Bestsellers
- Simple Goodness: No-fuss, Plant-based Meals Straight from Your Pantry
Simple Goodness: No-fuss, Plant-based Meals Straight from Your Pantry
Makini Howell
$32.00From a beloved plant-based chef and restauranter, a cookbook full of easy to follow vegan recipes–every bite is bursting with flavor!
With over 140 delicious recipes, Howell provides everything from practical tips (“Stocking Your Kitchen for a Plant-Based Life,”) to recipes for dips that double as sauces and can be used from breakfast to dinner, easy and healthy breakfasts (Plant Beef and Cheese Taquitos), sustaining lunches (Portobello Gyros), hearty suppers (Eggplant Parmesan with Alfredo Rigatoni and Lemon Olive Oil Arugula), and delicious desserts (Vanilla Caramel Apple Sprinkle Ice-Cream Sammie).
Additionally, SIMPLE GOODNESS features a whole chapter dedicated to kid-friendly recipes-- healthy, tasty, and enjoyable dishes for quick, energizing breakfasts, packable lunches, and adults-will-love-them-too dinners, even for the pickiest of eaters.
SIMPLE GOODNESS offers life-changing meals that fit seamlessly into your lifestyle, whether you’re feeding a family or just yourself, a college student, or anyone in between. More than just a cookbook, it’s a tribute to the warmth and care found in sharing homemade food and embracing a plant-based life one simply good meal at a time.
- Sam Gilliam
Sam Gilliam
Ishmael Reed
$150.00As featured in The Wall Street Journal’s 2024 Holiday Gift Books: Fine Art
The definitive monograph of Sam Gilliam one of the great innovators in post-war American painting
An African American artist in the nation’s capital at the height of the Civil Rights movement, Sam Gilliam blazed a trail with his singular artistic vision. Gilliam emerged from the Washington, DC art scene in the mid 1960s with works that disrupted established artistic norms and styles.
Relentlessly experimental and inspired by the improvisatory ethos of jazz, Gilliam’s lyrical abstractions took on an increasing variety of forms, moods, and materials.
This book, made in close collaboration with the Sam Gilliam Foundation, is the first to comprehensively survey the breadth of his extraordinary career, and features never-before-seen archival materials an insightful newly commissioned texts that shine light on the artist, his life, and his work, together with examples of Gilliam's work spanning five decades.
- Sophie Washington: Class Retreat
Sophie Washington: Class Retreat
$18.99An entertaining story that celebrates friendship, diversity, environmental awareness, and anti-racism. This engaging, illustrated, middle grade chapter book is a great addition to classroom and homeschool libraries and should appeal to fans of Ramona Quimby, Jada Jones, Judy Moody, and Junie B. Jones.
There is no such thing as Big Foot! Or is there...
Sophie Washington and her classmates are on their way to Camp Glowing Spring for a class retreat. It'll be two full days of swimming, eating s'mores around a campfire, tug-of-war, archery, and more! Sophie's been looking forward to the trip all school year and can't wait to spend extra time with her friends. It will also be great to get away from her bratty younger brother, Cole, and his constant stories about Big Foot. If Cole warns her about what to do if she sees the hairy ape man on the retreat one more time, she'll put in ear plugs. Everybody knows Big Foot is a hoax!
Once the kids arrive at the retreat site things are as exciting as Sophie imagined. She has fun exploring nature with her besties, Chloe, Valentina, Toby, Nathan, and Mariama, and meeting new friends too. Then the kids see a giant footprint during a nature hike in the woods and the adventure really begins!
Here's what Goodreads reviewers say about Sophie Washington: Class Retreat:
* A nice, fun read for kids!
* I loved the characters and the value lessons the author brings into a fun story.
* If you have a young reader, or just happen to enjoy middle-grade fiction (a young-at-heart adult), check out the Sophie Washington series. They're great reads.
This is the eleventh book in the Readers' Favorite five star rated Sophie Washington series. Books can be read in any order. Other titles include:
1. Queen of the Bee (Book 1)
2. Sophie Washington: The Snitch (Book 2)
3. Sophie Washington: Things You Didn't Know About Sophie (Book 3)
4. Sophie Washington: The Gamer (Book 4)
5. Sophie Washington: Hurricane (Book 5)
6. Sophie Washington: Mission: Costa Rica (Book 6)
7. Sophie Washington: Secret Santa (Book 7)
8. Sophie Washington: Code One (Book 8)
9. Sophie Washington: Mismatch (Book 9)
10. Sophie Washington: My BFF (Book 10)
11. Sophie Washington: Class Retreat (Book 11)
12. Sophie Washington: Lemonade Day (Book 12)
13. Sophie Washington: Treasure Beach (Book 13)Kids Ages 8-12
Click above to get your copy today! - savings time: Poems
savings time: Poems
Roya Marsh
$17.00The Bronx born activist and poet Roya Marsh returns with a riveting exploration of Black joy, collective action, and healing.
what will come of what you leave behind?
do you
remember that time
you survived?The poems in Roya Marsh’s second collection, savings time, wear their raw feeling and revolutionary forcefulness on their sleeves. Alternating between confrontation and celebration, Marsh trains her unsparing eye on the twinned subjects of Black rage and Black healing with practiced, musical intention.
