A woman with a closet full of skeletons and the man determined to find them.

Cèsar Nadal is arguably the best private investigator in the business. So when he's outsourced to find dirt on a competing company's executive to keep her from outbidding his client, he isn't surprised.

But this time is a little different. Because when he takes one look at the woman he's meant to ruin, he's smitten.

Deirdre Klarke prides herself on her integrity...despite running a sector of the family business whose very foundation is littered with dead bodies. The Klarke family name carries more weight than Deirdre cares to wear anymore. But she's determined to make a name for herself in Austin.

All is well until Deirdre feels like someone is watching her.

But as she becomes familiar with the efficient man who makes himself useful when breaking into her home, she finds herself getting sucked into a seductive dance with her stalker.

As the lonely crime family darling cozies up to her mysterious suitor, both of their secrets threaten to unravel their newfound affections.

The dazzling romantic fantasy world of House of Marionne continues in this dark and deadly sequel full of forbidden magic, devastating lies, and broken hearts.

A must read for fans of Stephanie Garber, Leigh Bardugo, and Alex Aster.

Unleash the darkness. Claim your power.

Quell Marionne’s explosive final Rite of Induction to House Marionne sent shockwaves through the magical world, unearthing long buried secrets and her own deadly power. But she paid a steep price: her family and her love. Fleeing Chateau Soleil for House of Perl, for once Quell is celebrated instead of shunned. She has finally found somewhere to belong. But secrets lurk in every House, and Quell’s quest to find her mom threatens to lead her deeper into the shadows.

Assassin Jordan Wexton, second-in command of the Dragun brotherhood, must protect the source of all magic, the Sphere. Yet the biggest threat to the Sphere is Quell Marionne—the girl he loved, until she claimed the deadly, outlawed toushana. As the Sphere cracks and war brews among the Houses, can the only way to save the world be to kill his own heart?

Now, these two lovers-turned enemies must confront their competing ambitions and conflicting loyalties. Or die. The future of magic hangs on their decision.

*ships in 7-10 business days

Shady Baby is a powerful, funny, and super-cute, character who will help little leaders find their big voices.

When Shady Baby gets to the park for a relaxing play session, she finds some not-so-nice kids picking on others. She flashes them a look and teaches them that it’s better to play nice. But when her feelings are hurt, will anyone stand (or crawl) by her side?

Find out in this upbeat rhyming picture book that teaches kids to speak their minds and stand up for what they believe in. 

Learn about feelings and emotions with Shady Baby in this board book created by the bestselling team of Gabrielle Union, Dwyane Wade, and Tara Nicole Whitaker!

Shady Baby is baking cupcakes, and she has some feelings about the process. From excitement or boredom, Shady Baby expresses nine common emotions. Perfect for the youngest of readers, this book will inspire kids to discuss their multitude of feelings in a kid-friendly, accessible format.

Great for:

• Introducing emotional literacy, self-awareness, and empathy to toddlers!
• Reading sequential yet simple storylines!
• Early childhood development!
• Tiny hands, due to its sturdy pages!

Plus be sure to check out Shady Baby, the New York Times bestselling picture book from Gabrielle Union, Dwyane Wade, and Tara Nicole Whitaker.

In this “captivating” (Harper’s Bazaar) and lyrical debut novel—perfect for fans of The Water Dancer and the Legacy of Orïsha series—the Yoruba deity of the sea, Yemaya, is brought to vivid life as she discovers the power of Black resilience, love, and feminine strength in antebellum America.

Shallow Waters imagines Yemaya, an Orïsha—a deity in the religion of Africa’s Yoruba people—cast into mid-1800s America. We meet Yemaya as a young woman, still in the care of her mother and not yet fully aware of the spectacular power she possesses to protect herself and those she holds dear.

The journey laid out in Shallow Waters sees Yemaya confront the greatest evils of this era; transcend time and place in search of Obatala, a man who sacrifices his own freedom for the chance at hers; and grow into the powerful woman she was destined to become. We travel alongside Yemaya from her native Africa and on to the “New World,” with vivid pictures of life for those left on the outskirts of power in the nascent Americas.

