A luminous and romantic debut novel in verse about navigating first love as a non-binary teenager.

I feel invincible.
Like I could run and run
and never stop for breath.

I feel a power in me
I didn't know I had.

The power to speak,
to say what I need.

Prema knows exactly who they are. Coming out as non-binary to their queer parents and best friend? A total non-event. Catching feelings for Blessing - the boy in drama club whose smile makes their heart race? That's trickier.

As their final year of school unfolds and the two of them grow closer, Prema starts to question: Does Blessing really see them? Or just a version of them that doesn't exist? They'd ask their best friend for advice, but she's busy falling in love too. . .

With gorgeous illustrations throughout, Bad Queer draws us deeply into queer friendship, family secrets, and the necessary act of loving yourself. Perfect for fans of Alice Oseman, Dean Atta, and Sarah Crossan.

This is a love letter to queer futures - tender, curious, and fiercely alive.

The money book that makes wealth inevitable, not optional.

Most people think that wealth is reserved for the lucky few-those born into privilege, gifted with an entrepreneurial streak, or naturally skilled with money. But the truth is, financial success isn't about luck-it's about habits.

The Wealth Habit is a groundbreaking, behaviour-driven approach to wealth-building that rewires the way you think about money, turning financial success into a series of effortless, repeatable actions.

Instead of overwhelming readers with rigid budgets or complex investment strategies, this book reveals how small, daily financial moves compound into life-changing wealth - no matter where you start.

Whether you're struggling with money, looking to break free from the paycheck-to-paycheck cycle, or searching for a stress-free, automated way to build wealth, this book gives you a clear, habit-based roadmap to make financial success inevitable. By focusing on small, repeatable money behaviours, The Wealth Habit ensures that true wealth isn't just something you achieve-it's something you sustain for life.

Habits discussed are:
 

The 1% Rule: Why improving by just 1% daily can lead to exponential financial growth, and how to apply this rule to saving, investing, and earning more.

The Automation Advantage – set it and forget it: How automation removes decision fatigue from money management. The best tools and strategies for automating savings and investing, including AI-driven financial assistants.

The 24-Hour Pause Button™ – Mastering Your Built-In Brake: How to activate your pause button™ and fill the gap with purpose

The "Pay Yourself First" Habit – the golden rule of wealth-building: This is the secret behind why wealthy people never run out of money. Learn how to ensure you prioritize saving before spending, and steps to set up automatic wealth accumulation.

The Effortless Investing Habit: How to make investing automatic, stress-free, and a lifelong habit to guarantee your long-term financial security

The Side Hustle Habit: How to start a side hustle with minimal time and effort, AI-driven tools and automation to scale side businesses and maximize efficiency.

The Generosity Habit – Why Giving Makes You Wealthier: How generosity shifts your financial mindset from scarcity to abundance. Discover the connection between giving, purpose, and long-term wealth.

In today's society, there is a lot of talk about manifestation and how it can help you achieve your dreams. However, many people forget that manifestation on its own is not enough. To truly achieve your goals, you need to take action.

That's where Manifested Action comes in.

In this book, Sunday Times bestselling authors Dr Byron Cole and Bianca Miller Cole take you on a journey of what manifestation is, why action is important, and the steps to take to start making your dreams a reality. The book promises to be an informative but easy-to-use guide to creating the life you love, whether you are an entrepreneur, career professional, parent, or anyone else looking to build their business, career, side hustle, love life, or legacy.

Book Three in the All To Me Series

Forever

It’s a long time

But you hold my heart in your hands

I vow to love you

To hold you

To cater to every need you didn’t know you had

Until the ends of the earth 

And some..

Forever is a long time

But that’s how long I’ll love you

Forever

The Wright Way

In her gripping memoir "Lighthouse," Kia Lee courageously shares her personal journey of falling into an abusive relationship and the challenges she faced. With raw honesty, she reveals the insidious nature of emotional manipulation, gaslighting, and abuse that she endured, often without realizing the full extent of the harm. As the story unfolds, the abuse escalates to physical violence, placing Kia in a perilous and life-threatening situation.

"Lighthouse" is a powerful account of survival as Kia navigates the complexities of an abusive relationship and finds the strength to break free. Her story serves as a beacon of hope for others who may be experiencing similar situations, shedding light on the realities of domestic abuse and the importance of seeking help. "Lighthouse" is a compelling and timely memoir that sheds light on a pervasive issue and provides a voice for survivors, bringing hope, awareness, and

understanding to those who may be facing similar challenges.

Through her memoir, Kia Lee aims to raise awareness about the warning signs of abuse, dispel misconceptions, and provide support to those who may be struggling in similar situations. Her courageous storytelling and unwavering resilience are an inspiration to others, offering a message of empowerment and healing.