In poems flitting between breathless prose and measured lyricism, Marsh contemplates the contradictions and challenges of Black life in America, tackling everything from police brutality and urban gentrification to queer identity, presidential elections, and pop culture, all while calling for a world where self-care, especially for Black women, is not just encouraged but mandated. “no one told the Black girl,” she writes, “‘see you later’ was a prayer / begging us survive our own erasure.”
As unforgettable on the page as when recited in Marsh’s legendary spoken-word performances, the poems in savings time are focused on both revolution and self-love, at once holding society accountable for its exploitation of Black life and honoring the joy of persisting nonetheless.
- The Edge of Yesterday
The Edge of Yesterday
Rita Woods
$28.99The Edge of Yesterday is a haunting contemporary speculative novel about time travel and finding yourself from award-winning author Rita Woods.
Greer Coffey is a principal dancer with a renowned Harlem company. Sebastian Coffey is an architect with a prestigious Midtown firm. The Coffey’s are the ultimate dream couple ― until their world completely unravels. After Greer develops a career ending neurologic disorder, she finds herself back in her hometown of Detroit. Angry, lonely, her marriage buckling under the strain, she takes to aimlessly wandering the city streets. One night, she stumbles through a vortex, a portal through time that transports her back into 1925 Detroit, where she meets a handsome, charming doctor.
Dr. Montgomery Gray is a member of Detroit’s Black Aristocracy, wealthy and connected to some of the most powerful Black families in the country. Detroit in 1925 is the beating heart of an industrial nation, but it is also a tinderbox of poor immigrants, Prohibition driven gang wars, and the Klan. As a member of the Talented Tenth, Monty is expected to be the tip of the spear in the fight for the Race, no matter the cost. Exhausted, frustrated, and longing to break free of expectations, he is stunned to find a woman from the future roaming Detroit’s Black Bottom.
Initially cautious, Monty and Greer slowly grow increasingly exhilarated with the visits. For Greer, 1925 offers an escape from the sorrow of her "real life," and for Monty, the future that Greer lays before him is irresistible. But 2025 becomes gradually less and less recognizable, as each visit back through time causes increasing rips in the timeline. Ultimately, Greer finds herself trapped in 1925 and Monty is forced into a deadly confrontation that changes the trajectory of his life.
- Dreaming of Home: A Young Latina’s Journey to Pride, Power, and Belonging
Dreaming of Home: A Young Latina’s Journey to Pride, Power, and Belonging
Cristina Jiménez
$29.00A MacArthur “Genius” shares her inspiring story, from undocumented newcomer to leader in a powerful immigrant youth movement.
Dreaming of Home is a coming-of-age story both for a young woman finding her true self and for a social movement of immigrant youth trailblazers who inspired the world and changed the lives of millions.
Cristina Jiménez’s family fights to stay afloat as Ecuador falls into a political and economic crisis. When she is thirteen, her parents courageously decide to seek a better life in the U.S., landing in a one-bedroom apartment in Queens, New York. There are many challenges, but eventually, Cristina discovers she is not alone; she finds her calling within a community of social justice organizers. With deep candor and humor, Cristina opens the door to what it’s like to grow up undocumented and the reality that being a “good” immigrant doesn’t shield you from systematic racism, danger, or even the confusion of falling in love.
Through personal stories and historical truth telling, Cristina invites us to acknowledge the America that never was and to imagine the America that could be when everyday people build power and fight for change. And she reminds us that home is more than a physical place on the map, offering each of us a roadmap for finding the home within even when the world around us seems to be crumbling.
- New and Collected Hell: A Poem
New and Collected Hell: A Poem
Shane McCrae
$28.00Shane McCrae, “peer to the peerless” (New York Journal of Books), takes up and turns on its head the mantle of Dante in this contemporary vision of Hell.
