All Books
- PRE-ORDER: Mexikid Dreams: A Graphic Memoir
PRE-ORDER: Mexikid Dreams: A Graphic Memoir
$14.99In this extraordinary graphic memoir companion to Newbery Honor winner Mexikid, hilarious family hijinks, immigration patrols, and musical daydreams shape a year of growth and change for a Mexican American boy and his family.
Pedro Martín is sick of strawberries. Since he was seven, he’s spent every weekend and summer picking berries with his family under the hot sun. Sometimes it’s not so bad—Pedro’s an ace at “strawberry wars” with his siblings, and when a good song comes on the radio, the fields can come alive with music. But mostly, Pedro wishes he could just stay home watching Saturday cartoons, head to the beach like other kids, and not worry about immigration patrols. When his older brother gets a job away from the farm, freedom suddenly seems within arm’s reach: Pedro just has to prove to his dad that he’s ready to follow a different path! Maybe he can be a trombone player, or a cartoonist—if that’s even a real job. But as Pedro learns more about his parents’ and abuelito’s past, and the choices they made in order to open up more choices for him, he starts to understand that freedom isn’t just about leaving the fields—it’s about knowing where you came from and having the courage to draw your own life.
- PRE-ORDER: Huda F Would Love You?: A Graphic Novel
PRE-ORDER: Huda F Would Love You?: A Graphic Novel
$17.99In this funny and tender finale to the Huda F series, Huda has a plan to find love—but she might need to find herself first!
It’s the summer after Huda’s high school graduation, and love is in the air! Or it’s about to be, anyway. Because Huda has the ingredients for a perfect love story: a butt-kicking girl power squad of new friends, and a plan to woo all the aunties into setting her up with their eligible sons. But when she finds herself caught between her friends and her heart, gender roles and ambitions, and her fears and dreams, Huda begins to realize that finding her own “happily ever after” might require changing herself—or her expectations.
- PRE-ORDER: Museum Mayhem (Marvel: Captain America Sam Wilson) (Pictureback)
PRE-ORDER: Museum Mayhem (Marvel: Captain America Sam Wilson) (Pictureback)
$5.99Captain America faces the elusive super villain the Spot in this action-packed paperback storybook!
Captain America is on his way to the community center to give a speech about what it really means to be a hero. But on the way, he runs into the Spot—a super villain who can create interdimensional portals! The Spot is using his powers to rob a museum. Can Captain America stop the villain, return the stolen items, and still make it to his scheduled speech on time? Join Captain America in this exciting paperback storybook, perfect for young Marvel fans.
- PRE-ORDER: You Can't Please Everyone: Reclaim Your Power in a World Obsessed with Approval
PRE-ORDER: You Can't Please Everyone: Reclaim Your Power in a World Obsessed with Approval
$19.99THE POWERFUL FOLLOW-UP TO THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER GOOD VIBES, GOOD LIFE
The more you chase approval, the further you get from yourself. The path back begins when you stop performing.
Do you say yes when every part of you wants to say no? Do you overthink every message, keep the peace, carry other people’s feelings and worry you’re still not doing enough? Does life feel like a constant audition, where your worth depends on being who others want you to be?
Vex King has helped millions of people worldwide on their paths of growth and self-reflection. Here he shows how seeking approval leads you to abandon your centre – the place of self-trust, authenticity and inner peace.
People-pleasing can look like love, kindness or responsibility, but it often begins where self-love has been forgotten. At its heart is the fear that who you truly are might not be worthy of love, acceptance and belonging. This isn’t about caring less. It’s about loving yourself deeply enough to stop abandoning yourself, protect your peace and return to your centre.
Blending lived experience, spiritual insight and practical tools, Vex reveals how to rebuild self-trust, build healthier relationships and make choices that align with your values. You’ll learn how to:
* Recognize the people-pleasing patterns running your life
* Use the Five-Second Pause before an automatic yes
* Choose alignment over approval and follow your own path
* Set boundaries without shutting people out
* Navigate family, friendships and relationships with more honesty
* Handle guilt, overthinking, criticism and rejectionYou can’t please everyone. But you can finally be yourself, and peace begins when you stop abandoning yourself for everyone else.
‘Some people will like you more when you’re agreeable, endlessly available and easier to manipulate, but you’re not here to please everyone. You’re here to rise, awaken and live as your whole self – not the edited version that keeps others at ease.’Vex King
- PRE-ORDER: It's Not Over Yet
PRE-ORDER: It's Not Over Yet
$20.99With sixteen weeks to go to his life-altering brain surgery, teenaged film buff Wali Khan decides it's time to turn the lens on community, family and friends in this tender yet humorous coming-of-age novel for ages 12 and up.
For fans of John Green, Adam Silvera, Ned Vizzini and Adib Khorram.
