant African slave women thrown overboard by slave owners—who live idyllic lives in the deep. Their past, too traumatic to be remembered regularly is forgotten by everyone, save one—the historian. This demanding role has been bestowed on Yetu.
Yetu remembers for everyone, and the memories, painful and wonderful, traumatic and terrible and miraculous, are destroying her. And so, she flees to the surface escaping the memories, the expectations, and the responsibilities—and discovers a world her people left behind long ago.
Yetu will learn more than she ever expected about her own past—and about the future of her people. If they are all to survive, they’ll need to reclaim the memories, reclaim their identity—and own who they really are.
The Deep is “a tour de force reorientation of the storytelling gaze…a superb, multilayered work,” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) and a vividly original and uniquely affecting story inspired by a song produced by the rap group Clipping. - President of the Whole Fifth Grade
President of the Whole Fifth Grade
by Sherri Winston
$8.99Start counting your votes . . . and your friends.When Brianna Justice's hero, the famous celebrity chef Miss Delicious, speaks at her school and traces her own success back to being president of her fifth grade class, Brianna determines she must do the same. She just knows that becoming president of her class is the first step toward her own cupcake-baking empire!
But when new student Jasmine Moon announces she is also running for president, Brianna learns that she may have more competition than she expected. Will Brianna be able to stick to her plan of working with her friends to win the election fairly? Or will she jump at the opportunity to steal votes from Jasmine by revealing an embarrassing secret?
This hilarious, heartfelt novel will appeal to any reader with big dreams, and the determination to achieve them.Contributor Bio(s) - Home.Girl.Hood.
Home.Girl.Hood.
by Ebony Stewart
$18.00The official re-release of Ebony Stewart’s latest collection Home.Girl.Hood.
Rings on every finger. Hood and educated AF. You’ve met her. Wearing all her feelings and responding with a side-eye or a tongue-pop. You’ve seen her. At the grocery store. In restaurants. On the subway. At the bus stop. In a car you pulled up next to blaring whatever matches her mood. Hair in some natural or protective style for the Gods. Ebony Stewart. An around the way girl. One part human, all parts womxn. You know these poems because they be familiar. They be your grandmama, mama, auntie, and sis stories. Welcome to Home.Girl.Hood.
- Drama Free: A Guide to Managing Unhealthy Family Relationships
Drama Free: A Guide to Managing Unhealthy Family Relationships
by Nedra Glover Tawwab
Sold outFrom the bestselling author of Set Boundaries, Find Peace, a road map for understanding and moving past family struggles—and living your life, your way.
Every family has a story. For some of us, our family of origin is a solid foundation that feeds our confidence and helps us navigate life’s challenges. For others, it’s a source of pain, hurt, and conflict that can feel like a lifelong burden. In this empowering guide, licensed therapist and bestselling relationship expert Nedra Glover Tawwab offers clear advice for identifying dysfunctional family patterns and choosing the best path to breaking the cycle and moving forward.
Covering topics ranging from the trauma of emotional neglect, to the legacy of addicted or absent parents, to mental health struggles in siblings and other relatives, and more, this clear and compassionate guide will help you take control of your own life—and honor the person you truly are. - Grandma's Tiny House
Grandma's Tiny House
by JaNay Brown-Wood
$7.99“A fine addition to book collections about families, food, counting, and joyous gatherings." —The Horn Book
This sweet, rhyming-counting board book introduces young readers to numbers one through fifteen as Grandma’s family and friends fill her tiny house on Brown Street. Neighbors, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and grandkids crowd into the house and pile it high with treats for a family feast.
But when the walls begin to bulge and nobody has space enough to eat, one clever grandchild knows exactly what to do. - Luca
Luca
by Grey Huffington
$32.99She's an angel.
And she doesn't mind dancing with a demon.
That's why I'd move mountains, dry seas, and hydrate the desert if it made her happy. She brought goodness to the world. It was only right that I made it hers, along with the two tiny beauties that shared her hazel eyes and perfect smile. For them, I'd do whatever. For them, I'd become whoever.
He's a protector.
And, a far cry from the menace they've labeled him.