Yemaya realizes the fighter within, travels the Underground Railroad in search of the mysterious stranger Obatala, and crosses paths with icons of our history on the road to freedom. Shallow Waters is a “riveting and heartbreaking” (Publishers Weekly) work of ritual storytelling from promising debut author Anita Kopacz.

Meet deadly tiger sharks, baby lemon sharks, and gigantic basking sharks in this kids’ science book about the coolest predators in the ocean.

Follow the lives of individual sharks as they hunt, hide, and play their way through their day, from gargantuan whale sharks to tiny epaulette sharks (who hunt in rock pools!). Witness:

• A great white shark escaping a pod of orcas
• A giant hammerhead hunting stingrays
• A nurse shark asleep in a coral reef

Packed with animal facts, Sharks (A Day in the Life) encourages kids to look at sharks in a new light—not just fearsome hunters but endangered animals who play a key role in the ocean’s ecosystem.

Also available: Bugs (A Day in the Life) and Big Cats (A Day in the Life)

Christopher Rossmore has one dream: to run Rossmore Wineries, the vineyard that has been in his family for generations. Despite preparing for the role since birth, Christopher finds himself competing with his estranged father's gold digging fiancee for the job.

In order to become CEO, he has to convince celebrity couple Michaela Hamilton and Hunter Lawrence to hold their star studded nuptials at the vineyard.

He can run a business with his eyes closed, but public relations is not his jam.

He's gonna need some help.

Isobel Brooke Taylor has one dream: to run Taylor Made Hair Care, the family run hair care brand currently helmed by her father. Despite traveling all over the world to solidify Taylor Made's status as an international brand, the board is worried that her reputation as a party girl & socialite would make her unsuitable to take over.

In order to get the top job she has to convince the board that she can balance business & pleasure.

Walking into a crowded party and walking out with everyone eating out of the palm of her hand? Easy. Doing the same thing in the boardroom? Not so much.

She's gonna need some help.

When Izzie and Chris discover that Michaela and Hunter are hosting a couples only retreat, the perfect plan emerges. These childhood best friends will pretend to be lovers, while Izzy helps Chris woo the future Lawrences and Chris helps Izzy woo the board.

But, can Christopher and Isobel get through the retreat without wooing each other?

For fans of Sinners and Immortal Dark, a teen girl must uncover her family’s deadly secrets in order to save her best friend and her island in this heart-pounding YA debut.

Addae has spent her whole life on the Golden Isle, a private island off the coast of South Carolina that has been in her family for centuries. Island residents don’t really fraternize with mainlanders, and for good reason. Golden Isle was founded by the Kinfolk, descendants―including Addae and her Nana Ama, the island matriarch―of escaped enslaved Black people.

But the Isle and the Kinfolk have secrets that must be protected from the outside world. Secrets of spirituality, mythology that are deeply rooted in their West African culture, beliefs, and traditions. The Kin are bound to protect the Golden Isle and, in turn, it protects them.

When Addae’s best friend Naria goes missing and one of the Kin turns up drained of blood, Addae's way of life is threatened. It looks like the work of the Adze, West African supernatural beings that drink human blood in order to survive―also known as vampires.

Believing Naira is alive, Addae travels to the mainland. But as Addae gets closer to finding Naria, she uncovers deep secrets about Nana Ama’s past, and about her own… secrets that could change how she feels about the Golden Isle and her lineage.

Torn between two worlds, Addae will have to decide how far she is willing to go―and who she is willing to cross―to save her best friend, and even herself.

Chyna is a 23-year-old witch who’s determined to leave her small-town life behind and make it big in Los Angeles. By day, she’s a paralegal, but by night, she uses magic to manipulate her circumstances and secure her dream lifestyle. With her sights set on Chicago Moon, a rich basketball player, she casts a love spell to make him fund her dream hair salon. Along the way, Chyna faces challenges with an overbearing mother, an annoying coworker, and the inevitable fallout from using magic to control others. As her spells spiral out of control and her past resurfaces, Chyna must decide whether to change her ways or risk losing everything.

*Ships in 7-10 Business Days*

From comedian Quinta Brunson comes a deeply personal and funny collection of essays about trying to make it when you're struggling, the importance of staying true to your roots, and how she's redefined humor online.

