A warm and funny picture book about the popular West African dish, from Nigerian author Onyinye Iwu, that shows how things work out best when you do them together.

Jollof is a a delicious, spicy rice, and vegetable dish originating in West Africa and now known and enjoyed world-wide. It’s the favorite food of best friends Kwame and Kamsi. But who makes the best Jollof? “My mom,” says Kwame. “No, my mom,” says Kamsi.

The two boys have a great idea. “Let’s each make our own and see whose is really best!” Carefully they pick their ingredients. But Kwame likes playing tricks on Kamsi, and Kamsi likes playing tricks on Kwame. Kamsi secretly adds nettles to Kwame’s Jollof, and Kwame pops a caterpillar into Kamsi’s. Puddle water, fiery ants and old dry chewing gum follow. What a mess! They’ve both made the worst Jollofs ever.

But in the kitchen their moms are sharing the preparation of a real Jollof rice dish, and call the two sad boys in to help. What a difference! “Alone we make good Jollof,” say the moms. “But together we make the best Jollof ever.” And the boys agree–it’s best to work together (but sometimes they still play tricks on each other).

Beautiful, smart, and determined Moyo Adegbite has it all...almost.

As a Boston-based Pediatrician, she’s made her parents back in Lagos proud. Now, she’s ready for true love.

To avoid dating all the duds in Boston, Moyo’s research led her to devise a foolproof plan: Join Cupid's Bow, the popular astrology dating app that uses birth charts to match soulmates with a 99 percent success rate. And the app works…until it doesn’t. After discovering the infidelity of a Cupid’s Bow match, Moyo goes on a booze-fueled rant against the app’s creators, filing an irate complaint slamming the planet responsible for her love life—the god, Saturn.

Niyi Bankole was reluctantly named Saturn, and now he’s saddled with a position at Cupid’s Bow, the family business, as one of three matchmakers. But Niyi quickly learns he’s unequipped to be a god. Leaning into his science background to hide his incompetence, Niyi writes an algorithm that seems to work for clients...until Moyo’s complaint triggers damage control. Now, Moyo is contracted to receive a dating coach to walk her through three Cupid’s Bow–assigned dates. Eager to clean up his mess and (secretly) fine-tune his algorithm, Niyi offers to be Moyo’s dating coach.

As they work together, will Moyo find love through the algorithm, as she and Niyi planned, or will she get swept up in one of Saturn’s rings?

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

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

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

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

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

*ships/ready for pick up in 5-8 business days

Obi Ifeanyi's life is moving at a fast pace. He is now a husband and father. So while President Obama is contending with a tough reelection campaign, Obi Ifeanyi is dealing with the day to day pressures of married life and raising a son. When his former love interest, Sade Olufemi, comes back into his life and decides to run her political campaign with the help of his wife, Nkechi, Obi's problems are compounded because Sade is a secret Nkechi is better not knowing about. While he struggles with the torment of Sade's return, the upcoming wedding of his best friend from law school, will lead to the unveiling of a secret that will change the dynamics of the Ifeanyi family forever.

Illustrated by Caldecott Honor Award winner Ekua Holmes, this modern and original Anansi the Spider story explores traditional kente-cloth making, written by award-winner Caroline Brewer, in cooperation with weaving expert Kwasi Asare.

When kente-cloth weavers stop weaving, Anansi the Spider must save the city in this rhythmic African folktale, a rhyming read-aloud trickster picture book.

This rhyming and rhythmic original Anansi fable finds Anansi the Spider needing to save the city. One day the sun stops shining because the kente-cloth making spiders stop weaving in protest against mass-produced cloth. Handmade kente cloth has made Africa famous and the spider city wealthy. Without it, the city is doomed.

Anansi faces the biggest challenge of his spider life, and his clever trickster past, coupled with help from his wife, will restore harmony.

Author Caroline Brewer and master kente-cloth weaver Kwasi Asare worked together to create this fresh take featuring the African trickster Anansi the Spider, a classic hero.

If the question is America-and by extension, who is and what does it mean to be American? -AFRICANAMERICAN'T offers no answers. The CAN'T in the title suggests impossibility and that is precisely what the book is interested in. Even in the so-called land of opportunity, some things remain impossible for its speaker(s). In a way, AFRICANAMERICAN'T is a document of attempted refusals: assimilation, forgetting, and allegiance to any one country. However valid despair might be as a response to the continued failings of his two countries, Ayokunle Falomo traverses the distance between betrayal and love in an attempt to find poetry-and perhaps, something like hope-in all the places it can't be found.