Fifteen-year-old Wali Khan, affectionately called "Vali the Vomiter" by his older twin sisters, has always chalked up his throwing up to a delicate stomach. And the headaches in ninth grade? Worrying about grades. But waking up in the hospital in the second week of tenth grade, he is shocked to hear the cause: acoustic neuroma, a golf-ball-sized tumor pressing on his ear canal.
The good news: it's most likely benign. The bad news: surgery in four months, with probable hearing loss as a result.
Starting a new year in high school with a looming life-altering surgery date forces Wali, a passionate film buff, to look inward, at his family, friends and even himself. Why is this happening to him?
His Muslim father and Christian mother are supportive, yet sometimes a bit clueless when it comes to their children. His twin sisters are a mix of loving and teasing, and he bounces between spying on them and keeping their secrets. As for the new girl, Ruby Lai-Mirza, he's just not sure he has time for a new friend.
Wali may fear the end, but he’s still got a lot of living to do. It's not over yet.
- You'll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey: Crazy Stories about Racism
You'll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey: Crazy Stories about Racism
$0.00Now a writer and performer on Late Night with Seth Meyers and host of The Amber Ruffin Show, Amber Ruffin lives in New York, where she is no one's First Black Friend and everyone is, as she puts it, "stark raving normal." But Amber's sister Lacey? She's still living in their home state of Nebraska, and trust us, you'll never believe what happened to Lacey.
From racist donut shops to strangers putting their whole hand in her hair, from being mistaken for a prostitute to being mistaken for Harriet Tubman, Lacey is a lightning rod for hilariously ridiculous yet all-too-real anecdotes. She's the perfect mix of polite, beautiful, petite, and Black that apparently makes people think "I can say whatever I want to this woman." And now, Amber and Lacey share these entertainingly horrifying stories through their laugh-out-loud sisterly banter. Painfully relatable or shockingly eye-opening (depending on how often you have personally been followed by security at department stores), this book tackles modern-day racism with the perfect balance of levity and gravity. - Ignite-Her: Poetry Collection
Ignite-Her: Poetry Collection
$22.22Ignite-Her is a spark. A flame. An inferno.
In 2024, five fierce FEMMEnomenal poets-EbonyRose, Renee Blackwell, Sarahtonin, Skyy Danielle, and Tequila Smith-lit National Poetry Month ablaze with 30 days of original writing prompts and poetry that cracked open the soul. What began as a challenge became HERstory in motion.
This collection is more than ink on pages. It is sacred fire. Each poem was written daily, in real time, rising from the depths of grief, joy, rage, creativity, tenderness, faith, and fierce self-discovery. These women wrote their truths into existence and now they are passing the torch to you.
Inside these pages you'll find prompts designed to break the silence and unleash the stories trapped beneath the surface. You'll encounter poetry that dares to feel, to question, to heal, and to burn beautifully.
Write with vigor. Write with flame. A fire does not apologize for its existence.
Stay IGNITED.
- Sorry I Missed Your Call I Was Trying To Kill Myself
Sorry I Missed Your Call I Was Trying To Kill Myself
$25.00"Sorry I Missed Your Call, I Was Trying To Kill Myself" is a poetry collection about mental health, race, self-love, and cultural identity. Drawing from the personal experience of a Black Woman in America who has long been expected to be strong, these poems explore what happens when that strength begins to crack.
This collection speaks openly about mental health in the Black community, naming the pain and giving a voice to the topics that often go unspoken. This piece is a love letter to every person who has ever felt small, overwhelmed, and othered. Blending the personal and political through poems on heartbreak, self-reflection, and cultural critique, Ewurakua brings the reader on a journey out of survival mode toward softness, healing, and the search for peace.
- Gulf Coast: A Journal of Literature and Fine Arts (Summer/Fall 2026)
Gulf Coast: A Journal of Literature and Fine Arts (Summer/Fall 2026)
$15.00Begun by Donald Barthelme and Phillip Lopate, Gulf Coast is the nationally-distributed journal housed within the University of Houston's English Department, home to one of the US's top ranked creative writing programs. The journal spent its nascent years (1982-1985) as Domestic Crude, a name that nodded to the major industry of the Houston area. It was a 64-page (magazine-formatted) student-run publication, with editorial advising coming from Mr. Lopate, who also contributed work to the first issues.
In 1986, the name Gulf Coast premiered. It stuck. After some experimenting, the journal found its dimensions and, eventually, its audience. The journal has since moved beyond the student body of the University of Houston and into the larger world. Our readership of the print journal currently exceeds 3,000, with more and more coming to our ever-expanding website. The print journal comes out each April and October.
