A lyrical meditation on how Black Americans have envisioned utopia―and sought to transform their lives.

How do the disillusioned, the forgotten, and the persecuted not merely hold on to life but expand its possibilities and preserve its beauty? What, in other words, does utopia look like in black?

These questions animate Aaron Robertson’s exploration of Black Americans' efforts to remake the conditions of their lives. Writing in the tradition of Saidiya Hartman and Ta-Nehisi Coates, Robertson makes his way from his ancestral hometown of Promise Land, Tennessee, to Detroit―the city where he was born, and where one of the country’s most remarkable Black utopian experiments got its start. Founded by the brilliant preacher Albert Cleage Jr., the Shrine of the Black Madonna combined Afrocentric Christian practice with radical social projects to transform the self-conception of its members. Central to this endeavor was the Shrine’s chancel mural of a Black Virgin and child, the icon of a nationwide liberation movement that would come to be known as Black Christian Nationalism. The Shrine’s members opened bookstores and co-ops, created a self-defense force, and raised their children communally, eventually working to establish the country’s largest Black-owned farm, where attempts to create an earthly paradise for Black people continues today.

Alongside the Shrine’s story, Robertson reflects on a diverse array of Black utopian visions, from the Reconstruction era through the countercultural fervor of the 1960s and 1970s and into the present day. By doing so, Robertson showcases the enduring quest of collectives and individuals for a world beyond the constraints of systemic racism.

The Black Utopians offers a nuanced portrait of the struggle for spaces―both ideological and physical―where Black dignity, protection, and nourishment are paramount. This book is the story of a movement and of a world still in the making―one that points the way toward radical alternatives for the future.

In a current era marked by carceral logics, authoritarianism, and white supremacy, there has never been a greater need for the tools and inspiration that radical feminism provides. In Insurgent Visions, Chandra Talpade Mohanty explores methods of anticapitalist resistance to radically transform everyday life. She presents insurgent feminism—a theory and praxis with which to contest and replace the practices of violence grounded in racialized gender relations. Insurgent feminism unsettles existing power structures in order to enact new relationships and forge new subjectivities, epistemologies, and communities. Drawing on organizing efforts in the US-Mexico borderlands, Palestine/Israel, and Kashmir, as well as on abolitionist and Dalit feminisms, Mohanty contends that the knowledge that emerges from the experiences of marginalized groups who are struggling for economic, racial, and social justice is key for imagining feminist futures. She also turns to the neoliberal landscape of higher education in the United States and the difficulties of instituting transformative antiracist and anti-imperialist feminist knowledge building. Mapping new challenges for radical praxis, Mohanty reconfigures feminist studies while offering a model for decolonial cross-border organizing and solidarity.

The Sovereign brings princess Luca and soldier Touraine together one last time in the thrilling conclusion to C. L. Clark's beloved queer political fantasy trilogy. 

Luca is the new queen of Balladaire. Her empire is already splintering in her hands. Her uncle wasn’t the only traitor in the court, and the Withering plague will decimate her people if she can’t unearth Balladaire’s magic. The only person who can help her wants the only thing Luca won’t give—the end of the monarchy. 

Touraine is Luca’s general. She has everything she ever wanted. While Luca looks within Balladaire’s borders, Touraine looks outward—the alliance with Qazal is brittle and Balladaire’s neighbors are ready to pounce on its new weakness. When the army comes, led by none other than Touraine’s old lover, Touraine must face the truth about herself—and the empire she once called home. 

A storm is coming. Touraine and Luca will stand against it together, or it will tear them apart once and for all.

Magic of the Lost
The Unbroken
The Faithless
The Sovereign

The New York Times bestselling author of The Way Home returns with over 100 fabulous recipes—delicious updates of her favorite childhood meals.

From Kardea Brown: Growing up in a household with a single parent taught me how to make use of things we already had. She made gourmet meals with simple kitchen staples. I invite readers to do the same with my twist on Old School Classic recipes.