Of death the muse is death the muse of Hell
Is death the muse of Heaven I don’t know
O muse of where howcan I hope to go
To where I pray I’ll go sing at least tellShane McCrae, one of the most prophetic and powerful poetic voices of our time, has created a twenty-first-century epic in New and Collected Hell. As David Woo wrote in Poetry, “McCrae’s poems allude to literary precursors like Dante, Milton, and the Bible, but the voice is unabashedly of our time . . . By seeking to heal the rift in his own identity, McCrae has listened intently to the literary echoes emanating from the English language and transmuted them through his own dynamic voice.” Here, he gathers new and previous work as a culmination of his long-standing poetic project: a new and unforgettable journey through Hell. McCrae’s work is indelible, and this collection brings his searing vision to new depths.
- Oshún and Me: A Story of Love and Braids
Oshún and Me: A Story of Love and Braids
Adiba Nelson and Alleanna Harris
$18.99Tenderly illustrated by Alleanna Harris, Adiba Nelson's debut picture book Oshún and Me is a heartwarming ode to family, identity, and the beauty of braided hair. Also available in Spanish!
It’s Sunday, and that means it’s Hair Day! As Mami weaves gold and cowrie shells into Yadira’s hair, she tells her the story of the goddess Oshún, showing Yadi how her Afro Latin heritage is lovingly tucked into each braid and shell.
The next day, Yadi arrives for her first day at a new school. She's nervous about making friends, but with her beautiful braids, the click-clack of the cowrie shells, and a little guidance from Oshún, she finds she has everything she needs to be her best, most authentic self.
A letter from the author and visual examples of different kinds of braided hairstyles are included in the back of the book.
- Tíos and Primos
Tíos and Primos
Jaqueline Alcántara
$18.99A little girl meets more relatives than she can count—but how will she communicate with them if she can’t speak their language?
It’s a little girl’s first tripto her papa’s homeland, and she’s wowed by all the amazing sights and sounds—and especially by the size of her enormous family! But she only knows a little Spanish, and it’s hard not to be able to share jokes and stories. Fortunately, her relatives help her see that there are other ways they can connect, and soon she feels like she’s right where she belongs: in the heart of a loving family, learning as she goes along.
- Tío and Tío: The Ring Bearers
Tío and Tío: The Ring Bearers
Ross Mathews & Dr. Wellinthon García-Mathews & Tommy Doyle & Drew Barrymore
$18.99From Ross Mathews (The Drew Barrymore Show and RuPaul’s Drag Race) and his husband, Dr. Wellinthon García-Mathews, comes a heartwarming and humorous tale of love and family as two young boys travel to Mexico to be ring bearers in their uncles’ wedding.
From Emmy-winning TV host and producer Ross Mathews (The Drew Barrymore Show and RuPaul’s Drag Race) and Dr. Wellinthon García-Mathews comes a heartwarming and humorous tale of family, friendship, and love inspired by their real-life wedding.
Evan and Andy are excited to visit Mexico for their uncles’ wedding—and their parents are excited that the boys will have a chance to experience the culture, practice their Spanish, and learn responsibility as ring bearers in the ceremony. Once they arrive, Evan and Andy just want to play soccer, swim, and eat all the great food. However, once the festivities are in full swing and the boys witness the love and happiness between their two tíos, they quickly embrace their role in their uncles’ very special day.
This debut picture book written by Ross Mathews and Dr. Wellinthon García-Mathews, and illustrated by Tommy Doyle, reminds us about the importance of love, family, and embracing one’s cultural identity.
- The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963
The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963
Christopher Paul Curtis
$8.99During one of the most important times in the civil rights movement, one unforgettable family goes on a road trip in this Newbery and Coretta Scott King Honoree, from author Christopher Paul Curtis, recipient of the Coretta Scott King–Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement.
When the Watson family—ten-year-old Kenny, Momma, Dad, little sister Joetta, and brother Byron—sets out on a trip south to visit Grandma in Birmingham, Alabama, they don’t realize that they’re heading toward one of the darkest moments in America’s history. The Watsons’ journey reminds us that even in the hardest times, laughter and family can help us get through anything.
"A modern classic." —NPR“Marvelous . . . both comic and deeply moving.” —The New York Times
"One of the best novels EVER." —Jacqueline Woodson, Newbery Honor and National Book Award–winning author of Brown Girl Dreaming
Bonus Content
• New foreword and afterword from the author
• Map of the Watsons’ journey
• Original manuscript pages and letter from the Newbery committee
• Personal essays celebrating the book’s legacy by award-winning authors: Elizabeth Acevedo, Chris Crutcher, Kate DiCamillo, Varian Johnson, David Barclay Moore, Jason Reynolds, Jerry Spinelli, Vince Vawter, Rita Williams-Garcia, and Jacqueline Woodson - Planted with Love: Growing into a Family
Planted with Love: Growing into a Family
Natasha Tripplett & Adriana Predoi
$13.99A heartfelt picture book about one child's experience in foster care that reminds all kids that—just like a garden—love from the right source will help them bloom.