Gulf Coast is still student-run. We seek to promote and publish quality literature in our local and national communities while simultaneously teaching excellence in literary publishing to graduate and undergraduate students. While we are committed to providing a balanced combination of literary approaches and voices, all of the editorial positions are two-year terms, thus ensuring a regular turnover in the specific personality and style of the journal.
In addition, Gulf Coast differs from many other literary journals in its commitment to exploring visual art and critical art writing. The journal has always featured portfolios by two artists, along with short introductions from critics familiar with their work. Since October 2013, Gulf Coast commits sixteen pages to full-color visual art features and twenty-four pages to critical art writing in each issue. This expansion was made possible by Gulf Coast's merger with Texas art journal Art Lies, a publication with a respected history of putting artists, curators, scholars, and critics in dialogue with their colleagues around the world.
The journal has enhanced its community presence thanks to the Gulf Coast Reading Series, a monthly gathering at Lawndale Art Center in the Museum District neighborhood of Houston, as well as with its annual Spring Issue Release Party. These events continue to bring esteemed writers, editors, publishers and, of course, readers to the Houston area.
Gulf Coast: A Journal of Literature and Fine Arts is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, generously funded by grants from the Brown Foundation, Inc.; theThe Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts; Inprint, Inc.; Houston Endowment, Inc.; the City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance; theTexas Commission on the Arts; the University of Houston English Department; and the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as through the support of individual contributions.
- Unlearning Ableism: The Ultimate, No-Nonsense Guide to Understanding Disability and Unlearning Ableism
Unlearning Ableism: The Ultimate, No-Nonsense Guide to Understanding Disability and Unlearning Ableism
Jamie Shields, Celia Chartres-Aris
$24.95The ultimate real-world guide on tackling ableism, head on."Ableism is everywhere, and we cannot continue just burying our heads in the sand. To not stand up to ableism is to contribute to the exclusion and discrimination of Disabled People."
Think you know what ableism is? Think again.
Welcome to Unlearning Ableism, the book rips the lid off outdated myths, exposes the hard-hitting stats, and prepares you to be the Disability inclusive ally we know you are!
Written by people who get it, this book is a call to action from Disabled advocates and changemakers from around the world. You'll learn about language, identity, advocacy, intersectionality and how to stop disabling people at work and at home. Whether you're Disabled and ready to self-advocate or an ally who wants to do more than just talk about inclusion, this is your starting point.
Let's shake things up, challenge the status quo, and unlearn ableism together with accountability and action. Ready? Let's do this. - PRE-ORDER: Back to Green: Rediscovering a World of Delicious, Healthy Eating
PRE-ORDER: Back to Green: Rediscovering a World of Delicious, Healthy Eating
$40.00Marcus Samuelsson, Award-Winning Chef, restaurateur, and cookbook author explores plant-forward eating around the globe, learning from chefs and farmers from the Caribbean and South America to East Asia and Africa.
In recent years, Marcus Samuelsson has reimagined the way he cooks, focusing more and more on nourishing, healthy, “of-the-earth" ingredients from around the world: coconut, rice, corn, acai, plantains, teff, chillis and more. As Marcus illuminates, these ancient ingredients are heirlooms, telling stories of ancestry, migration, and resilience. They bind communities, and if we look closer, they also offer a path toward healthy living.
In Back to Green, Marcus inspires readers to rediscover the cuisines of the globe that have provided us with healthy, delicious food for centuries. Countries in the Caribbean, the Americas, the Pacific, Asia, and Africa have long incorporated “superfoods” into their diets. The diverse and delicious recipes in this book include:
* Papaya Passion Fruit Smoothie
* Steamed Black Cod with Spicy Pineapple Salsa
* Eggplant Omelet with Banana Ketchup
* Rice Noodle Bowl with Ginger and Garlic Broth
* Lentil Salad with Coconut Turmeric Vinaigrette
* Vegetarian Injera LasagnaWith profiles of chefs and producers all over the world, Back to Green is a sweeping and groundbreaking celebration of cultures that have long looked at food through the lens of sustainability, ritual, and healing. It is a trek around the globe that will lead you back home to your kitchen, armed with soul-nourishing recipes that are waiting to be honored and passed down through generations once more.
- PRE-ORDER: Girl Number 8
PRE-ORDER: Girl Number 8
$30.00In a bustling and class-divided Nigerian state, a strong-willed female detective is called to the mansion of a wealthy politician to investigate the disappearance of a house girl’s daughter.
Olori’s four-year-old daughter, Frieda, has vanished. Working as a house girl for wealthy politician Samson Buzugbe, Olori suspects his wife knows more than she’s saying. But no one—certainly not the police—listens to domestic workers. And Olori has so much regret when it comes to her girl.