Quinta Brunson is a master at breaking the internet. Before having any traditional background in media, her humorous videos were the first to go viral on Instagram’s platform. From there, Brunson’s wryly observant POV helped cement her status in the comedy world at large, with roles on HBO, Netflix, ABC, Adult Swim, BuzzFeed, the CW, and Comedy Central. Now, Brunson is bringing her comedic chops to the page in She Memes Well, an earnest, laugh-out-loud collection about this unusual road to notoriety.

In her debut essay collection, Quinta applies her trademark humor and heart to discuss what it was like to go from a girl who loved the World Wide Web to a girl whose face launched a thousand memes. With anecdotes that range from the ridiculous—like the time she decided to go clubbing wearing an outfit she describes as "Gary Coleman meets metrosexual pirate"—to more heartfelt material about her struggles with depression, Quinta's voice is entirely authentic and eminently readable. With its intimate tone and hilarious moments, She Memes Well will make you feel as if you're sitting down with your chillest, funniest friend.

Part science fiction, part fantasy, and entirely infused with West African culture and spirituality, this novella offers an intimate glimpse into the life of a teenager whose coming of age will herald a new age for her world. Set in the universe Africanfuturist luminary Nnedi Okorafor first introduced in the World Fantasy Award-winning Who Fears Death, this is the first in the She Who Knows trilogy

When there is a call, there is often a response.

Najeeba knows.

She has had The Call. But how can a 13-year-old girl have the Call? Only men and boys experience the annual call to the Salt Roads. What’s just happened to Najeeba has never happened in the history of her village. But it’s not a terrible thing, just strange. So when she leaves with her father and brothers to mine salt at the Dead Lake, there’s neither fanfare nor protest. For Najeeba, it’s a dream come true: travel by camel, open skies, and a chance to see a spectacular place she’s only heard about. However, there must have been something to the rule, because Najeeba’s presence on the road changes everything and her family will never be the same.

Small, intimate, up close, and deceptively quiet, this is the beginning of the Kponyungo Sorceress.

Amazon Editors' Pick - August 2024
Gizmodo's New Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Horror Books Releasing in August
Screenrant #1 Most Anticipated Book in Sci-fi Coming Out in August

⭐ "Readers will devour this." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
⭐ "While this book may be short, its impact is anything but small." —Kirkus (starred review)

Part science fiction, part fantasy, and entirely infused with West African culture and spirituality, this novella offers an intimate glimpse into the life of a teenager whose coming of age will herald a new age for her world. Set in the universe Africanfuturist luminary Nnedi Okorafor first introduced in the World Fantasy Award-winning Who Fears Death, this is the first in the She Who Knows trilogy

When there is a call, there is often a response.

Najeeba knows.

She has had The Call. But how can a 13-year-old girl have the Call? Only men and boys experience the annual call to the Salt Roads. What’s just happened to Najeeba has never happened in the history of her village. But it’s not a terrible thing, just strange. So when she leaves with her father and brothers to mine salt at the Dead Lake, there’s neither fanfare nor protest. For Najeeba, it’s a dream come true: travel by camel, open skies, and a chance to see a spectacular place she’s only heard about. However, there must have been something to the rule, because Najeeba’s presence on the road changes everything and her family will never be the same.

Small, intimate, up close, and deceptively quiet, this is the beginning of the Kponyungo Sorceress.

A stunning full-color Harlem-themed 1,000-piece puzzle from beloved interior designer Sheila Bridges.

Sheila Bridges is a world-renowned interior designer, recognized for her classic yet versatile design aesthetic and critical eye. She is sought after to create thoughtfully inspired and narrative rich interiors because of her profound sensitivity and appreciation of timeless design and quality craftsmanship. Her Harlem Puzzle is a beautiful ode to Harlem, New York, known around the globe its rich cultural heritage and significant contributions of talented African American writers, painters, poets, musicians, activists and artists.

Featuring:

• 1,000 full-color interlocking pieces
• Art print with puzzle image
• Finished puzzle is 18 7/8" x 26 3/8"

A collection of 12 stunning wrapping paper sheets and matching gift tags from beloved interior designer Sheila Bridges.