He's just misunderstood. That's why I'd climb the highest mountain, cross the widest seas, and conquer the desert if it brought us closer together. He brought so much wholesomeness to the world. It was only right that I made him a part of mine, along with my two minis who shared my story and sentiments. Because of him, we'd found happiness. Because of him, we'd found home.
- Golden Mantras: Affirmation Deck and Guidebook
Golden Mantras: Affirmation Deck and Guidebook
Destiny Taylor
Sold outCultivate your inner power, resilience, and essential magic with Golden Mantras, a stunning deck and guidebook set from creator Destiny Taylor and illustrated by artist Cat Willett.
Do you feel clouded by all of the perspectives shared on social media? Are you looking to tap into your own deeper power? Take your spiritual practice off of the internet and invite Golden Mantras into your home. This beautiful collection deck and guidebook set features 52 powerful affirmations—curated with intention. Allow the stunningly illustrated cards and inspiring guidebook to become vessels of inspiration and tools to help you further connect to your higher self and nourish the empress within.
This set includes:
* Illustrated mantra cards. 52 illustrated mantra cards, enhanced with gold metallic ink.
* Companion guidebook with rituals and sample spreads. A 96-page, illustrated paperback guidebook describes the process of the cards' creation and includes rituals, mantra reflections, example spreads, and ideas for use with tarot and oracle decks.
* Magnetic closure travel case. The illustrated magnetic closure travel case folds open to reveal the guidebook on one side, and a secure spot for cards on the other. A sturdy magnet makes this set durable and perfect for taking your spiritual practice on the go. - Parable of the Sower & Parable of the Talents Boxed Set
Parable of the Sower & Parable of the Talents Boxed Set
Octavia Butler
$50.00A beautiful boxed set brings together the great sci-fi writer's two award-winning Parable books
The perfect gift for fans of Octavia Butler, this boxed set pairs the bestselling Nebula-prize nominee, Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents, which together tell the near-future odyssey of Lauren Olamina, a "hyperempathic" young woman who is twice as feeling in a world that has become doubly dehumanized.
In Sower, the place is California, where small walled communities protect from hordes of desperate scavengers and roaming bands of people addicts. Lauren sets off on foot along the dangerous coastal highways, moving north into the unknown. The book has an introduction by feminist, journalist, activist, and author Gloria Steinem.
Parable of the Talents celebrates the classic Butlerian themes of alienation and transcendence, violence and spirituality, slavery and freedom, separation and community, to astonishing effect, in the shockingly familiar, broken world of 2032. It is told in the voice of Lauren Olamina's daughter––from whom she has been separated for most of the girl's life--with sections in the form of Lauren's journal. Against a background of a war-torn continent, and with a far-right religious crusader in the office of the U.S. presidency, this is a book about a society whose very fabric has been torn asunder, and where the basic physical and emotional needs of people seem almost impossible to meet. Talents is introduced by singer, musician, composer, producer, and curator Toshi Reagon, who created an opera based on the Parable books.
- J vs. K
J vs. K
Kwame Alexander
$16.99Created by real-life rivals and #1 New York Times bestselling authors Kwame Alexander and Jerry Craft this hilarious illustrated story features two talented fifth graders going head-to-head in a competition for the ages.
J and K are the most creative fifth graders at Dean Ashley Public School (DAPS). J loves to draw and his wordless stories are J-ENIUS! K loves to write and his stories are K-LASSIC!! Both J and K are determined to win the DAPS annual creative storytelling contest or at least get in the top five. And when they find out that they are both entering The Contest, it's the beginning of one of the most intense rivalries the world has ever seen.
It’s artist vs. writer with plenty of shady double crosses as J and K plot their way to the top. This epic match-up from Newbery medal winners Kwame Alexander (The Crossover) and Jerry Craft (New Kid) celebrates comics, creativity, and the magic of collaboration. - Positive Obsession : The Life and Times of Octavia E. Butler
Positive Obsession : The Life and Times of Octavia E. Butler
Susana M. Morris
from $18.99*Paperback Release Date - 7/21/2026*
A magnificent cultural biography that charts the life of one of our greatest writers, situating her alongside the key historical and social moments that shaped her work.