Lamar has lived in seven homes in three years and has never stayed anywhere long enough to put down roots. As he watches his new foster mom tend to her garden each day, he soon joins her with cautious curiosity. Together, they plant, they weed, they water . . . until one day Lamar's anger and feelings of uncertainty lead him to destroy the garden.
But through his foster mother's love and care, Lamar discovers that just like her garden, he is wanted, he is loved, he has been planted, and he will bloom.
Written by a licensed social worker, Planted with Love illustrates that a loving home and a loving adult can provide a safe place for any child to grow and thrive.
- Talk to Me: Lessons from a Family Forged by History
Talk to Me: Lessons from a Family Forged by History
Rich Benjamin
$29.00A piercingly powerful memoir, a grandson’s account of the coup that ended his grandfather's presidency of Haiti, the secrecy that shrouded that wound within his family, and his urgent efforts to know his mother despite the past.
“A brilliant, absorbing book...I couldn’t stop reading.” —Salman Rushdie, author of Knife
Rich Benjamin’s mother, Danielle Fignolé, grew up the eldest in a large family living a comfortable life in Port-au-Prince. Her mother was a schoolteacher, her father a populist hero—a labor leader and politician. The first true champion of the black masses, he eventually became the country’s president in 1957. But two weeks after his inauguration, that life was shattered. Soldiers took Danielle’s parents at gunpoint and put them on a plane to New York, a coup hatched by the Eisenhower administration. Danielle and her siblings were kidnapped, and ultimately smuggled out of the country.
Growing up, Rich knew little of this. No one in his family spoke of it. He didn’t know why his mother struggled with emotional connection, why she was so erratic, so quick to anger. And she, in turn, knew so little about him, about the emotional pain he moved through as a child, the physical agony from his blood disease, while coming to terms with his sexuality at the dawn of the AIDS crisis. For all that they could talk about—books, learning, world events—the deepest parts of themselves remained a mystery to one another, a silence that, the older Rich got, the less he could bear.
It would take Rich years to piece together the turmoil that carried forward from his grandfather, to his mother, to him, and then to bring that story to light. In Talk to Me, he doesn’t just paint the portrait of his family, but a bold, pugnacious portrait of America—of the human cost of the country’s hostilities abroad, the experience of migrants on these shores, and how the indelible ties of family endure through triumph and loss, from generation to generation.
- Bud, Not Buddy: (Newbery Medal Winner)
Bud, Not Buddy: (Newbery Medal Winner)
Christopher Paul Curtis
$8.99The Newbery Medal and Coretta Scott King Award-winning classic about a boy who decides to hit the road to find his father—from Christopher Paul Curtis, recipient of the Coretta Scott King–Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement.
It’s 1936, in Flint, Michigan. Times may be hard, and ten-year-old Bud may be a motherless boy on the run, but Bud’s got a few things going for him:1. He has his own suitcase full of special things.
2. He’s the author of Bud Caldwell’s Rules and Things for Having a Funner Life and Making a Better Liar Out of Yourself.
3. His momma never told him who his father was, but she left a clue: flyers advertising Herman E. Calloway and his famous band, the Dusky Devastators of the Depression!!!!!!
Bud’s got an idea that those flyers will lead him to his father. Once he decides to hit the road to find this mystery man, nothing can stop him—not hunger, not fear, not vampires, not even Herman E. Calloway himself.
BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR:
The New York Times
School Library Journal
Publishers Weekly
“[A] powerfully felt novel.” —The New York Times
“Will keep readers engrossed from first page to last.” —Publishers Weekly, Starred
“Curtis writes with a razor-sharp intelligence that grabs the reader by the heart and never lets go. . . . This highly recommended title [is] at the top of the list of books to be read again and again.” —Voice of Youth Advocates, Starred - On Our Way! What a Day!
On Our Way! What a Day!
JaNay Brown-Wood & Tamisha Anthony
$18.99A journey, a challenge, and a party with Gram make one day super special for a group of siblings.
It’s Gram’s birthday, and the grandkids can’t wait to celebrate with her. There’s just one thing missing: a gift! So on their way to the party, the search is on. They spot lots of interesting things—a scritchy-scratchy pine cone, three jingly-jangly quarters, some clicky-clacky stones—but are any of them good enough for Gram?