Bobby McNeil Jr.'s Cracking the Code: 10 Possible Reasons You Didn't Get the Job isn't your average career guide; it's a gripping narrative infused with Bobby's unparalleled insights from over a decade of experience as a highly successful tech recruiter, award winning industry leader, and trusted industry voice & influencer. Buckle up for an amazing ride as Bobby unravels the hidden pitfalls most job seekers overlook. Each chapter is a revelation, blending raw anecdotes, industry wisdom, and data to demystify all misconceived notions around resumes, interviews, networking, social media presence, and more. This book goes beyond just tips & tricks -it's a roadmap reshaping your approach to land that dream tech job or skyrocket your career. "Cracking the Code" isn't a book; it's your blueprint to crack open new possibilities and rewrite your job-seeking narrative.

What Awaits Within the 'Cracking the Code' Chapters

In the most straightforward, thoughtful, engaging, yet informative way possible, Cracking the Code: 10 Possible Reasons You Didn't Get the Job will:

- tap into the psyche of hiring managers and employers

- explore the most common pitfalls of job seekers in the hiring process

- offer practical, actionable solutions with guidance for instant application

- dispel any negative misconceptions for a positive mindset shift

- provide a candid & honest overview of the recruitment and hiring lifecycle

- puts you in the driver seat of your interview readiness and preparedness

Cracking the Code: 10 Possible Reasons You Didn't Get the Job is your secret weapon! Perfect for new grads, career switchers, and anyone on the job hunt, this book is a goldmine. It's not just tech jobs-it's a game-changer that fits any profession. Its timeless wisdom will keep you ahead in the career race for years to come!

Adam Park is a project manager for a Fortune 500 telecommunications company. While he's a family man, coming home for Sunday dinners every week and playing flag football with his four older brothers, he's also a devout bachelor with a strict 15-min cuddling limit. He's not a player though; he always lets his partners know the deal upfront.

Maya Davis owns It's Personal, a small business specializing in handmade and custom gifts. She spends her evenings binging "The Great British Bake Off", putting her own twist on recipes from her grandmother's cookbook, and having girls' night with her best friends Tiffany and Denise.

When Adam is tapped as best man for a ritzy NYC wedding, he finds the perfect custom champagne flutes on It's Personal's website. Every time Maya gives an update on the order, Adam can't help but flirt, and a delay with the vendor means Maya must deliver the flutes in person.

When they meet, sparks fly, but the road ahead is rough. Maya is far from Adam's usual "type", the groom's younger sister has decided now is the perfect time to shoot her shot, and hurtful comments from someone Adam trusts force Maya to face deep-rooted insecurities.

Can Adam reform his bachelor ways and fight for a real relationship? Can Maya overcome her unresolved trauma and give Adam the benefit of the doubt? Together, they'll discover whether their feelings are more than skin deep.

* Sheriff “Big Bert” Tubb once cleaned up Craw County, Alabama with an iron jaw and a big ol’ stick. But that was 40 years ago. When his son, Earl Tubb, returns home to settle some family business, he finds his daddy’s grave unkempt, the stick he was buried with grown into a gnarled old tree, and Craw County in worse shape than ever. Then that tree gets struck by lightning. And suddenly Earl has a stick of his own. And some questions he’d like answered.
* The hit new crime series, Southern Bastards, returns for its second volume, as Jason Aaron (Scalped, Thor, Star Wars) and Jason Latour (Wolverine & the X-Men, Loose Ends) pull back the curtain on the dark and seedy history of Craw County and its most famous and feared resident, the high school football coach turned backwoods crime lord, Euless Boss. In a place where only bastards flourish, what does it take to be the biggest, meanest, most powerful bastard of them all? Only Coach Boss knows. But if I was you, I wouldn't ask him.
* Collects Southern Bastards #5-8.

In the summer of 1970, in the small town of Lowell, Mississippi, ten-year-old Bailey Connor lives in constant fear of his abusive father, Otis. His mother, Annie, dreams of an escape and accepts a job working for Jim Cunningham, a wealthy white plantation owner. But when Jim is found brutally stabbed to death, Annie, a Black woman in a town still deeply segregated, is quickly accused of the crime. Since the Connors have no money for a lawyer and the nearly all-white jury is poised to convict, Annie's fate seems sealed-the electric chair waits in the shadows.

While visiting Lowell, Jonathan Streeter, a prominent Black attorney with a troubled past, reluctantly agrees to take on Annie's case. With Bailey's world thrown further into turmoil, he desperately tries to help Jonathan free his mother.