What begins as a missing child case takes a sinister turn when Detective Sola Adeyemi, head of the police’s Department of Ritualistic Murders and Human Sacrifice, is called to investigate. Frieda is the eighth child to disappear in the lead-up to an important election day. And for the superstitious in Nigeria, the girl’s light green eyes put her in particular danger.
As the election looms and Sola’s personal life unravels, she discovers the crime may just reach the highest levels of power. It’s up to her to find Frieda. But proving ritualistic involvement won’t be easy.
Fans of Tana French and Oyinkan Braithwaite will be captivated by this electrifying exploration of maternal guilt, systemic corruption, and the deadly price of superstition.
- PRE-ORDER: The Twelve Days of Jamaican Christmas
PRE-ORDER: The Twelve Days of Jamaican Christmas
$18.99A joyous celebration of Jamaican food — and of Christmas — set to the traditional song, The Twelve Days of Christmas, a debut picture book by acclaimed author Zalika Reid-Benta.
On the third day of Christmas, mi granny gave to me three beef patties, two sorrel drinks and some saltfish with some ackee. And then coco breads and Champagne colas. Plaintains and black cakes and breadfruits and yams — and don't forget the rice and peas!
This playful twist on the classic Christmas song builds a delicious festive feast, Jamaican style. As Granny bakes and roasts and fries, her family prepares for the season, shopping and decorating and "helping" in the kitchen, hungrily watching the dishes come together.
A joyful seasonal celebration of family and food.
Includes recipes for ackee and saltfish.
- PRE-ORDER: Girl, Start That Business!: The Foolproof Plan to Turn Your Idea into Income and Change Your Life
PRE-ORDER: Girl, Start That Business!: The Foolproof Plan to Turn Your Idea into Income and Change Your Life
$32.00The pocket MBA for entrepreneurial moms and women of color who want to build a business from scratch, overcome financial obstacles, and shift the trajectory of their life, from a globally recognized entrepreneur, business coach, and digital educator.
While starting a new business is hard for everyone—half close their doors within the first five years—it’s even harder for female entrepreneurs. Ellie Diop, founder and CEO of Ellievated Academy, Fully Funded Co., and Mommy to Millionaire, intimately knows the barriers that historically have kept women from economic freedom. She also knows how to overcome them.
From starting her business with a single $1,200 stimulus check in 2020, to becoming a self-made millionaire in her very first year, Ellie has mastered the art of life changing entrepreneurial success—and now, with Girl, Start that Business!, she’s ready to share those secrets.
The strategies within these pages are battle tested: Ellie has turned thousands of her clients into profitable business owners. And she’s done so by meeting them where they are. Ellie knows many women are starting from zero—no money, no business plan, no customers. What they do have is a great idea, hustle, heart, and street savvy. This non-judgmental, sassy, and whip-smart pocket MBA is what female entrepreneurs need to turn their dreams into life-changing reality.
Let’s go, girl, start that business today!
- PRE-ORDER: Beep Beep to Sleep
PRE-ORDER: Beep Beep to Sleep
$18.99Celebrate the sounds of nighttime in the city as you drift into dreamland.
Beep beep to sleep!Busy streets at volumes high.
Their sounds are their lullabyPlaytime is over for the day. In the warm glow of a night-light, a child snuggles into their cozy bed. And that must mean the world outside is also slowing down, going still and quiet, ready for sleep . . . right?
Wrong! Not in the city—because cities rarely sleep. They’re always rumbling, wailing, and lighting up with activity. From Chicago to Brooklyn, from Baltimore to Seattle, cities everywhere are alive with the sounds of horns, sirens, trains, and people.
This symphony of familiar city sounds, perfect for reading aloud, is both a marvelous tribute to urban life and a great way to wind down before drifting off for the night, beep beep to sleep.
- PRE-ORDER: Who We Are: Our Buried History of Anti-Black Racism
PRE-ORDER: Who We Are: Our Buried History of Anti-Black Racism
$35.00A blistering exposé of how anti-Black racism has influenced the most essential cornerstones of American life — from where we live and where we go to school to our opportunities to vote and our relationship with law enforcement— from the founder of the Who We Are Project and former director of the ACLU and the Trone Center for Justice and Equality
Featuring a foreword by Tom Hanks
One of America’s darkest myths is that the abolition of slavery and the 1960s’ dismantling of legalized racial segregation created a racially equitable and just society. But in this illuminating work, Jeffery Robinson uncovers just how deeply anti-Black racism is still woven into the fabric of our nation. White supremacy fueled the country for over a century after the Civil War and is still deeply ingrained in our culture, and racist laws that were banned and deemed unconstitutional have been replaced by more covert ones. Robinson argues that if our country is to change for the better, we must confront this truth.