Similar to Artisan's John Derian Products Line, here is a curated collection of wrapping paper sheets and matching gift tags from Sheila Bridges's globally recognized modern and beautiful patterns and designs. The book includes 12 perforated wrapping paper sheets—including her ever popular Harlem Toile de Jouy and Van Doe patterns—that detach and unfold to 19 5/8" by 25 3/4", along with 12 matching gift tags.

*Ships in 7-10 business days*

Baby is finally asleep. But everyone is much too loud! Can Mom, Daddy, Grammy, Pop Pop, Shae, Dante, Rover the dog, and even the neighbor keep quiet? Just when they think they can rest—oh no. The baby’s awake. One savvy little narrator knows just the way to make his baby sister fall back asleep: by reading her a good book!

A hilarious cast of characters will keep readers laughing throughout this amusing celebration of early literacy and intergenerational family relationships.

Commemorating its 20th anniversary with a new Introduction and updated content, Shifting explores the many identities Black women must adopt in various spaces to succeed in America.

Based on the African American Women’s Voices Project, Shifting reveals that a large number of Black women feel pressure to compromise their true selves as they navigate America's racial and gender discrimination. Black women "shift" by altering the expectations they have for themselves or their outer appearance, a set of coping mechanisms explored in detail within these pages. They modify their speech. They shift "white" as they head to work in the morning and "Black" as they come back home each night. They shift inward, internalizing the searing pain of the negative stereotypes they encounter daily. And sometimes they shift by fighting back. In commemoration of its twentieth year in print with a new Introduction and updated content throughout, Shifting is a much-needed, clear, and comprehensive portrait of the reality of Black women's experiences with bias today.

This foundational text on the emotional well-being of Black women breaks down key concepts, including:

* The Sisterella Complex: A groundbreaking look at the unique manifestation of depression common among Black women, fueled by the pressure to overachieve while denying their own needs.
* The Lily Complex: An analysis of the pressure Black women feel to conform to Eurocentric beauty standards, from altering hair texture to navigating body image.
* Black Women in the Workplace: An exploration of how women "shift" to survive, dealing with everything from microaggressions to being overlooked for promotions in professional settings.
* Mothering Black Children: A look into the specific challenges of raising children to cope with a society still struggling with prejudice, and how mothers teach the ABCs of shifting for survival.

With all the aspirational elements of Eloise and the heart and emotional intelligence of Ways to Make Sunshine, Cruise Life by Reese Eschmann is sure to set sail for success!

All aboard!

Caitlin always has the best time with her dad and big brother, Dylan, on The Wandering Princess, the fanciest, most fun, family-friendly cruise ship, where her dad has a job as the ship's doctor. And this cruise is going to be easy! The passengers are small groups of scrapbookers, family reunion-ers, and magic enthusiasts. Plus Caitlin is now a cruise expert!

What she and Dylan aren’t counting on is a staffing shortage that suddenly finds Caitlin front and center as the substitute magician’s apprentice in the evening shows and Dylan racing around and attending to some increasingly demanding fellow passengers.

Can Caitlin turn the tides and save this cruise?

Not everyone wants to start over and for Journey Young that is the last thing she wants to do. But when her former track coach turns creepy, It leads her to the pristine campus of Glendale prep with two goals in mind. Win Championships and forget the past.

Roman Taylor has everything he could want. A full ride to Glendale Prep, a pretty girlfriend, and being best wide receiver in all of Gelco. But there's only two things he wants more than anything, his dad's support and D1 scouts to look his way.

With both of them on two different paths Journey and Roman didn't expect to reconnect their long lost friendship at Glendale Prep, neither did they expect it to turn into anything more. Both with championships on the line, the last thing on Journey's mind is to fall in love to throw her off her game but for Roman he will do whatever it takes to win the game and her heart.

*ships in 7-10 business days

In 2016, Stewart was a rising leader at the predominantly white evangelical church he and his family were attending in Augusta, Georgia. Like many young church leaders, Stewart was thrilled at the prospect of growing his voice and influence within the community, and excited to break barriers as the church’s first Black preacher. But when Trump began his campaign, so began the unearthing. Stewart began overhearing talk in the pews—comments ranging from microaggressions to outright disparaging rhetoric towards Black Americans. As this violence began to reveal itself en masse, Stewart quickly found himself and his family alone amid a people unraveled—their community of faith became the same place where they soon found themselves most alone. This set Stewart on a journey—first out of the white church, and into a liberating pursuit of faith, by looking to the wisdom of the saints before us, like James Cone, James Baldwin, and Toni Morrison, and by heeding the paradoxical humility of Jesus himself.