As the trial gains national attention, Jonathan uncovers a tangled web of lies, corruption, and deep-seated racial hatred woven into the very fabric of Lowell, all tied to Jim's murder. While violence escalates and interference from the local KKK grows, Jonathan and Bailey become trapped in a life-and-death struggle against those determined to bury the truth... and the two of them along with it.

The media stereotypes Black boys as dangerous and lacking discipline and etiquette. But in fact, they are descendants of Kings and Queens and should feel proud of where they came from and where they're going. However, navigating from one world to another-like boyhood to manhood-can be disorienting and uncomfortable. It doesn't have to be so uncomfortable, though. James B. Wingo's The Manners Playbook: Essential Lessons for Young African-American Boys on Self-Awareness, Confidence and Etiquette is full of guidance on approaching new situations, caring for the body, and being confident in one's self while practicing good etiquette in new situations and relationships. Worried about a first date? Wondering how to handle a fight with friends? Want to impress someone? Wingo has tips for all and more in his guide to living up to the person you are meant to be.

In the small, bayou-whispered town of Opelousas Octavia, a vibrant young women, and Ms.Aladyse, a wise Creole elder, share a deep spiritual connection that transcend time. As they bond, it becomes clear that Octavia is not just a reflection of Ms. Aladyse's past, but perhaps a reincarnation of a soul long cherished. Together, they uncover a profound link that goes beyond coincidence, intertwining their destines in a journey of love, wisdom and spiritual reunions.

"Alright, here's the game plan. I go out, stop some petty criminals, take out a gang or two, find the person or people that are kidnapping people, take out all those gross shadow things, and maybe, just maybe, get the world to like me. Yeah. Yeah that sounds like a good plan!"

Really, I wish I had lesser expectations of myself, but with this city's stupid high crime rate, a string of missing people, and these strange black creatures trying to tear down anything in their path? I feel like I have more than my work cut out for myself. However, I can't just sit down and do nothing with these powers I gained. This place needs a hero and I'm not gonna stop protecting this place till I save everyone. I just hope I can get all of this done before my mother and father ground me into the dirt.

Now available in paperback, this exciting book charts Jean-Michel Basquiat's groundbreaking career.

Basquiat first came to prominence when he collaborated with Al Diaz to spray-paint enigmatic statements under the pseudonym SAMO©. From there he went on to work with others on collages, Xerox art, postcards, performances, and music before establishing his reputation as one of the most important painters of his generation. This book places his collaborations in a wider art historical context and looks at his career through the lens of performance. Six thematic chapters offer compelling research, with essays from poet Christian Campbell on SAMO©; curator Carlo McCormick on New York/New Wave; writer Glenn O'Brien on the downtown scene; academic Jordana Moore Saggese on Basquiat's relationship to film and television; and music scholar Francesco Martinelli on Basquiat's obsession with jazz. This insightful survey also features rare archival material and extensive illustrations, demonstrating how Basquiat's legacy remains more powerful and relevant than ever today.

Time has never moved the same for everyone.

In Colored People Time, Manny Fidel explores how race, culture, and history shape not only our lives, but our sense of time itself. Through sharp, personal, and often humorous essays, Fidel interrogates the myth of linear progress, the politics of punctuality, and some of the ways people of color are forced to navigate a world that rarely moves at their pace or in their favor.

Whether it's a tongue-in-cheek argument that "CPT" should be legislatively supported, ruminations on our longing to return to the summer of 2016, or reflections about mortality through the advent of video game innovations, Fidel confronts the systems that structure time around identity and power. From the slow churn of racial justice to the private time loops of memory, nostalgia, grief, and joy, this book acts as an invitation to readers to question whether they are aware of the way time folds around them.

Colored People Time isn't solely about lateness. It's about how time works differently depending on who you are and where you stand.

Readers who love spicy romance with chaotic meet-cute tropes like Talia Hibbert, Jackie Lau, and Rachel Lynn Solomon.

Fans of banter-filled TV shows and movies about awkward dating like Insecure, Someone Great, How to Be Single, and I Want You Back.

The setting: A magical New York evening at a hot new restaurant that’s the place to be seen.

The situation: Two couples poised to take the next step. Liem’s moved across the country and is about to propose to Natalie, the love of his life—he’s going to surprise her at dinner. On the other side of the restaurant, Bri thought she was about to have a romantic evening with her boyfriend, David.

The complication: Very public breakups. For both couples. David’s the one who cheated, but he’s also the one who calls it off. Bri’s left fuming like an episode of excellent reality television: great for the audience, terrible for the featured player. On the other side of the restaurant, Nat drops a bomb of her own: she wants to break up. Suddenly Liem and Bri are single, so they decide to drown their sorrows together.

