116 results for “gabby dawnay”

Not finding what you're looking for? Check out our shop on bookshop.org to order and still support us ♥

  • Buzzed Spelling Bee: Black History Month Edition - February 4th at 6:30 PM
    Sold out
    We invite you to join us for the 2nd Annual Buzzed Spelling Bee presented by Babe Events & Kindred Stories.

    EVENT DEETS:

    When: February 4, 2023, at 6:30 PM (Door Open at 6:00 PM)

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

    How: Purchase your ticket TODAY! Each ticket comes with entry as well as two cocktails. THIS EVENT IS FOR ADULTS (21+) ONLY!

    ABOUT THE SPELLING BEE:

    Contestants will be asked to spell words that speak to the theme of Black History Month over the course of four rounds. If you misspell the word, you are out!  As the words get harder, you might be able to Phone a Friend or Battle to earn your place back into the competition. The last three contestants standing will receive a prize!

    Fun and music-filled, this event is for folks looking for something BLACKITY BLACK to do on a Saturday night! 

    If you have any questions please reach out to laniseharris@gmail.com or chanecka@kindredstorieshtx.com.

  • GRIEF WRITING WORKSHOP: All the Blues in the Sky with Renée Watson - Feburary 11 @ 7PM

    Renée Watson

    Sold out

    Attend a grief focused writing workshop with award winning author, Renee Watson in honor of the release of All the Blues in Sky! 

    EVENT DEETS

    When: Tuesday, February, 11 @ 7PM

    Where: 2310 Elgin Street, HTX, 77004

    How:  RSVP ONLY to reserve your seat or RSVP WITH BOOK to support the author and our store programming

    ABOUT THE BOOK

    Sage's thirteenth birthday was supposed to be about movies and treats, staying up late with her best friend and watching the sunrise together. Instead, it was the day her best friend died. Without the person she had to hold her secrets and dream with, Sage is lost. In a counseling group with other girls who have lost someone close to them, she learns that not all losses are the same, and healing isn't predictable. There is sadness, loneliness, anxiety, guilt, pain, love. And even as Sage grieves, new, good things enter her life—and she just may find a way to know that she can feel it all.

    In accessible, engaging verse and prose, this is a story of a girl's journey to heal, grow, and forgive herself. To read it is to see how many shades there are in grief, and to know that someone understands.

    ABOUT THE AUTHOR

    Renée Watson is a #1 New York Times bestselling author. Her novel, Piecing Me
    Together, received a Newbery Honor and Coretta Scott King Award. Her books include
    the Ryan Hart series, Some Places More Than Others, This Side of Home, What Momma
    Left Me, Betty Before X, cowritten with Ilyasah Shabazz, Watch Us Rise, cowritten with
    Ellen Hagan, and Love Is a Revolution, as well as acclaimed picture books: Maya's Song,

    The 1619 Project: Born on the Water, written with Nikole Hannah-Jones, A Place Where
    Hurricanes Happen, and Harlem's Little Blackbird, which was nominated for an NAACP
    Image Award. Renée splits her time between Portland, Oregon and New York City.
    http://www.reneewatson.net | @harlemportland (Instagram) | @reneewauthor (X)

     

  • Worthy Girl: Believing in God's BIG Purpose for You cover image
    Sold out

    For all the girls in your life who are inspired, deserving, and worthy, bestselling author Marshawn Evans Daniels’ debut picture book Worthy Girl offers a lyrical, inspirational message about believing in yourself and realizing God’s higher purpose for your life.

    From early on, young girls seek to find their place and voice in a complex world that tells them who they’re supposed to be. Worthy Girl uses soaring language to combat the forces trying to keep girls small and instead awaken their ambition and instill in them an unshakeable sense of self-worth, confidence, and identity bathed in possibility. This beautifully illustrated picture book anchors girls in God’s promises and challenges them to believe—even at a young age—that God made them for such a time as this.

    Worthy Girl is perfect for:

    * Any girl at any time, but especially for birthdays, graduations, and milestones that celebrate a girl’s life and potential.
    * Parents desiring to inspire their daughters to embrace their uniqueness.
    * Reassuring girls that God has a plan for their lives and there are limitless possibilities ahead of them.

  • IRL AUTHOR TALK: Communication Skills for Healthier Boundaries with Dr. LaToya S. Gilmore - May 8 @ 7PM
    Sold out

    Celebrate the release of Communication Skills for Healthier Boundaries with Dr. LaToya S. Gilmore!

    EVENT DEETS

    When: Thursday, May 8 @ 7PM

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

    How: RSVP ONLY to reserve your seat or RSVP WITH BOOK to support the author and our store programming

    ABOUT THE BOOK

    Stop People-Pleasing and Start Setting Healthier Boundaries Now

    Do you feel resentful because you didn’t speak up? Do find yourself saying yes when you really mean no, only to burn out later? Or maybe frustration builds, leading to blowups that push people away? In Communication Skills for Healthier Boundaries, licensed psychotherapist Dr. LaToya S. Gilmore addresses the struggles many face when they can’t express their needs, often resorting to either giving in or losing control.