Kardea Brown is back with this practical and flavorful cookbook everyone needs. Offering crowd and palate pleasing dishes from morning to noon, and night. 

SAMPLES

Breakfast

Break the fast with Geechee Egg Rice, Sausage and Grits and On the Run Breakfast Sandwiches.

Lunch

Dig intoTurkey Burgers, Tuna Melts, and Ramen Chicken Noddle Soup.

Dinner

Welcome friends and family home with filling, mouthwatering dishes like Grilled “Poke” Chops, Chicken Mafe and “The Poor Man’s Meal”.

Desserts

Sweeten meals with delights such as Ma’s goodie bars, Warm Sticky Apple Pudding and Lemon Snowball Cookies.

Filled with inviting and tasty food that won’t break the bank, illustrated with over 100 color photos, Make Do with What You Have allows you to enjoy great meals every day.

A love just for show grows into something more in this swoonworthy romance from the author of The Romantic Agenda.

Zinnia is an ambitious, successful businesswoman who is not about to wait around for her One True Love. She turns her dating profile into a marriage-merger proposal: a few strategic meetings, move in together, get married—all within thirty days. Her friends think it will never work… until she meets Jordan, a near-perfect applicant with a big secret.

Jordan’s family has spent the last decade starring in a massively popular reality show about their lives. He has finally agreed to join the cast, but production wants him to marry an actress (his ex) in a romantic storyline to boost viewership.

Convinced Zinnia is perfect for the role instead, Jordan proposes a mutually beneficial marriage agreement: she gets her business partner husband, and he gets to help his family on his terms. Together they face strict schedules, wild plot twists, and behind-the-scenes hostilities, all while acting like besotted newlyweds—an intense performance that evolves into a relationship they never expected.

As the line between reality and show blurs, Zinnia and Jordan must choose between a clean contract or a beautifully messy love story.

From self-taught, award-winning director Morgan Stevenson Cooper comes a heartfelt picture book about a girl on a mission to make her first movie—and lift her grandpa's spirits along the way.

Norah Rose loves movies—action, comedy, drama—you name it! She dreams of becoming a director, but Hollywood feels a long way from home. When her grandpa falls ill, Norah decides to make a movie just for him, because no one loves a good story more than Grandpa. Armed with her mom’s phone, a head full of ideas, and the wide-open backdrop of Kansas City, Norah sets out to write, cast, shoot, and edit her very first film. There’s a lot of work ahead, but Norah’s sure of one thing: her movie is going to shine.

With a spirited how-to approach and lively artwork by Geneva Bowers, Morgan Stevenson Cooper shows young readers how creativity, heart, and a little hustle can turn any dream into a reality.

A young girl growing up in an Afro-descendant community of Ecuador in the 1990s confronts familial secrets and the ever-present specter of male violence, set against the vibrant background of Carnaval

"In this wondrous novel, both life's potential for beauty and harshness sing together. Ortiz has written a story you will not forget." —Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, author of Chain Gang All-Stars

Ainhoa lives a protected life within the walls of her grandmother’s house in the neighborhood of Esmeraldas in Ecuador. Surrounded by a gaggle of aunts who love and teach her, Ainhoa narrates moments that evoke the powerful presence of music and dance in her daily life. Seen through Ainhoa’s innocent eyes, the difficult themes that have defined the South American country’s recent history, including economic hardship, migration, and upheaval, are but one side of an enormous cultural richness steeped in the joy, music, and vibrancy of this singular community of women.

Following the contours of the Carnaval season and sublimely translated by Madeleine Arenivar, Yuliana Ortiz Ruano’s sensorial and viscerally alive novel brims with poetry and exuberance, as well as the pain of an existence lived in the forgotten corners of the world. Carnaval Fever is the introduction of an important new voice in Latin American letters, available in English for the first time.

The #1 New York Times bestselling picture book by Tiffany Hammond, the creator of the popular Fidgets and Fries platform, invites readers into the life of an Autistic family who communicate without spoken language.