The result: When sparks fly between them, maybe it means the worst day of their lives can potentially become the best thing that ever happened to them both. Maybe.

A bold framework for successfully navigating complicated interactions at work and at home—by one of the first leadership coaches to infuse her work with an equity lens and create spaces for connection that require both accountability and generosity.

We all have that moment we wish we could do over. Maybe it was a comment you made at work. Or a look you gave a loved one. Or a time you bit your tongue when a colleague said something that just didn't sit right. These moments cause real, lasting damage because they move us away from who most want to be, and they are what Aiko Bethea calls "the bullsh*t": bullsh*t that keeps us misaligned with who we aspire to be. But Aiko Bethea suggests that there is an alternative—a way to reframe“the bullsh*t”as instances that offer us a choice: We can shrink away, remain in our default comfort zone, and refuse to change our approach—or we can apply a new framework to alter our entire mindset, relationships, and quality of life. Because, as she says, “bullsh*t can’t be fought off, but it can be transcended.” Through her "Anchored-Aligned-Accountable" framework, Bethea shows us how:

Transformation requires that we are anchored in our values, our intention and impact are aligned, and we are accountable to ourselves and others.

Bethea takes us through the real-life scenarios from her career as a facilitator and leadership coach, and guides us through journaling prompts and practical exercises, teaching us how to intentionally lean into our fears and learn from our mistakes. With a witty, engaging voice, Anchored, Aligned, Accountable invites us to embrace connection over competition, empathy over pity, and vulnerability over ego, so that we can become the version of ourselves that we truly respect.

An urgent and unforgettable work of magical realism following a young man coming of age in rural West Africa as he bears witness to the violence, upheaval, and hope in a rapidly changing society

In a drought-stricken Igbo village, young Ekwe grows up haunted by owls, myths, and the boundaries of a world too small to contain his restless spirit. After touching a forbidden leaf that his father warns will trap him in astral planes, he is swept into a journey that will carry him across Nigeria, through savannas, deserts, and conflict zones, and into the heart of a nation’s unraveling.

Taken in by Danjuma, a gentle Fulani cowherd with a sprawling family and an instinct for danger, Ekwe enters a world of cattle herding, migration, and precarious survival. As insurgents tear through northern towns and tribal wars erupt in the Middle Belt, Danjuma leads his family on an epic pastoral flight southward, seeking safety in a country where no place is truly safe. Along the way, Ekwe witnesses birth and burial, kindness and betrayal, and the fragile alliances that form between strangers bound by necessity.

But violence follows them like a shadow, and the owls—symbols of myth, menace, and prophecy—perch over every new beginning. Back in his own village, Ekwe’s twelve-year-old sister is pressured to marry a wealthy adult suitor. Ekwe becomes obsessed with how much their lives would improve if she married this man, but Oyibo, stubborn and proud, resists the path that is laid out for her. Meanwhile, simmering tensions between herders and farmers threaten to ignite, forcing Ekwe to confront the truth of where he belongs.

Sweeping, immersive, and fiercely humane, A Siege of Owls traces a child’s odyssey across a fractured landscape, weaving folklore with the stark realities of insurgency, displacement, and the longing for home. It is a story of two families—one lost, one gained—bound together by fate, resilience, and the dangerous hope that somewhere, peace still exists.

ONE OF USA TODAY'S "BEST BOOKS OF SUMMER!"

Acclaimed author of Island Queen Vanessa Riley brings readers a vivid, sweeping novel of the Haitian Revolution based on the true-life stories of two extraordinary women: the first Empress of Haiti, Marie-Claire Bonheur, and Gran Toya, a West African-born warrior who helped lead the rebellion that drove out the French and freed the enslaved people of Haiti. 

“This book is not only a one-sitting read, it’s a slice of history that needs to be told. Utterly brilliant, powerful, and inspiring.”―Kristan Higgins, New York Times bestselling author of Always the Last to Know

"An impeccably researched, powerfully reimagined tale of sacrifice and success, love and selfishness, and war and independence...Riley’s storytelling skills shine."―Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Gran Toya: Born in West Africa, Abdaraya Toya was one of the legendary minos―women called “Dahomeyan Amazons” by the Europeans―who were specially chosen female warriors consecrated to the King of Dahomey. Betrayed by an enemy, kidnapped, and sold into slavery, Toya wound up in the French colony of Saint Domingue, where she became a force to be reckoned with on its sugar plantations: a healer and an authority figure among the enslaved. Among the motherless children she helped raise was a man who would become the revolutionary Jean-Jacques Dessalines. When the enslaved people rose up, Toya, ever the warrior, was at the forefront of the rebellion that changed the course of history.