Fortunately, there’s no quashing the enthusiasm and creativity of these siblings, who have a marvelous time scouting and singing as they shimmy over to Gram’s, making the journey its own celebration. Their combined discoveries will make this a very special day indeed!
This dynamic story shows the big impact a thoughtful gift from the heart can have, no matter how small it might be.
- Make Your Mark: The Empowering True Story of the First Known Black Female Tattoo Artist
Make Your Mark: The Empowering True Story of the First Known Black Female Tattoo Artist
Jacci Gresham & Sherry Fellores & David Wilkerson
$18.99A picture book biography celebrating the first known Black female tattoo artist in the U.S., Jacci Gresham, co-authored by Jacci herself, and with stylish, accessible artwork by David Wilkerson
How to make your mark?
Express yourself: From coloring outside the lines to creating her own clothes, expressing herself through art made Jacci Gresham feel confident.
Keep an open mind: When Jacci started out, women getting tattooed was considered distasteful. Women giving tattoos was unheard of. And a Black woman tattoo artist? Jacci was the first.
Practice every day: Jacci studied her craft. She developed new inking techniques for Black and brown skin. And she welcomed everyone into her New Orleans shop, including women of every color, shape, and size.
Stand up for what you believe: From art class to artist, Jacci Gresham pushed boundaries, and she never took no for an answer. Jacci made her mark. How will you make yours? - Gamer Girls: Retro Rhythms
Gamer Girls: Retro Rhythms
by Andrea Towers, Briana Lawrence, Alexis Jauregui (Illustrated by)
Sold outJess, Celia, Nat, and Lucy are the Gamer Girls—four BFFs who game together. In this fourth book of the exciting series, the friends discover a new game at a local arcade, Dance Dance Rhythms. (Okay, maybe it's not that new. In fact, it's a little retro.) But mistakes happen and it's up to Jess to put them right, or else her mom's dreams could be CRUSHED. This is the fourth book in the popular Gamer Girls series, for fans of The Babysitter's Club AND Pokemon!
Jess never thought she'd be a gamer. The posters in her bedroom are dedicated to Naomi Osaka and Misty Copeland, not video game streamers. But ever since joining the Gamer Girls squad, Jess has learned a TON about video games.
One evening, Jess discovers something wonderful . . . sitting in her parents’ guest room is a brand-new, sealed Dance Dance Rhythms game from the ‘90s! What's more, if she trades it in at the local game store, she can get a NEW game. But trading it might not have been the best idea . . . and Jess might have to risk it all in order to get it back.
Can Jess keep going at her fast pace, or will she need a new rhythm?
In this fourth book of the popular Gamer Girls series, four friends navigate the video game world and the middle school world . . . if only they could solve drama as easily as they defeat monsters! Gamer Girls: Retro Rhythms celebrates history, family, Black Girl Magic, and the 10th anniversary of legalized queer and gay marriage in the United States (Jess has two moms). This series is perfect for readers who love video games. Retro Rhythms includes 30 black-and-white illustrations throughout. - The Kids in Mrs. Z's Class: Ayana Ndoum Takes the Stage: 6
The Kids in Mrs. Z's Class: Ayana Ndoum Takes the Stage: 6
Kekla Magoon & Kat Fajardo
$6.99Mrs. Z's class is holding a variety show, and everyone has signed up to demonstrate their special talent! Everyone that is, except Ayana Ndoum. She's good at reading, but someone's already reciting a poem out loud. She's good at synchronized swimming, but they can't get a pool onstage. What could her talent be?
Before she can figure it out, she has an even bigger problem to deal with: Why is her dad at school?
Turns out her dad-a professor who gets excited about schedules and has lots of goofy sayings-is a variety show volunteer! He talks to everyone and asks too many questions. It's embarrassing for Ayana, who likes to be quiet and help from the sidelines. And with her dad taking up the spotlight, will she ever find her own way to shine?
- Dip In: 80 delicious dip recipes for entertaining, snacking & beyond
Dip In: 80 delicious dip recipes for entertaining, snacking & beyond
Sonali Shah
$19.99A fun, giftable cookbook that showcases the versatility of dips with options for every occasion and mood, including snacking, entertaining, 'picky bits' picnics and much more
Need an easy contribution for a potluck/picnic? Dip it. Stunning small plates to feed friends when entertaining? Dip it. Or even a quick, delicious snack to tide you over until dinner? Dip it. Dip it good.