Aidan doesn't talk with words. He uses a tablet, tapping buttons with pictures to show what he means.

When Mama taps “Park . . . now?” Aidan quickly taps back “Yes.” And after Aidan twirls and twirls in the grass until he can no longer stand, he taps, “All done.”

Not everyone understands their family's unique way of communicating, though. Some think that because Aidan doesn't say words, he doesn't know words. But verbal speech isn't the only way we can connect with others. We can use tablets and letter boards, facial expressions, hand gestures, and written words.

With tenderness and heart, A Day with No Words illuminates the many unique ways people can understand each other, even if they don't speak.

This captivating biography chronicles the remarkable journey of fashion legend André Leon Talley–from humble beginnings in rural North Carolina to the pinnacle of the international world of fashion.

Growing up in the Jim Crow South wasn't easy for young André. He escaped into the glimmering worlds he discovered inside magazines like Ebony and Vogue. He fell in love with all things French, and honed his taste for elegance and style in spite of those who judged and bullied him. Standing tall against all odds, André spun his hardships into a fashion fairytale of his own making.

With exuberant prose and luminous illustrations, this picture book biography shares the inspiring story of majestic icon André Leon Talley and his enduring legacy.

In trying times, our nation demands more of us. It is time for good trouble.

Senator Cory Booker captivated Americans across the political spectrum in early 2025 with his remarkable 25-hour speech on the Senate floor, when he spoke out eloquently and forcefully against the Trump administration’s relentless challenges to civil liberties, government institutions, the rule of law, and our nation's international standing. In the process, Booker outlasted the record for longest continuous Senate floor speech set by segregationist Strom Thurmond during a filibuster of the Civil Rights Act of 1957, which was delivered at another time of great uncertainty for our country when it felt like the odds were hopelessly stacked against justice and unity.

Stand expands on that message and offers a compelling vision for the future to readers who are eager to make a difference. It focuses on the virtues that are vital to our success as a nation and the lessons we can draw from past generations of Americans who fought for them. Now is not the time to surrender to cynicism or abandon our most noble ideals. Now is the time to defiantly declare, like our ancestors before us: "I, too, stand for America.”

Stand is a celebration of the Americans who chose to get up in the face of injustice, who championed the uniquely American values central to making our nation a more perfect union, despite seemingly insurmountable obstacles. It is also a guide for today: leadership is not derived from position or title, it comes from action and example.

From pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, via the powerful figure of Santa Muerte, to racism in the Bronx, this anthology of speculative stories and essays by Latin American writers, about Latin American life and beyond, is an engrossing and important read.

This vibrant anthology presents a selection of speculative stories and fascinating essays highlighting the many voices, mythologies, folklore and storytelling prowess of authors from Latin American countries or writing in the traditions of the Latin American diaspora.

Edited by the wonderful V. Castro, Mexican-American speculative, horror and sci-fi writer extraordinaire and author of Mestiza Blood and The Queen of the Cicadas, the authors featured are: Hector Acosta, Alyssa Alessi, Gustavo Bondoni, David Bowles, Arasibo Campeche and Carra Flowers, Dr. R. Andrew Chesnut, Angel Luis Colón, Rios de la Luz, Ivette N. Diaz, Laura Diaz de Arce, J.F. Gonzalez, L.P. Hernandez, Pedro Iniguez, Ruth Joffre, S. Alessandro Martinez, Juliana Spink Mills, Vanessa Molina, Mo Moshaty, Richie Narvaez, Wi-Moto Nyoka, Daniel A. Olivas, Monique Quintana, A.E. Santana and Richard Z. Santos.These are complemented by new stories selected from open submissions.

Spanning the many cultures of the region, stories range from those that explore heritage and the importance of ancestors to ones that imagine new worlds and futures, but at their core they all celebrate and give agency to oft-underrepresented Latin American characters and concerns, while the book will help counter the lack of contemporary Latin American literature.