Robinson takes us on a dramatic journey through America’s past, from the first group of people captured in Africa and enslaved on American soil to the racist policies and practices still impacting our country today. He argues that anti-Black racism is not just a series of isolated acts but a highly sophisticated system, in which centuries of racial segregation have resulted in flagrant disparities in public school funding, voter turnout, policing, and criminal sentencing.
Clear-eyed, explosive, and stirring, Who We Are is a powerful correction of American history that shines a light on our country’s darkest stain, revealing who we are in an effort to heal our country and improve who we become.
- PRE-ORDER: The Love Syllabus
PRE-ORDER: The Love Syllabus
$18.95She needed a second chance. He couldn’t survive another loss. What began as a pretend relationship became impossible to fake in a small town that remembers everything and forgives nothing.
Kerry Kind never expected to start over in her thirties. Reeling from a painful divorce and a very public fallout, she is desperate for a fresh start and a chance to reclaim her life. When she lands a homeschool teaching position in a tight-knit small town, it feels like the second chance she’s been fighting for. That relief quickly fades when she realizes her new boss is the same man she clashed with just days earlier.
Victor Grimes is a world-renowned chef, devoted single father, and widower who has rebuilt his life around structure, control, and emotional distance. Love is no longer part of the plan. But when his daughters need stability and Kerry proves to be exactly what they’ve been missing, Victor finds himself confronting feelings he’s spent years trying to suppress.
What begins as a reluctant partnership and a harmless fake dating arrangement meant to quiet gossip, soon blurs the line between professional and personal. Their chemistry is undeniable, and their connection deepens with every moment spent together.
As old wounds resurface and their worlds collide, Kerry and Victor must decide whether love is worth risking everything they have worked so hard to protect, or if some lessons are too painful to relearn. - PRE-ORDER: Dasia (Forever)
PRE-ORDER: Dasia (Forever)
$17.99From the New York Times bestselling author of the Dear Martin series comes a spin-off novel written in prose and letters-in-verse about a thirteen-year-old girl. As she navigates cancer, family challenges, and newfound friendship during her initial chemo treatment, she discovers that hope can bloom in the most unexpected places.
“Absolutely incredible—I read it in one sitting and finished in tears. Stone shows so much care and nuance here. Dasia will stay with me forever.” —Andrea Beatriz Arango, author of Newbery Honor book Iveliz Explains it All
“Unflinching, fearless, and strikingly original.” —Soman Chainani, author of the bestselling School for Good and Evil series and Young World
After nineteen days of “induction chemotherapy,” Dasia Monae Riley knows no one else should be in her hospital room . . .
But there she is: Jameson “Jimmy” Jeffs. Another cancer patient who’s seemingly everything Dasia is not: rich, well cared for, and a smidge childish (in Dasia’s opinion).
However, Dasia soon discovers that their commonalities go beyond a random, incurable disease . . . like older brothers who are gone, baby brothers who need them, and struggles with friends at school.
As Dasia and Jimmy chat, Dasia’s memories unfold in the unsent “letters” (read: poems) Dasia wrote to her incarcerated older brother. And over the course of one life-changing night, two girls who are at their lowest fight to keep each other uplifted. When you hit rock bottom, what does it take to survive and allow yourself to hope again?
In a spin-off to the Dear Martin series, New York Times bestselling author Nic Stone delivers a heart-wrenching story of resilience, connection, and the fight to stay alive when battling illness and bearing the weight of difficult circumstances.
- PRE-ORDER: Black Gold: A Novel
PRE-ORDER: Black Gold: A Novel
$29.00A young model is catapulted from her life in Jamaica to the international world of high fashion in this tender, powerful novel about the distance one woman must travel to find out what it means to be truly free—by the critically acclaimed and award-winning author of Patsy and Here Comes the Sun.
Nestled within Jamaica’s Blue Mountains, Cherry Village has belonged for generations to the Maroons—freed slaves descended from Faye’s ancestor, the legendary Grandy Henrietta. But Faye’s restless nature and independence have always marked her as different, and she dreams of a life beyond the rural coffee-farming community that follows the old ways. When Faye’s mother is forced to sell their ancestral land after falling ill, Faye worries she will be trapped forever.
A chance meeting with a modeling scout offers Faye the opportunity to save her family and pursue the freedom she craves. Her career will take her on a whirlwind journey of luxury and excess, love and adventure, as well as greed and deception. But her success will challenge everything she thought she knew about herself, forcing her to confront a legacy of pain, resilience, and survival that began generations before.
A story of land and river, myth and history, unbreakable hope and generational resilience, interwoven with Jamaican folklore and featuring an unforgettable heroine, Black Gold further establishes Nicole Dennis-Benn as one of the most dynamic voices in contemporary fiction.
- PRE-ORDER: Àkànní
PRE-ORDER: Àkànní
$14.99A young warrior in training and a team of unlikely-heroes-turned-friends set out to uncover a conspiracy that threatens their entire solar system—and challenges their idea of honor.