Marie-Claire: A free woman of color, Marie-Claire Bonheur was raised in an air of privilege and security because of her wealthy white grandfather. With a passion for charitable work, she grew up looking for ways to help those oppressed by a society steeped in racial and economic injustices. Falling in love with Jean-Jacques Dessalines, an enslaved man, was never the plan, yet their paths continued to cross and intertwine, and despite a marriage of convenience to a Frenchman, she and Dessalines had several children.

When war breaks out on Saint Domingue, pitting the French, Spanish, and enslaved people against one another in turn, Marie-Claire and Toya finally meet, and despite their deep differences, they both play pivotal roles in the revolution that will eventually lead to full independence for Haiti and its people.

Both an emotionally palpable love story and a detail-rich historical novel, Sister Mother Warrior tells the often-overlooked history of the most successful Black uprising in history. Riley celebrates the tremendous courage and resilience of the revolutionaries, and the formidable strength and intelligence of Toya, Marie-Claire, and the countless other women who fought for freedom. 

“A riveting read! Richly imagined, meticulously researched, and fast-paced...Vanessa Riley encourages us to rethink history through fresh eyes.” ― Myriam J. A. Chancy, author of What Storm, What Thunder

“You may not know Marie-Louise Christophe but once you have met her, you won’t forget her. Vanessa Riley’s historical novel feels timely and relevant, commemorating a time when Black women were queens.” —Jodi Picoult, #1 New York Times bestselling author

Acclaimed historical novelist Vanessa Riley is back with another novel based on the life of an extraordinary Black woman from history: Haiti’s Queen Marie-Louise Christophe, who escaped a coup in Haiti to set up her own royal court in Italy during the Regency era, where she became a popular member of royal European society. 

The Queen of Exiles is Marie-Louise Christophe, wife and then widow of Henry I, who ruled over the newly liberated Kingdom of Hayti in the wake of the brutal Haitian Revolution.

In 1810 Louise is crowned queen as her husband begins his reign over the first and only free Black nation in the Western Hemisphere. But despite their newfound freedom, Haitians still struggle under mountains of debt to France and indifference from former allies in Britain and the new United States. Louise desperately tries to steer the country’s political course as King Henry descends into a mire of mental illness.

In 1820, King Henry is overthrown and dies by his own hand. Louise and her daughters manage to flee to Europe with their smuggled jewels. In exile, the resilient Louise redefines her role, recovering the fortune that Henry had lost and establishing herself as an equal to the kings of European nations. With newspapers and gossip tracking their every movement, Louise and her daughters tour Europe like other royals, complete with glittering balls and princes with marriage proposals. As they find their footing—and acceptance—they discover more about themselves, their Blackness, and the opportunities they can grasp in a European and male-dominated world.  

Queen of Exiles is the tale of a remarkable Black woman of history—a canny and bold survivor who chooses the fire and ideals of political struggle, and then is forced to rebuild her life on her own terms, forever a queen.

"A sweeping look at the political, social, and romantic intrigue surrounding Haiti’s first and only queen. Riley’s depiction is richly imagined and wholly original." — Fiona Davis, New York Times bestselling author of The Magnolia Palace

"Queen of Exiles is the riveting account of Marie-Louise Christophe, Haiti's first and only Queen. Bold, ambitious, historically sound and beautifully told."--Sadeqa Johnson, New York Times bestselling author of The House of Eve

How do you rebuild yourself when your whole world changes overnight?

Thrust onto the public stage at fifteen years old after the Taliban’s brutal attack on her life, Malala Yousafzai quickly became an international icon known for bravery and resilience. But away from the cameras and crowds, she spent years struggling to find her place in an unfamiliar world. Now, for the first time ever, Malala takes us beyond the headlines in Finding My Way—a vulnerable, surprising memoir that buzzes with authenticity, sharp humor, and tenderness.

Finding My Way is a story of friendship and first love, of anxiety and self-discovery, of trying to stay true to yourself when everyone wants to tell you who you are. In it, Malala traces her path from high school loner to reckless college student to a young woman at peace with her past. Through candid, often messy moments like nearly failing exams, getting ghosted and meeting the love of her life, Malala reminds us that real role models aren’t perfect—they’re human.

In this astonishing memoir, Malala reintroduces herself to the world, sharing how she navigated life as someone whose darkest moments threatened to define her—while seeking the freedom to find out who she truly is. Finding My Way is an intimate look at the life of a young woman taking charge of her destiny—and a deeply personal testament to the strength it takes to be unapologetically yourself.