There is no mood that can't be improved by dips, and this book shows the versatility of this amazing dish. Often using affordable ingredients and store-cupboard staples, dips are a great way to use up things you already have at home, such as beets languishing at the bottom of the fridge or the sumac hidden at the back of your spice rack that you bought once for a tagine and never used again. They're also the simplest way to jazz up food and provide an extra flavor boost to lackluster meals.
The 80 recipes are divided into six chapters that include Dips in a Dash (made in 15 mins), Dips for Grazing (sides and snacks), Dips for Dinner, Dips for Feasting, Dips to Impress (showstoppers that require a bit more effort) and Dips for Dessert.With creative takes on the dish and lighter options for side snacking to more substantial recipes for full feasting - and everything in between - whatever the occasion, go on... Dip In.
- Big Enough
Big Enough
Regina Linke
$18.99From the creator of the beloved webcomic The Oxherd Boy, comes this dazzling, gorgeously illustrated picture book about a little boy who learns he is big enough to do big things.
Little Ah-Fu has a big imagination, but he can’t imagine being the Oxherd Boy . . . yet.
When the day comes for Ah-Fu to bring the huge family ox home from the woods, he worries that he’s not big enough to do the job.
Will fear and self-doubt drive Ah-Fu home empty-handed? Or can he rely on his wits and compassion to become the Oxherd Boy his family expects—and prove to himself that he is, indeed, big enough?
Delightfully paired with exquisite illustrations, this empowering story inspired by traditional Chinese philosophy shows kids big and small how to trust themselves and embrace what they can be. - A Kids Book About Israel & Palestine
A Kids Book About Israel & Palestine
Reza Aslan
$19.99Open the door to understanding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the path to peace.
What is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? Why is it happening? Is peace possible? When kids ask questions like these, are grownups prepared to answer? This book was created to provide context for this conflict, open the door to conversation, and lay a path for understanding, peace, and compassion for our shared future.
- African Americans of Galveston
African Americans of Galveston
by Tommie D. Boudreaux
Sold outIn the 19th century, Galveston shores were a gateway for immigrants to Texas and destinations beyond. Slaves, the forced immigrants, were brought to Galveston as property for sale. The largest slave trade operation in Galveston was implemented by Jean Laffite, a pirate. His slave trade business began around 1818. However, for the most part, slaves entering the port of Galveston were destined for other Texas cities and other states. Images of America: African Americans of Galveston presents the community life and accomplishments of Galveston slaves, the descendants of slaves, and descendants of those who migrated to Galveston after the Civil War. The book celebrates Galveston's African American culture from the 1840s to the 1960s.
- Edges of Ailey
Edges of Ailey
by Adrienne Edwards and others
$65.00A revelatory look at the life, work, and legacy of the legendary choreographer Alvin Ailey
Alvin Ailey is one of the most celebrated choreographers of the twentieth century. The creator of iconic works such as Blues Suite, Revelations, and Cry, he is widely recognized for the dance company he founded in 1958 when he was just twenty-seven years old. Ailey imagined and cultivated a platform for modern dance through his innovative repertoire, interdisciplinary sensibility, and support of dancers and choreographers. This expansive volume situates Ailey within a broader social, creative, and cultural context, looking at the artists who influenced and collaborated with him, the spaces and scenes he frequented, the dynamic themes within his dances, and how his vision and work changed contemporary dance.
Essays by artists, scholars, and critics cover topics ranging from the Black church, the South, and the Great Migration to nightclubs, musical influences, and queerness. With more than four hundred images including photographs of works Ailey choreographed, archival materials such as notebooks, sketches, letters, and never-before-published behind-the-scenes photos, and conversations about the legacy of the company with Sylvia Waters, Judith Jamison, and Masazumi Chaya as well as several contemporary dancers and scholars, this study offers an unprecedented full picture of one of the twentieth century’s leading artists and the way his work continues to inspire today’s generation of dancers.
Distributed for the Whitney Museum of American Art
Exhibition Schedule:
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
(September 25, 2024–February 9, 2025) - Geek Girls: Inequality and Opportunity in Silicon Valley
Geek Girls: Inequality and Opportunity in Silicon Valley
by France Winddance Twine
$19.95Why is being a computer “geek” still perceived to be a masculine occupation? Why do men continue to greatly outnumber women in the high-technology industry? Since 2014, a growing number of employment discrimination lawsuits has called attention to a persistent pattern of gender discrimination in the tech world. Much has been written about the industry’s failure to adequately address gender and racial inequalities, yet rarely have we gotten an intimate look inside these companies. In Geek Girls, France Winddance Twine provides the first book by a sociologist that “lifts the Silicon veil” to provide firsthand accounts of inequality and opportunity in the tech ecosystem. This work draws on close to a hundred interviews with male and female technology workers of diverse racial, ethnic, and educational backgrounds who are currently employed at tech firms such as Apple, Facebook, Google, and Twitter, and at various start-ups in the San Francisco Bay area. Geek Girls captures what it is like to work as a technically skilled woman in Silicon Valley.