This epic space-based graphic novel for 8-12 year olds is perfect for fans of Star Wars and Iyanu on Cartoon Network!
All her life, Àkànní has dreamed of being an onija—brave in the face of danger, strong in the face of opposition, and honorable in the face of injustice. And as a student at the prestigious Onija Institute, she’s on her way to becoming part of the elite force that defends her solar system.
But when a surprise attack decimates her home planet and the government refuses to respond, Àkànní no longer knows who to trust. She rushes home to Asa to search for survivors—and there meets a misfit group of rebels seeking answers.
When they discover evidence that the attack on Asa was just the beginning, it’s up to Àkànní and her new friends to open the eyes of those in power to the real threat of war.
- PRE-ORDER: The People's House: The Power and Presence of African Americans in the White House
PRE-ORDER: The People's House: The Power and Presence of African Americans in the White House
$22.00A new anthology celebrating the African American voices that influenced and shaped the history of the White House
A Penguin Classic
The People’s House is an anthology comprised primarily of first-person accounts, from the eighteenth century to the present, detailing the Black experience in the White House — in turn illustrating how African Americans have influenced the presidency and policy over America’s 250-year history. The collection’s diversity of perspectives — from dressmakers and domestic staff members to abolitionists and civil rights activists, as well as cabinet members, candidates, and elected officials — charts not only a history of African Americans in the most recognizable U.S. institution, but how African Americans have used their power and presence in the White House to urge the nation toward its democratic ideals. Through the words of Frederick Douglass, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Thurgood Marshall, Shirley Chisholm, Colin M. Powell, Barack Obama, and dozens of other figures, both prominent and lesser-known, this anthology offers an expansive and intimate view of the White House as a key site in the struggle for Black freedom and equal citizenship. Each entry is accompanied by insight from editors Michelle D. Commander and Kathleen M. Kendrick, providing biographical information and historical context to help readers further understand how African Americans have shaped the story and meaning of the People’s House.
Penguin Classics is the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world, representing a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
- PRE-ORDER: Everything's Not Lost
PRE-ORDER: Everything's Not Lost
$20.99A heart-wrenching yet vividly hopeful novel about a Black girl's struggle to find the quiet beauty in life and friendship amid the chaos of grief and mental illness by New York Times, USA Today, and Indie bestselling author Frederick Joseph.
"Frederick is such a grounded and beautiful voice of not just this moment but all the moments. Everything's Not Lost cements him firmly as a much needed and stunning voice inside the world of YA literature." —Jacqueline Woodson, winner of the Hans Christian Andersen Award
As a sixteen-year-old Black girl with bipolar disorder, Ella Washington has plenty stacked against her. But following her beloved sister’s unexpected death and its turbulent aftermath, Ella is desperate to find any sense of normalcy. Worse still, someone at her school is determined to drive her deeper into despair.
It feels nearly impossible to find her way out of the fog of grief and loneliness, but through her love of art, some unlikely new friends, and the memory of her sister, Ella slowly learns that the pursuit of happiness and forgiveness is an endeavor that is more than worthwhile.
Told in Frederick Joseph’s perceptive and lyrical voice, Everything’s Not Lost is an achingly relatable story about finding points of light even in the darkest of times.
- PRE-ORDER: There Used to Be People Here
PRE-ORDER: There Used to Be People Here
$30.00In 1970s Mississippi, a Black detective and his temporary partner are assigned to a case that shifts from murder to paranormal conspiracy with life-altering repercussions.
Wenton, Mississippi: A man enters the bathroom of a local gay bar and doesn't come back out. Instead he's found cold, on the floor, and facing the wall. And no one seems to know how this happened.
Samuel Barkley is Wenton's only Black detective. Assigned to the case, Samuel's one goal is to keep his head down with eyes on moving up in the police ranks. But it's not easy with Harvey, a new, temporary partner who Samuel can't seem to like...or hate. Nor with the cold, questioning eyes and fake smiles from those in town. Persistent. Judging. Wrong. Samuel is reaching his breaking point.
As his investigation leads him to a curious plane crash cover-up, Samuel's placid existence is turned on its head. Because what crashed in Wenton isn't a plane. There are others here. They like it here. And if Samuel can't stop them, they will find a way to stay.
With shades of The X-Files and S. A. Cosby, There Used to Be People Here deftly explores race, queerness, and existing as other in a society that demonizes everything different.
- PRE-ORDER: Every Story Is a Love Story: A Novel
PRE-ORDER: Every Story Is a Love Story: A Novel
$32.00From the New York Times bestselling author of Behold the Dreamers, a captivating novel about love lost—and the weight of regret
What if I’d never gotten into that car? What if I’d pulled out of the driveway five minutes earlier, or ten minutes later?