When you’ve been told over and over that you belong at the bottom, how do you come out on top? Dance Moms star and triple threat Nia Sioux shows the way via her story of resilience, triumph, and defining success for herself.

Young dancer Nia Sioux was only nine years old when she stepped into stardom as one of the original cast members of Lifetime’s reality TV show Dance Moms. Nia learned new choreography week after week and competed against dancers from across the country as well as at her own studio. Perhaps her greatest obstacle was suffering through her dance teacher’s ranking of the girls against each other in her infamous pyramid, where Nia spent the majority of her time on the bottom—all in front of an audience of millions.

But there was much that viewers didn’t see. How her experiences in the studio went far beyond what made it into the show. How she was ostracized for not fitting into an aesthetic that wasn’t designed for girls like her. How her friendships and her mental health crumbled under the strain of the show. How she lost control of her story and her voice.

But don’t be fooled—this is a story about resilience. Nia is not looking for pity, sympathy, or validation as she reflects on her experiences. Instead, she is choosing to use her story as a celebration of triumph. Nia finally gets to tell her story in her own way and in her own words. In this captivating memoir, Nia reclaims both the spotlight and her narrative.

In addition to going behind the scenes of the seven seasons of Dance Moms, she shows how she fought against the negative perceptions that dominated her tween and teen years and emerged as a confident young woman secure in her talents and her direction. Anyone who has ever felt misunderstood, overlooked, or stuck at the bottom of the pyramid will be inspired by Nia’s story of overcoming. “Despite barriers and constant naysayers, assumptions and criticisms, only you know who you are inside and out,” Nia says. “And you have the power to create your own narrative, your own level of success.”

A TIME AND WASHINGTON POST BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR • The New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice • A stunning personal manifesto on memory, family, and history that explores how we in America might—together—come to a new view of our shared past

“A vulnerable, honest look at a life lived in a country still struggling with its evils...Hopeful...Beautiful and haunting.” —Eddie S. Glaude Jr., author of Begin Again

In 2020, heartsick from constant assaults on Black life, Tracy K. Smith found herself soul-searching and digging into the historical archive for help navigating the “din of human division and strife.” With lyricism and urgency, Smith draws on several avenues of thinking—personal, documentary, and spiritual—to understand who we are as a nation and what we might hope to mean to one another.

To Free the Captives touches down in Sunflower, Alabama, the red-dirt town where Smith’s father’s family comes from, and where her grandfather returned after World War I with a hero’s record but difficult prospects as a Black man. Smith considers his life and the life of her father through the lens of history. Hoping to connect with their strength and continuance, she assembles a new terminology of American life.

Bearing courageous witness to the terms of Freedom afforded her as a Black woman, a mother, and an educator in the twenty-first century, Smith etches a portrait of where we find ourselves four hundred years into the American experiment. Weaving in an account of her growing spiritual practice, she argues that the soul is not merely a private site of respite or transcendence, but a tool for fulfilling our duties to each other, and a sounding board for our most pressing collective questions: Where are we going as a nation? Where have we been?

The first book in a new middle-grade mystery series by Kalynn Bayron.

Olive Oakes loves a good mystery. She keeps a notebook with her at all times, ready to jot down observations about anything that seems out of the ordinary. Along with her cousin Eli, Olive is always looking for her next chance to sleuth!

When Olive and her family visit a town called Whispering Woods, she uncovers a mystery linked to the traveling circus that comes through the area once a year. With rumors of missing kids and ghost sightings, it’s the perfect opportunity for Olive to investigate! But the people of Whispering Woods are very secretive, and Olive must tread carefully if she hopes to solve the mystery of the haunted carousel.

A new edition of the first book of poems from the Pulitzer Prize winner Carl Phillips, with a new afterword.

I am no mystic. I know
nothing rises that doesn’t
know how to already.
In my ears, only the clubbed
foot of routine, no voices, no

clatter of dreams: but I saw
what I saw

Even in his first book of poems, the deep contradictions in Carl Phillips’s work are already pronounced. Here is a subtle poet, attuned to the simple honesty of everyday speech, and yet steeped in classical allusion. Life here is quiet, yet burning with anger and unavoidable desire. Offering intimate statements of passion and yet retaining a private withholding, these poems take as their primary subject the body―growing, aging, loving―and spirit that fills the flesh.

When In the Blood was selected for the 1992 Morse Poetry Prize, Carl Phillips was a high-school Latin teacher. Thirty years later, he has written seventeen books of poetry, has received the Pulitzer Prize, and is one of the most prominent voices in contemporary poetry.