With a sharp eye for detail and compelling testimonials from industry insiders, Twine shows how the technology industry remains rigged against women, and especially Black, Latinx, and Native American women from working class backgrounds. From recruitment and hiring practices that give priority to those with family, friends, and classmates employed in the industry, to social and educational segregation, to academic prestige hierarchies, Twine reveals how women are blocked from entering this industry. Women who do not belong to the dominant ethnic groups in the industry are denied employment opportunities, and even actively pushed out, despite their technical skills and qualifications. - A Misrepresented People : Manhood in Black Religious Thought
A Misrepresented People : Manhood in Black Religious Thought
by Darrius D'Wayne Hills
$30.00Although much Black religious scholarship has engaged with feminist theory and womanist thought, a gap remains where little work has been done in religious studies to investigate the Black male experience. A Misrepresented People explores how African American men grapple with identity and masculinity in relation to Black religious thought. This book counters the dominant portrayal of Black men in American society as suspicious, morally defective, and irredeemable, and showcases the strength and relevance of Black religious thought in developing alternative notions of Black manhood.
Drawing on womanist discourses, African American religious thought, literature, and Black male studies, as well as an examination of the writings and sermons of Howard Thurman and Martin Luther King Jr., Darrius D’wayne Hills offers a vision of Black male identity that is grounded in interpersonal relationships and connection. Positioning identity formation as a religious concern, Hills expands the application of religious scholarship toward the complex social and material realities faced by Black men. In doing so, this volume offers a much-needed new model for understanding Black male gender identity, illustrating how religious thought fosters more holistic and livable futures for African American men. - In Praise of Mystery
In Praise of Mystery
by Ada Limón and Peter Sís
$18.99From U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón and Caldecott Honoree Peter Sís: a transcendent picture book featuring the poem that will travel into space aboard NASA’s Europa Clipper.
As part of her tenure as U.S. poet laureate, Ada Limón has written “In Praise of Mystery,” which will be engraved on the Europa Clipper spacecraft that launches to Jupiter and its moons in October 2024. Published here as Limón’s debut picture book, this luminous poem is illustrated by celebrated and internationally renowned artist Peter Sís.
In Praise of Mystery celebrates humankind’s endless curiosity, asks us what it means to explore beyond our known world, and shows how the unknown can reflect us back to ourselves.
color artwork throughout
- Black Buffalo Woman: An Introduction to the Poetry & Poetics of Lucille Clifton
Black Buffalo Woman: An Introduction to the Poetry & Poetics of Lucille Clifton
by Kazim Ali
$23.00This long-awaited and much-needed volume shines new light on one of America’s most beloved, and profound, poets—Lucille Clifton.
Black Buffalo Woman is a deep, comprehensive dive into Clifton’s work through the eyes of celebrated poet and scholar, Kazim Ali.
Collecting chapters of Clifton’s early manuscripts, late drafts, and integrating her books of children’s literature, Ali’s meticulously researched volume provides a brilliant and fresh perspective on Clifton’s life and work.
Various chapters examine Clifton’s treatment of the body as a site of both joy and danger, spirituality, and an interrogation of American history, politics, and popular culture. The result of Ali’s scholarship and care highlights a dazzling array of Clifton’s poetic techniques and forms that will continue to inspire poets, readers, and Lucille Clifton fans—past, present and future—for decades to come.
- Yard Show
Yard Show
by Janice N. Harrington
$19.00Black history, cultural expression, and the natural world fuse in Janice N. Harrington’s Yard Show to investigate how Black Americans have shaped a sense of belonging and place within the Midwestern United States. As seen through the documentation of objects found within yard shows, this collection of descriptive, lyrical, and experimental poems speaks to the Black American Imagination in all its multiplicity.
Harrington’s speaker is a chronicler of yesterdays, using the events of the past to center and advocate for a future that celebrates pleasure and self-fulfillment within Black communities.
- Cold Thief Place
Cold Thief Place
by Esther Lin
$24.95Cold Thief Place speaks of the experiences of an undocumented American, her parents who fled Communist China and found safety in fundamentalist Christianity, and how she tried to understand them and herself by way of confessional poems.