The Flame Tree Beyond and Within short story collections bring together tales of myth and imagination by modern and contemporary writers, carefully selected by anthologists, and sometimes featuring short stories from a single author. Overall, the series presents a wide range of diverse and inclusive voices with myth, folkloric-inflected short fiction, and an emphasis on the supernatural, science fiction, the mysterious and the speculative. The books themselves are gorgeous, with foiled covers, printed edges and published only in hardcover editions, offering a lifetime of reading pleasure.

Exploring new black literature, following the success of Black Sci-Fi and First Peoples Shared Stories.

The National Museum of African American History and Culture characterises Afrofuturism (as distinct from Africanfuturism) as expressing "notions of Black identity, agency and freedom through art, creative works and activism that envision liberated futures for Black life." This new book offers new stories from open submissions and by invitation, as well as classic stories, and a new introduction, all exploring the many angles of this theme. It follows the success of Black Sci-Fi (2021) of which Scientific American said "contains a thrilling group of memorable, moving tales that often examine the intersections of race, gender, grief, tech and the fantastical." and Publishers Weekly, in a Starred Review "With topics ranging from slavery to space travel, the impressive breadth of this anthology makes for a well-rounded survey. Readers, writers, and scholars alike will find great value here."

The Flame Tree Gothic Fantasy, Classic Stories and Epic Tales collections bring together the entire range of myth, folklore and modern short fiction. Highlighting the roots of suspense, supernatural, science fiction and mystery stories the books in Flame Tree Collections series are beautifully presented, perfect as a gift and offer a lifetime of reading pleasure.

In this fourth and final book in the beloved Stella picture book series, Stella and Roger reflect on their favorite things about living in Chicago and try to devise a plan to stop an impending out-of-state move.

Stella and Roger face their scariest challenge yet when Stella’s parents announce they’re moving—and not just out of Chicago, but to a whole new state! Stella doesn’t want to move away from her favorite park or any of the other things she loves about the only home she’s ever known. Stella and Roger begin a campaign to convince Stella’s parents that leaving Chicago is a big mistake. But is this change really as scary as they think?

The story of a runaway mother’s ten days of freedom—and the pain, desire, longing, and wonder we find on the messy road to enlightenment—from Pulitzer Prize winner Quiara Alegría Hudes.

April is a young mother raising her daughter in an intergenerational house of unspoken secrets and loud arguments. Her only refuge is to hide away in a locked bathroom, her ears plugged into an ambient soundscape, and a mantra on her lips: dead inside. That is, until one day, as she finds herself spiraling toward the volcanic rage she calls the white hot, a voice inside her tells her to just . . . walk away. She wanders to a bus station and asks for a ticket to the furthest destination; she tells the clerk to make it one-way. That ticket takes her from her Philly home to the threshold of a wilderness and the beginning of a nameless quest—an accidental journey that shakes her awake, almost kills her, and brings her to the brink of an impossible choice.

The White Hot takes the form of a letter from mother to daughter about a moment of abandonment that would stretch from ten days to ten years—an explanation, but not an apology. Hudes narrates April’s story—spiritual and sexy, fierce and funny—with delicate lyricismand tough love. Just as April finds in her painful and absurd sojourn the key to freeing herself and her family from a cage of generational trauma, so Hudes turns April’s stumbling pursuit of herself into an unforgettable short epic of self-discovery.

An ambitious, panoptic novel about exile as both condition and state of being by a major young Cuban writer

The characters in False War are ambivalent castaways living lives of deep estrangement from their home country, stranded in an existential no-man’s land. Some of them want to leave and can’t, others do leave but never quite get anywhere.

In this multivoiced novel, employing a dazzling range of narrative styles from noir to autofiction, Carlos Manuel Álvarez brings together the stories of many people from all walks of life through a series of interconnected daisy chains. From Havana to Mexico City to Miami, from New York to Paris to Berlin, whether toiling in a barber shop, roaring in Yankee Stadium, lost in the Louvre, intensely competing in a chess hall in Cuba, plotting a theft, or on a junket for émigré dissidents in Berlin, these characters learn that while they may seem to be on the move, in reality they are paralyzed, immersed in a fake war waged with little real passion.