Three years ago, Wolo’s pregnant wife was killed in a tragic car accident. In an instant, the great love of his life was gone, and so was their beautiful future: the twins they were expecting, the PhD she was on the cusp of finishing, and the house they’d just bought in New Jersey. In the face of a loss that seemed insurmountable, Wolo has slowly rebuilt a semblance of a life: he goes to work, hangs out with a small circle of friends, and fends off the matchmaking efforts of the older women in his family. The grief that dogged him has, with time, become a little gentler.
Until a letter arrives one day, unbidden, threatening to upend his life once again. It is from Victoria, the woman who was behind the wheel that terrible day. Wolo’s family pastor tells him the letter is the work of the devil; his mother expressly forbids him from making further mention of it; his father’s second wife calls, from Cameroon, to tell him to destroy it. But Wolo ponders it for days, and ultimately agrees to meet with the woman who killed his wife. When he does, the compassion and deep remorse of the woman affects him in ways he had never imagined, and he begins to wonder if the long road to healing can be shared.
What do we owe to those who have hurt us? Are we defined by our worst moments and our deepest regrets? And, more than anything, can forgiveness ease our suffering? Moving and full of life, Every Story Is a Love Story charts the uneven path from heartbreak to healing.
- PRE-ORDER: That You Are Here Is No Small Thing
PRE-ORDER: That You Are Here Is No Small Thing
$18.99A stunning exploration of the history of Black Americans by award-winning picture book team Traci N. Todd and Vashti Harrison.
The world is forever changed because you are here.
At once honest and empowering, That You Are Here Is No Small Thing is a story about resilience. In these stunning pages, young descendants of enslaved Africans are guided through the history that led them to exist and thrive today. Through their eyes, we see how Black Americans have relied on one another to fight against oppression and the ways in which the strength of their ancestors is always with them.
Sibert Honor winner Traci N. Todd and Caldecott Medalist Vashti Harrison have created an unforgettable exploration of culture and history that records the important survival story Black children carry and celebrates their hope for a radiant future.
- A Very Special Episode: A Novel
A Very Special Episode: A Novel
$28.00In Washington, D.C.’s powerful Black elite, legacy is everything. When a young heir to one of the city’s most influential institutions seeks funding to cement her future, a shadowy organization offers to help—but it could cost her far more than she’s willing to give.
“A biting satire about the ever-shifting ways to perform Blackness. This is a very special book.”—Bridgett M. Davis, author of The World According to Fannie Davis
Nina Johnson has always taken pride in belonging to The Tenth. After all, she’s following in the footsteps of her ancestors: Her great-great-grandmother founded the prestigious DC society—a space for influential African Americans—just forty years after the Emancipation Proclamation. Nina’s been elected to helm the organization, but she’s determined to escape the influence of her mother, who has led the organization with a steadfast commitment to tradition, all while keeping Nina under her freshly manicured thumb. Nina’s determined to forge her own path and do things differently: fewer stuffy, out-of-touch meetings and boring galas, more young people, and a swankier headquarters.
To realize her ambitions, Nina needs funding. So, when a wealthy white benefactor named Sienna Masters offers financial support in exchange for her participation in a mysterious project at a former public housing complex, The Orchard, Nina ignores her initial skepticism and agrees to a partnership. But as Nina and those closest to her piece together Sienna's true motives, they discover far more sinister forces at play, ones that exploit Nina's community for profit, with stakes that extend far beyond her ambitions for The Tenth. But how far is Nina willing to go to shape her future? And what is she willing to sacrifice along the way?
A whip-smart and sly social commentary on the complex interplay of race, class, and family legacy, A Very Special Episode will keep you on the edge of your seat.
- PRE-ORDER: Fearless Freedom: A Manifesto for Unlocking Wealth and Equality for All
PRE-ORDER: Fearless Freedom: A Manifesto for Unlocking Wealth and Equality for All
$31.00An upcoming book to be published by Penguin Random House.
- PRE-ORDER: Habila: A Novel
PRE-ORDER: Habila: A Novel
$30.00From the acclaimed author of She Would Be King, a dazzling and daring work of magical realism that weaves through the lives of a Liberian immigrant family and the water goddess who haunts them
In this ambitious new novel, the bestselling and prize-winning writer Way�tu Moore delivers us into the lives of a young girl, Melanctha, and her family amid the loss of their patriarch, Tokpa. They relocate from Liberia to the backwater town of Hunt, Texas, a land that proves hostile to them—until one day, a school bully pushes Melanctha into a lake, and she finds that she can breathe underwater. Melanctha discovers that her newfound ability comes from Habila, a gorgeous, beguiling half woman, half sea deity who bestows on her a gift: a comb that, if touched, can lure people into the water and make them disappear for good.