Landscapes are key to the Black Atlantic. The history of how Africans and their descendants populated and transformed nations, regions, and ecosystems has always been attentive to the multiple meanings embedded in the landscapes of the Atlantic rim. More recently, the study of archival silences, Black geographies, fugitivity, and the connections between environment and identity has refreshed traditional conversations and formulated new perspectives of analysis, a shift that acts as the focus of Black Atlantic Worlds: Landscape Histories of the African Diaspora.

Based on the Dumbarton Oaks 2023 symposium on Black Atlantic landscapes, this volume features the work of scholars from distinct disciplines addressing West African Atlantization processes on both land and water, struggles over voice and agency in landscape representation, Black geographies as a conduit for religion and spirituality, and the unexpected and connective diasporic meanings of urban landscapes. By engaging and building upon the ever-evolving paradigms of Afro-diasporic studies, these contributions illuminate the hidden figures, strategies, and ideas that constitute the Black Atlantic.

An arrestingly beautiful, award-winning novel about separation, migration, and love left behind.

Alone and adrift in Barcelona, an unnamed narrator is haunted by the death of her teenage brother, Diego. Diego, the little boy she helped raise in Mexico while their mother struggled to make a living in Spain. Diego, who loved Vampire Weekend and dreamed of becoming a pilot. Diego, who hated Madrid as much as she did.

Now, his ashes in hand, she must return to Mexico. Plagued by memories, she recounts their young lives leading up to tragedy in blistering detail: the acute loneliness that accompanied their emigration; the siblings’ first separation, when she left for Barcelona to make her own way in the world; her activism against labor abuses, which is threatened by her tumultuous relationship with an entitled lover; and the final, heavyhearted confrontation with her brother. Caught between rage and heartbreak over the loss of Diego, she pieces together a story of alienation, but also of surprising courage and hope.

Masterfully translated by Megan McDowell, and shot through with flashes of dark humor, Eating Ashes boldly confronts both the intimate and systemic struggles faced by migrants striving to build a life worth living. Already an international sensation across Europe, this novel cements Brenda Navarro as a breathtakingly unique and vital voice in literature.

A gripping, richly imagined fantasy set in an alternate ancient African world in which a Black girl finds her power and saves her people from evil, by the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Award-winning author of Black Panther: The Young Prince. 

In the land of Alkebulan, twelve-year-old Asha is an orphan, raised by Madame S, the proprietor of a traveling carnival. When Madame S is attacked by ghoulish creatures, she manages to tell Asha before she dies, “Seek the Underground Kingdom, where the black flowers bloom.”

Asha doesn’t understand the mysterious words, but they launch her onto a page-turning quest to protect her people and stop an ancient evil. Along the way, she uncovers shocking secrets about the family she never knew and begins to find her place in the world as she discovers her own untapped powers.

A poignant and inspiring memoir from the former mayor of Atlanta about her modest, hardscrabble upbringing, and fully appreciating the selfless, loving, fierce, and altogether Southern-twinged lessons her family taught her.

Long before Keisha Lance Bottoms rose to prominence in politics, she was a daddy’s girl from the Westside of Atlanta—the baby of her family who did well in school, though she talked too much in class; an outgoing kid who dreamt of growing up to be elegant and charismatic like her parents, cool like her older siblings and big cousins, and the pride of her very large, Southern family.

After law school, Bottoms worked as an attorney, served as a judge, and was elected to City Council and the mayorship, where she garnered national attention for her leadership during the pandemic and George Floyd protests. Later, she was appointed senior advisor in President Joe Biden’s administration.

Yet Bottoms felt disquieted internally. She was in her early fifties and approaching the age her beloved father was when he died. She couldn’t shake the feeling that something in her life was missing, like she’d forgotten to bring an essential element of herself along for her ascension. Stepping away from the daily political grind, Bottoms realized how much she’d sanded down parts of herself in her path to professional success. She’d tucked away the fuller details about her dad’s drug abuse and prison stint for dealing; the sexual abuse she endured; the eating disorder she developed; the close-knit, utterly unpolished family who doted on her and gave her an incredible foundation of love and confidence but whose influence she’d pruned to a sleek, charming, campaign-ready sheen. She thought that was the price of upward mobility. Then she realized she was wrong.

The Rough Side of the Mountain is about this excavation. It’s Bottoms’s deeply affecting journey to rescue a version of herself that she thought she had to leave behind to succeed. An honor to the lessons from kinfolk plainly told, hers is a timely and heartfelt memoir about unmasking oneself, the joys of authenticity, embracing what you see, and spreading that powerful message.

The author of the critically acclaimed The Viral Underclass (one of Kirkus Reviews best books of 2022) is back with The Overseer Class, which explores what happens when members of historically minoritized groups are selected for high-visibility positions of power within existing institutions—but under the conditions of a kind of Faustian bargain.