The fractured narrative, filled with extraordinary portraits of ordinary people, reflects the disintegration that comes from being uprooted. At the same time it is full of tenderness, moments of joy and profound release. False War confirms Carlos Manuel Álvarez as one of the indispensable voices of his generation in Latin American letters.

Nothing is impossible—not even being brave enough to ice skate again after a fall! With a poetic text and dazzling illustrations, Come Catch a Dream will appeal to every child chasing their dream, and fans of The Snowy Day, Jabari Jumps, and After the Fall.

A young Black child passes an ice rink every day walking home with Momma. Last year, the rink was tricky. It looked clear and smooth, but felt rough and rude after a fall. Brrr! Ouch! Even so, the child hasn’t been able to stop thinking about that rink. The young skater is determined to do something for the first time: a spin on the ice. Because, as Momma says, nothing is impossible.

Award-winning author Brittany J. Thurman’s rich use of language and rhythm makes for a text that is perfect for reading aloud, while illustrator Islenia Mil’s vibrant artwork captures the anticipation and excitement of a winter day at the ice rink. For fans of Gaia Cornwall and Dan Santat.

A brilliant and compelling debut, Ravishing shines a light on the dark enticements of the beauty industry and how it capitalizes on our desire to be someone we are not

A provocative, darkly surreal novel of two Indian American siblings caught in the clutches of a beauty tech company, Ravishing is a searing portrait of the beauty industry’s dangerous ability to change people’s relationship to their bodies and the cult-like grip it has on youth.

For teenage Kashmira, it’s painful to look in the mirror; she has her father’s face, and every feature is a reminder of his abandonment. When a friend introduces her to Evolvoir, a beauty product that changes users’ features, Kashmira is quickly hooked on how it allows her to erase the triggers of her grief. Meanwhile, at Evolvoir’s corporate offices, Kashmira’s estranged brother Nikhil first sees the product as an opportunity to make a difference and a name for himself, but is quickly mired in corporate complicity as reports surface of the product causing severe pain and persistent symptoms in some users. As chaos ensues, Kashmira is hospitalized and must negotiate the constraints of her new reality, while Nikhil uncovers a vicious truth that will force him to decide where his loyalties lie.

Perfect for readers of Gold Diggers and You Too Can Have a Body Like Mine, Ravishing is a visceral, yet immensely tender, coming-of-age story of two Indian American siblings caught in the clutches of a predatory beauty tech company, providing an illuminating portrait of the complexities of growing up brown, chronic illness, and our relationship to ourselves.

Khaled and Jamila is a sweeping, multigenerational novel by Palestinian-American writer Anan Ameri that explores the enduring power of love and family across continents and cultures, asking what, in a divided world, truly lasts.

What in the world is beautiful forever? When disconnection rocks a family, the mistakes of one generation become the heartaches of the next …

1959, the West Bank, Palestine. Khaled’s bossy, hot-tempered father insists that his son go to college in the States so he can learn to help him run his business. Khaled, Arabic for forever, is reluctant to leave his secret, hometown crush. But he’s bullied into taking off for Ann Arbor. There he falls for a blue-collar American girl. One thing leads to another, including a daughter named Jamila, Arabic for beautiful. Family mayhem erupts on all sides.

Fast forward to 1984. Jamila has come of age growing up in Ann Arbor during the turbulent sixties and seventies. There she falls for her brother’s best friend, Ali, who she’s known for years. But even though he’s practically a member of the family, Ali is Black. Interracial marriages in the US are still few and far between. Mayhem breaks out again, tearing close ties apart.

And so, what might Sitti, the grandmother conciliator, have to say?

The names and heartaches of Khaled and Jamila ask, what in this mad world is beautiful forever? In Anan Ameri’s noisy, impatient, vibrant novel, enduring beauty is the kind of love that family can teach us. And it’s the larger, ever-expanding family of connections that love can show us when we learn to let it.