This is a family story. It tells of a mother who fled an authoritarian government and turned that authoritarianism on to her children. Of a father who made a new life—three times on three different continents—and his sea voyage in between. Or what a daughter imagines of these events, as much as it's possible to truly know one's parents. The narrator, who is their daughter, grew up in difficult but very different circumstances, too: undocumented in the United States and was pressured into a greencard marriage in order to live a "normal life." One of the myths of America is that Americans are newly formed, defiant of authority, and free from old-world traditions.
This book speaks to dark side of this myth: of the legacies that my parents wished to escape but instead carried with them: their distrust of government and their desire for an authoritarianism similar to the kind they had fled. Individually, the poems attempt to understand the emotions surrounding these impulses, from the point-of-view of their daughter, who is herself displaced as an undocumented American—that is, a person who is not permitted to be American, and without a home country to return to.
- TJ Loves Sally 4 Ever / The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington
TJ Loves Sally 4 Ever / The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington
by James Ijames
$19.95Two whip-smart satirical plays by the Pulitzer-winning author of Fat Ham that examine the racism at the root of America’s founding—and its fruits in our present.
In The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington, the widow of George Washington and self-proclaimed “Mother of America” lies helpless in her bed, ravaged by illness and cared for by the very slaves that will be free the moment she dies. In the terrifying and fantastical fever dream that follows, Martha is called to account for her lifelong dependence on the labor of enslaved people. A wildly theatrical, gleefully anachronistic play that puts Martha Washington’s life and legacy on trial.
In a present-day reimagining of the story of Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson, TJ Loves Sally 4 Ever takes place at Commonwealth of Virginia University, where a modern education is rooted in the nation’s “complicated” history. As the campus wrestles with its antebellum legacy, undergraduate student Sally finds herself locked in a more personal battle with Dean TJ, the white dean of students named after Thomas Jefferson, who shares his namesake’s predilection for grossly abusing his position of power over women of color. Amidst a swirl of marching bands, step teams, and bubbly tour guides, Sally must struggle to rewrite this too-familiar narrative, dismantle the wall of oppression, and embrace the dope ass future that waits beyond it.
- Speakin O' Christmas and Other Christmas Poems (Mint Editions (Black Narratives))
Speakin O' Christmas and Other Christmas Poems (Mint Editions (Black Narratives))
by Paul Laurence Dunbar
$14.99“Breezes blowin’ middlin’ brisk, / Snowflakes thro’ the air a-whisk, / Fallin’ kind o’ soft an’ light, /Not enough to make things white, / But jest sorter siftin’ down / So ’s to cover up the brown /Of the dark world’s rugged ways / ’N’ make things look like holidays. /Not smoothed over, but jest specked, / Sorter strainin’ fur effect, / An’ not quite a-gittin’ through / What it started in to do. / Mercy sakes! It does seem queer / Christmas day is ’most nigh here. / Somehow it don’t seem to me /Christmas like it used to be,― / Christmas with its ice an’ snow, / Christmas of the long ago.”
Once praised by Frederick Douglass as “the most promising young colored man in America,” Paul Laurence Dunbar was an exceptionally gifted poet who helped lay the foundation of African American literature and was the first African American poet to achieve major success across the color line. Published posthumously nearly ten years after his untimely death, Speakin’ O’ Christmas and Other Christmas Poems, collects over a dozen of his most festive, holiday-themed verses into a single volume, including, “Chrismus is A-Comin’,” “Soliloquy of a Turkey,” “Christmas in the Heart,” and the titular, “Speakin’ O’ Christmas.”
Celebrating both the spirit of the holiday season and the talent of the “Negro dialect” poet, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Speakin’ O’ Christmas and Other Poems is a delightful collection of poetry for readers of all ages.
Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.
With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.
- Abuelita y yo (Spanish Edition)
Abuelita y yo (Spanish Edition)
by Leonarda Carranza and Rafael Mayani
$9.99Este debut literario relata la profunda y conmovedora historia de cómo una niña y su abuelita enfrentan varias manifestaciones del racismo en su vida cotidiana.
El tiempo en casa con Abuelita es divertido. Incluye comer panqueques, saltar charcos y pintarse las uñas. Mientras que las salidas para hacer compras no siempre son divertidas. En el supermercado y en el bus la gente es impaciente y desconfiada. A veces alzan la voz y gritan. Esto entristece, enfada y atemoriza a la niña protagonista de la historia. Ella decide nunca más salir de su casa. Esto cambia cuando en un instante la pequeña se da cuenta que unidas, ella y Abuelita, son mucho más fuertes.
Los cálidos y expresivos dibujos de Rafael Mayani ilustran magníficamente la ternura que existe entre la narradora y su querida Abuelita.
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