Join us for a poetry reading with Olatunde & friends, Ayokunle Falomo and Joshua Burton!

EVENT DEETS

When: Saturday, March 2 @ 6PM

Where: Kindred Stories Reading Garden (2304 Stuart Street, HTX, 77004)

How: RSVP Only to reserve seats or RSVP WITH BOOK to reserve your copy of the book and our programming. No refunds.

ABOUT THE BOOK

The irony of transformation often is that we mistake it to have occurred long before it does. Tender Headed takes its time in asserting the realization that growth remains ever ahead of you. Examining the themes of Black identity, accountability, and narration, we encounter a series of revealing snapshots into the role language plays in chiseling possibility and its rigid command of depiction. Olatunde Osinaike's startling debut sorts through the many-minded masks behind Black masculinity. At its center lies an inquiry about the puzzling nature of relationships, how ceaseless wonder can be in its challenge of a truth. In the name of music and self-identity, the speaker weaves their way through fault and how it amends Black life in America.

This is demonstrated best in how the demanding, yet vulnerable tone for the collection is set in "Men Like Me," its restless opening poem. Here, we find the speaker reciting a chronicle of generational neglect from men that became him also. Earnest and sharp, there is a beauty in seeing a poet not shy away from both the melancholy and resolve of rescripting their path while cherishing their steps and missteps along the way. This collection is a panel aching of fathers, sons, uncles, grandfathers, all of whom would do well to join in and confront shared privileges that are typically curtailed or altogether avoided in conversation. Tender Headed entrusts the heart to be a compass, insisting on a journey unto itself and a melodic detour toward tenderness precise with its own footing.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

A vivid and explosive graphic novel about the life and times of the legendary Fela Kuti - the Pan-African frontman, multi-instrumentalist, sociopolitical powerhouse, and father of Afrobeat.

Camo, by photographer Thandiwe Muriu, is the first publication to chronicle the work of this international artist, celebrating the vibrant portraits she creates that combine cultural textiles and beauty ideologies. Muriu takes us on a colorful, reflective journey through her world as a woman living in modern Kenya as she reinterprets contemporary African portraiture. 

As the sole woman operating in the male-dominated advertising photography industry in Kenya, Thandiwe Muriu has repeatedly confronted questions around the role of women in society, the place of tradition, and her own self-perception. These experiences inspired her personal project of cultural reflection: the Camo series. Camo was the catalyst for her to push new boundaries in her photography, leading her into a deeply personal artistic journey.

The compelling, fully saturated photographs in this collection confront issues surrounding identity while seeking to redefine female empowerment through Muriu’s choice of materials. These constructed images are not digital manipulations but physical sets that incorporate African Ankara wax textiles as backdrops and custom-tailored clothing and headdresses. At the forefront of her practice is using textiles to make her subjects disappear and serve as a canvas for reflection on the question of identity and its evolution over time. Muriu also consistently reimagines common objects associated with the daily lives of Kenyans into bold accessories donned by her subjects. These objects range from hairpins to the mosquito-repellent coils she grew up using. In Kenya, an object can have multiple uses beyond its original purpose; as Muriu explains, “When you have little, you transform and reuse it.”

Throughout the book, each image is paired with an inspirational African proverb in both English and Swahili, expressing the collected wisdom of generations that continue to inspire. Proverbs such as "With a little seed of imagination, you can grow a field of hope" convey the uplifting spirit of Muriu's work that empowers women, preserves tradition, and celebrates African beauty and culture. 

A visually stunning art book and cultural touchstone, Camo is a collectible treasure as the first book to showcase the work of a rising star in the worlds of photography and art.

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A vibrant collection of love stories from a debut author, retelling myths, folktales, and histories from around the world.

A high-born Nigerian goddess, who has been beaten down and unappreciated by her gregarious lover, longs to be truly seen.

A young businesswoman attempts a great leap in her company, and an even greater one in her love life.

A powerful Ghanaian spokeswoman is forced to decide whether she should uphold her family’s politics or be true to her heart.

In her debut collection, internationally acclaimed writer Bolu Babalola retells the most beautiful love stories from history and mythology with incredible new detail and vivacity. Focusing on the magical folktales of West Africa, Babalola also reimagines Greek myths, ancient legends from the Middle East, and stories from long-erased places.

With an eye towards decolonizing tropes inherent in our favorite tales of love, Babalola has created captivating stories that traverse across perspectives, continents, and genres.

Love in Color is a celebration of romance in all its many splendid forms.