But Melanctha’s power has not come without a price. Habila has languished alone for millennia, blaming men for her loneliness. She harbors a hatred so potent that she has committed her existence to ridding the world of them. As Melanctha’s ties to Habila deepen, a family mystery unravels, and Melanctha learns that the siren may have secrets, too.
Inspired by the African legend of Mami Wata, Habila is a kaleidoscopic tale tracing a family and a woman through the years as they navigate supernatural forces and long-buried truths. In lush, lyrical prose, Moore crafts an elegant story that probes the corners of womanhood and motherhood, immigrant identity, and the legacies wrought by men who take but never give back.
- PRE-ORDER: Two Can Play That Game
PRE-ORDER: Two Can Play That Game
$20.00After a chance courtside encounter, a fake relationship between a rising influencer and a WNBA star gets a little too real in this swoony sapphic romance.
Chelsea has never cared about sports. But when she’s invited to sit courtside at a New York WNBA game, she welcomes the break from her usual routine. What she doesn’t expect is a basketball nearly colliding with her face—or the six-foot-four hottie who jogs over, flashing a heart-stopping grin, to retrieve it.
Adrienne “AD” Daniels is a player on and off the court, notorious for their inability to stay in a relationship. Still, something about Chelsea sticks with them—even though their instant connection can’t bring AD to offer more than one night.
But AD’s agent makes a pitch: Chelsea should pretend to be AD’s girlfriend. It’s a strategic move. AD, hoping to retire after this season, needs to lock down some brand deals—but their identity as a Black, nonbinary lesbian with a messy dating history makes sponsors wary. Chelsea, a sex-positive influencer, is ready to pivot her platform, and this feels like the perfect next step. With Chelsea’s network and AD’s star power, they could both strengthen their public images. Once the season ends, they’ll go their separate ways.
As the ruse starts to work and their connection deepens, Chelsea finds herself on unsteady ground. Falling for AD wasn’t part of the plan, and if she lets herself get too close, she might lose the future she’s finally starting to build.
- PRE-ORDER: A Princess Is a Princess
PRE-ORDER: A Princess Is a Princess
$18.99Created by Anika Noni Rose, award-winning singer, actress, and voice of Disney Princess Tiana, this heartwarming picture book celebrates princesses of all identities, abilities, and dreams—because what makes a princess is staying true to being royally you.
A princess is a princess no matter the time of day.
A princess is a princess no matter what they say.Her worth isn’t measured by the size of her crown.
Even if she's acting silly or her smile is upside down.Whether feeling grumpy or joyful, playful or peaceful—this story, with its empowering text and stunning illustrations—is here to assure readers and princesses of all ages, sizes, colors, and abilities that they deserve to feel seen, celebrated, and royally loved.
- PRE-ORDER: My Neighborhood
PRE-ORDER: My Neighborhood
$18.99A vibrant and lyrical picture book that follows two brothers on a journey through their inner-city neighborhood, showing off the beauty and life lessons to be found within.
My neighborhood ain't perfect, but it’s more than flashing lights seen on the six o’clock news.
Follow a young boy as he explores his neighborhood hand-in-hand with his older brother, Trevor. They share handshakes on the sidewalk, laughter at the skate park, wisdom at the chess tables, rhythm in the dance circle, and kindness at the corner store. With each step, this lyrical picture book radiates the sounds, gestures, and bonds that make a neighborhood more than just a place to live--that make it a home.
Pulsing with rhythm and swagger, Delano Brown’s rich text and Briana Mukodiri Uchendu’s beautiful illustrations capture the heart of an urban neighborhood and the relationships that bring it to life.
- PRE-ORDER: Mystery James Digs Her Own Grave
PRE-ORDER: Mystery James Digs Her Own Grave
$8.99Abandoned in a cemetery and raised in a funeral home, a girl who can see and smell the supernatural must solve the mystery of a priceless heirloom stolen from her family's business. Perfect for fans of Netflix’s Wednesday and Beetlejuice!
"A new middle grade heroine you’re going to love."—BookRiot
AN EDGAR AWARD NOMINEE • A BRAM STOKER AWARD NOMINEE
13-year-old Mystery—who was abandoned in a cemetery and raised in a funeral home—is plagued by sleep paralysis and the smell of ghosts, but she's used to that. Even though her life might seem "strange" on the outside, she loves it.
That is until a priceless heirloom goes missing and her family's funeral home is in danger of being shut down. To clear her Tia's good name, Mystery embarks on an adventure to figure out what really happened to the misplaced necklace.
But to do so, she must contend with the angry patriarch of the town’s wealthiest family, a sleep paralysis demon, a graverobber, and the ghastly half-vampire, half-ghost that’s lurking in the Olde Ellis Town Cemetery.
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