As the first Black woman to consistently write and publish in the field of science fiction, Octavia Butler was a trailblazer. With her deft pen, she created stories speculating the devolution of the American empire, using it as an apt metaphor for the best and worst of humanity—our innovation and ingenuity, our naked greed and ambition, our propensity for violence and hierarchy. Her fiction charts the rise and fall of the American project—the nation’s transformation from a provincial backwater to a capitalist juggernaut—made possible by chattel slavery—to a bloated imperialist superpower on the verge of implosion.
In this outstanding work, Susana M. Morris places Butler’s story firmly within the cultural, social, and historical context that shaped her life: the Civil Rights Movement, Black Power, women’s liberation, queer rights, Reaganomics. Morris reveals how these influences profoundly impacted Butler’s personal and intellectual trajectory and shaped the ideas central to her writing. Her cautionary tales warn us about succumbing to fascism, gender-based violence, and climate chaos while offering alternate paradigms to religion, family, and understanding our relationships to ourselves. Butler envisioned futures with Black women at the center, raising our awareness of how those who are often dismissed have the knowledge to shift the landscape of our world. But her characters are no magical martyrs, they are tough, flawed, intelligent, and complicated, a reflection of Butler’s stories.
Morris explains what drove Butler: She wrote because she felt she must. “Who was I anyway? Why should anyone pay attention to what I had to say? Did I have anything to say? I was writing science fiction and fantasy, for God’s sake. At that time nearly all professional science-fiction writers were white men. As much as I loved science fiction and fantasy, what was I doing? Well, whatever it was, I couldn’t stop. Positive obsession is about not being able to stop just because you’re afraid and full of doubts. Positive obsession is dangerous. It’s about not being able to stop at all.”
- Barack Obama Selected Speeches
Barack Obama Selected Speeches
by Barack Obama
Sold outThis curated collection of landmark speeches chronicles Barack Obama's presence on the national stage, covers his signature policy initiatives, and addresses major moments in American life and history during his eight-year term as the 44th president of the United States.
Also included are speeches he made after he left the White House—most notably, his eulogy for John Lewis and his speech at the 2020 Democratic National Convention. Obama’s eloquent speaking style and ability to connect with a wide range of audiences made him one of the most admired presidents in recent memory, even as he dealt with staunch party-line opposition in Congress.
Barack Obama Selected Speeches is a volume that will appeal to those with a keen interest in history, politics, and the role that the United States has played in shaping today’s world.
- Rodney Scott's World of BBQ
Rodney Scott's World of BBQ
$35.00In this cookbook, co-written by award-winning writer Lolis Eric Elie, Rodney spills what makes his pit-smoked turkey, barbecued spare ribs, smoked chicken wings, hush puppies, Ella’s Banana Puddin’, and award-winning whole hog so special. Moreover, his recipes make it possible to achieve these special flavors yourself, whether you’re a barbecue pro or a novice. From the ins and outs of building your own pit to poignant essays on South Carolinian foodways and traditions, this stunningly photographed cookbook is the ultimate barbecue reference. It is also a powerful work of storytelling. In this modern American success story, Rodney details how he made his way from the small town where he worked for his father in the tobacco fields and in the smokehouse, to the sacrifices he made to grow his family’s business, and the tough decisions he made to venture out on his own in Charleston. - The Queen of Kindergarten
The Queen of Kindergarten
by Derrick Barnes
Sold outA confident little Black girl has a fantastic first day of school in this companion to the New York Times bestseller The King of Kindergarten.
MJ is more than ready for her first day of kindergarten! With her hair freshly braided and her mom's special tiara on her head, she knows she’s going to rock kindergarten. But the tiara isn’t just for show—it also reminds her of all the good things she brings to the classroom, stuff like her kindness, friendliness, and impressive soccer skills, too! Like The King of Kindergarten, this is the perfect book to reinforce back-to-school excitement and build confidence in the newest students.
Stay Informed. We're building a community committed to celebrating Black authors + artisans. Subscribe to keep up with all things Kindred Stories.