This sharply observed journey is an intimate meditation on coming of age in the time of terror. Stewart reveals the profound faith found even after experiencing the violence of the American church: a faith that loves Blackness, speaks truth to pain and trauma, and pursues a truer, realer kind of love than the kind we’re taught—a love that sets us free.

All the "awwws" of animal adoption stories are combined with sugary sweetness in this new, fun-filled chapter book series about a cat café!

Kira Parker lives above The Purrfect Cup, the cat café that her family owns and runs. And soon, the café will get new kittens! Bubbles’ belly has been growing bigger and bigger, and on Kira’s first day of school, Bubbles’ finally becomes a mama cat. But she has six kittens, which is…too many!

But not to worry, because Kira has a GREAT IDEA. She’s going to find each kitten a perfect family by matching them with her classmates! But matchmaking isn’t quite as easy as it sounds, and her classmates aren’t convinced. Will Kira be able to find each kitten the purrfect home?

A celebration of self-expression and the power of using your voice, centering Black children, and exploring the many things they can do, create, and say to make their mark.

Look around! Can you see?

The many spaces, places, and ways to

show the world all that you can be?

From painting, music, and slam poetry, to engineering, protesting, and photography, a young narrator journeys through her neighborhood, encouraging readers to explore all the many ways they can express themselves. A gorgeously illustrated and powerful celebration of self-expression shows children that there are so many spaces and opportunities to use their voices—and show the world exactly who they are.

What will you show the world?

Shuri and T'Challa set out to remove a curse from Wakanda in this action-packed, totally original graphic novel!

Twelve-year-old Shuri is a lot of things. Scientist. Princess. All around cooler person than her pain-in-the-butt big brother, T’Challa. Shuri knows she could do so much more to help Wakanda, but everyone is obsessed with the prince because he’s the next Black Panther. That is, until Soul Washing Day, one of the most important rituals of Wakandan society.

When an argument between T’Challa and Shuri leads to one of Shuri’s inventions accidentally destroying the sacred ceremony site, chaos reigns instead of prosperity. Suddenly the people of Wakanda, including her mother the queen, are becoming sick! Could this be a curse from the ancestors? Desperate to save her mother, Shuri dives into research and finds an answer hidden deep in an ancient children's myth. It may be nothing more than a fantasy, but with the sickness spreading each day, the young princess must trust her instincts and travel deep into the mysterious Heartlands to save her family and her kingdom.

Joining Shuri on her journey is none other than a meddling T’Challa. If Shuri and T’Challa can set aside their jealousy and resentment of each other long enough to survive this journey, they might just discover that they are far more powerful together than they could ever be apart. But if they can’t face their fears in the Heartlands and lift the so-called curse, it may not be just the end for their family, but the end of Wakanda as they know it. No pressure, right?

The author of It’s Me They Follow chronicles the improbable true story of how she left an abusive past to build a bookshop that survived the Covid pandemic and become an international sensation.

Jeannine Cook always thought she’d open a bookshop in her old age. Raised by a blind librarian, books were integral to her life, and she expected she would eventually write one as well. Instead, Jeannine found herself a burnt-out workaholic with three jobs and no time to read or write, feeling like she hadn't fulfilled her purpose.

In her journal, Jeannine began an imaginary dialogue with Harriet Tubman, “Q&As” she dubbed Conversations with Harriett. Jeannine wondered how Harriet became a “wade through waist-high water in the winter: type of woman—and how she could become one too.

On February 1, 2020, Jeannine fulfilled her dream and opened a bookstore in Philadelphia which she named after her hero and inspiration, Harriet Tubman. Harriett’s Bookshop would be a place to celebrate women authors, artists, and activists. While the name was ironic—Harriet could neither read nor write—it was also fitting. The City of Brotherly love was one of Harriet's first stops to freedom on the Underground Railroad. But in only six weeks, Jeannine would be forced to shut the shop’s doors when Covid turned the world upside down—not knowing whether her dream would survive.