Our society places so much weight and attention on those who become the first or only of their identifying group that we miss one of the inherent issues in that model. This book is about the kinds of compromises made by a small but influential group of people from minoritized groups in the United States as they have entered segregated institutions in highly visible positions. People in the overseer class wield enormous institutional power, even necropolitical power over who lives and who dies; it’s just that their power is predicated upon repressing other people who look (or speak/have sex/come from places) like them.
The most obvious contemporary overseer is the Black police officer. The Overseer Class begins with this quote from James Baldwin from 1967:
“The poor, of whatever color, do not trust the law and certainly have no reason to, and God knows we didn't. ‘If you must call a cop,’ we said in those days, ‘for God's sake, make sure it's a white one.’ We did not feel that the cops were protecting us, for we knew too much about the reasons for the kinds of crimes committed in the ghetto; but we feared black cops even more than white cops, because the black cop had to work so much harder--on your head--to prove to himself and his colleagues that he was not like all the other n******.”
But this dynamic does not only exist within law enforcement, it exists in many different spheres and The Overseer Class explores what it looks like in mass media, universities, corporate America, the military, and government. A powerful current and local example of this quandary can be seen right here in the ongoing saga of New York's Mayor Adams. At the end of the day, The Overseer Class aims not only to educate us and start this discussion but to provide a framework for challenging that dynamic. It is a weighty topic but one that Dr. Thrasher is well-equipped to handle.

This powerful biography follows Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s road to the Supreme Court as the first Black woman to be confirmed, for middle grade readers from New York Times bestselling author Garen Thomas and The Washington Post reporter Lori Rozsa. This inspiring story features key childhood moments and all those who influenced and encouraged her along the way.

Before becoming the first black woman on the Supreme Court Ketanji Brown Jackson was a bright and happy kid with big dreams and determination. Guided by her parents, whose own stories influenced her, and who helped her navigate the obstacles she might face as a Black child, Ketanji’s spirit, drive, and belief in herself blossomed. She was popular in school and excelled in academics, debate, and theater, but it wasn’t always smooth sailing. Over the decades, she’d run up against a backdrop of people and Supreme Court rulings that sometimes opened doors for her . . . and sometimes shut them. By remaining true to herself and fighting for what’s right, Ketanji became an inspiration to children everywhere, accomplishing her lifelong goals and ascending to the nation’s highest court, where she now helps decide the direction of our country.

From New York Times bestselling author Garen Thomas and Washington Post reporter Lori Rozsa comes this empowering biography that proves that with perseverance, dreams can come true!

Inspired by journalists Christiane Amanpour and Sylvia Poggioli, Midnight, at the War is a novel about a reporter chasing the biggest story of her career as she contends with a tense newsroom, a dangerous global conflict, and all the problems she’s running away from at home, by the acclaimed novelist that Megha Majumdar calls “a gem of a writer.”

Foreign correspondent Rita Das has left New York for the war-torn Middle East, a reassignment she asks for after she learns she is pregnant and is uncertain whether the father is her husband or her lover. As she strives to shed light on the fallouts of the war, Rita finds herself embroiled in her own conflicts with her interpreter and her news editor, her sources and her colleagues. She is unable to accept the loss of her mother and deal with her guilt for not being at her side when she died.

Fiercely independent and ambitious (and in her journalism, deeply humane), Rita is also in denial about her need for intimate human relationships. As she goes into the field to report on the war, she grapples with the physical and emotional tolls of her pregnant body and a turbulent region where the numbing repetition of war slides suddenly into horror. When her news editor delivers urgent orders for her to return to New York, Rita is faced with a choice about how she wants to live her life as a journalist and a soon-to-be mother.

Set in the years immediately after 9/11, and drawn from Devi Laskar’s own experience as a government reporter in the 1990s and early aughts, Midnight, at the War is an exploration of love and grief, of moral ambiguity and forgiveness, of modern war and the wars we wage within ourselves.

A gorgeously illustrated centennial of Langston Hughes' first book of poetry, The Weary Blues, this picture book includes select poems paired with vibrant artwork by more than twenty talented Black illustrators, including award-winners Oge Mora, Frank Morrison, Janelle Washington, and more!

Brought to new life by lively illustrations on every page, Melodies of The Weary Blues introduces Langston Hughes’ intimate reflections on the Black experience in America to young readers in a fresh and approachable way. Featuring poems like “Dream Variation,” “Winter Moon,” and “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”, Hughes’ still resonant words shine like never before for readers everywhere. 

Includes an introduction by the editor, Shamar Knight-Justice, Langston Hughes’ biography and timeline of life, and biographies of all the contributors.