Five years later, this small independent bookshop is thriving, with satellite stores in unconventional places, from movie theaters to horse trailers. Despite global death and destruction, book bans, the downward spiral in readership, the lack of physical customers, AI, and more, Jeannine's shops have survived. Shut Up & Read is her story—the story of the little bookseller who could, and of the woman who has been the driving force behind it all.

Winner, Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction (Publishing Triangle); Finalist, Rogers Writers Trust of Canada Fiction Prize

In Téa Mutonji’s disarming debut story collection, a woman contemplates her Congolese traditions during a family wedding, a teenage girl looks for happiness inside a pack of cigarettes, a mother reconnects with her daughter through their shared interest in fish, and a young woman decides on shaving her head in the waiting room of an abortion clinic.

These punchy, sharply observed stories blur the lines between longing and choosing, exploring the narrator’s experience as an involuntary one. Tinged with pathos and humor, they interrogate the moments in which femininity, womanness, and identity are not only questioned but also imposed.

Shut Up You’re Pretty is the first book to be published under VS. Books, a series of books curated and edited by writer-musician Vivek Shraya featuring work by new and emerging Indigenous or Black writers, or writers of color.

Acclaimed poet Raymond Antrobus returns with Signs, Music, a stunning book of poetry that captures imminent fatherhood and the arrival of a child.

Structured as a two-part sequence poem, Signs, Music explores the before and after of becoming a father with tenderness and care―the cognitive and emotional dissonances between the “hypothetical” and the “real” of fatherhood, the ways our own parents shape the parents we become, and how fraught with emotion, curiosity, and recollection this irreversible transition to fatherhood makes one’s inner landscape.

At once searching and bright, deeply rooted and buoyant, Raymond Antrobus’s Signs, Music is a moving record of the changes and challenges encompassing new parenthood and the inevitable cycles of life, death, birth, renewal and legacy―a testament to the joy, uncertainty, and incredible love that come with bringing new life into the world.

A gritty, intense novel set on Detroit’s mean streets, featuring a much-feared deaf killer known as “The Silent Assassin,” who’s fresh out of prison and on a mission to avenge the murder of the man who taught him to survive. Perfect for readers of K’wan and Ashley & JaQuavis.

The man called Silence never let being deaf stop him from becoming Detroit’s most feared thug. Now he’s tearing up the city’s meanest hood to avenge the murder of his mentor. But there’s a brutal truth even he won't see coming . . .

Deaf since childhood, Silence can read body language like a book. His mentor, Doc, who acted as his voice, taught him to navigate the streets. Silence put those skills together to become the Motor City’s most lethal killer. But now he’s home after twelve years in lockdown—and primed for revenge. His city is crumbling, and Doc has been shot dead, his empire divvied up between Silence’s former friends—and no one is talking. . . Until Silence starts rattling cages, from the town’s hottest strip joints to its icy centers of political power.

Under pressure from a ruthless cop, Silence soon finds that the loyalty and friendship he valued, the truths he lived by—even the man he looked up to—might just be deadly illusions. And when someone goes after his adopted family, Silence is on the clock to unravel a lethal conspiracy—and stake his life on one last impossible play . . .

A deluxe hardcover edition of the pioneering classic that explores the contexts in which history is produced—now part of the HBO docuseries Exterminate All the Brutes, written and directed by Raoul Peck

A Beacon Classics edition, featuring a spot gloss cover and retro, classic palette

Placing the West’s failure to acknowledge the Haitian Revolution—the most successful slave revolt in history—alongside denials of the Holocaust and the debate over the Alamo, Michel-Rolph Trouillot offers a stunning meditation on how power operates in the making and recording of history.

This modern classic resides at the intersection of history, anthropology, Caribbean, African-American, and post-colonial studies, and has become a staple in college classrooms around the country. Trouillot analyzes the silences in our historical narratives, what is left out and what is recorded, what is remembered and what is forgotten, and what these silences reveal about inequalities of power. With exacting precision, he exposes forces less visible—but no less powerful—than gunfire, property, and political crusades in shaping the production of history.

*ships in 7-10 business days*