    This book provides essential tools to break free from these patterns and communicate with clarity and confidence. Learn how to set firm, healthy boundaries without guilt and honor yourself without fear of conflict. Tackling either people-pleasing or explosive reactions, Dr. Gilmore’s practical guidance will help you build and maintain fulfilling relationships without compromising your well-being.

    Communication Skills for Healthier Boundaries includes:

    * Verbal and nonverbal communication skills and activities. Attain lifelong skill sets to build assertiveness, confidence, and self-awareness.
    * Real-life dialogue scripts. Practice setting and asserting boundaries at your own pace while finding your communication style.
    * Easy implementation in two parts. Learn core communication skills in the first part of the book, and then apply these skills in the second part, which features common scenarios where boundaries are challenged in everyday life, rela

    ABOUT THE AUTHOR

    Dr. LaToya S. Gilmore is a licensed therapist, educator, consultant, writer, and speaker. She inspires those she works with to intentionally integrate self-care and healthy boundaries in their daily lives and is an advocate for ending the stigma related to seeking therapy. She has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Prairie View A&M University and a doctorate in counselor education from Texas Southern University. Her master’s degree in marriage and family therapy was earned at Fuller Theological Seminary. She resides in Houston, Texas.

    ABOUT THE CONVERSATION PARTNER

    Kandice Ewing is a lifelong Houston resident and a dedicated co-leader at the Fellowship of Love Church for over 20 years. Recently, Kandice earned a Master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Houston Christian University and is now a Licensed Professional Counselor-Associate. Believing that therapy is her true calling, Kandice is committed to supporting individuals, groups, and couples experiencing mental distress, emotional dysregulation, and life stressors.

    With expertise in areas such as grief and loss, depression, suicidal ideation, anxiety, spiritual struggles, relationships, boundaries, assertiveness, and self-esteem, Kandice takes an eclectic therapeutic approach and tailors’ treatment to meet each client's unique needs.

    Passionate about guiding others on their wellness journey, Kandice is dedicated to fostering healing and personal growth in a compassionate and supportive environment.

  • Virtual Author Talk: Weightless with Evette Dionne & Morgan Jerkins-December 7 @ 7PM CST
    Sold out
    Join us on a screen near you to celebrate the release of Weightless with author, Evette Dionne and Morgan Jerkins.


    EVENT DEETS: 

    When: December 7 at 7 PM CST

    Where: Virtual via Crowdcast

    How: Grab a free ticket or support the author and the store by purchasing a ticket with book. You can self register here or we will send you a link before the event. 

    About the Book

    My body has not betrayed me; it has continued rebounding against all odds. It is a body that others map their expectations on, but it has never let me down.

    In this insightful, funny, and whip-smart book, acclaimed writer Evette Dionne explores the minefields fat Black woman are forced to navigate in the course of everyday life. From her early experiences of harassment to adolescent self-discovery in internet chatrooms to diagnosis with heart failure at age twenty-nine, Dionne tracks her relationships with friendship, sex, motherhood, agoraphobia, health, pop culture, and self-image.

    Along the way, she lifts back the curtain to reveal the subtle, insidious forms of surveillance and control levied at fat women: At the doctor’s office, where any health ailment is treated with a directive to lose weight. On dating sites, where larger bodies are rejected or fetishized. On TV, where fat characters are asexual comedic relief. But Dionne’s unflinching account of our deeply held prejudices is matched by her fierce belief in the power of self-love.

    An unmissable portrait of a woman on a journey toward understanding our society and herself, Weightless holds up a mirror to the world we live in and asks us to imagine the future we deserve.

    About Author

    Evette Dionne is a journalist, editor, and pop culture critic. She is the National Book Award–nominated author of Lifting as We Climb: Black Women’s Battle for the Ballot Box, a middle-grade nonfiction book about Black women suffragists, and the former editor in chief of Bitch Media. Her work has appeared in Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Time, the New York Times, the Guardian, Teen Vogue, and elsewhere. A graduate of Bennett College, Dionne is based in Los Angeles, where she works at Netflix.

    About Conversation Partner 

    Morgan Jerkins is the author of Caul Baby, Wandering in Strange Lands and the New York Times bestseller This Will Be My Undoing and a Senior Culture Editor at ESPN’s The Undefeated. Jerkins is a visiting professor at Columbia University and a Forbes 30 Under 30 leader in media, and her short-form work has been featured in the New Yorker, the New York Times, the Atlantic, Rolling Stone, Elle, Esquire, and the Guardian, among many other outlets. She is based in Harlem. 

  • 2025 Buzzed Adult Spelling Bee: Black History Month Edition - February 16 @ 6PM
    Sold out

    WE'RE BACK BABY!!!!!!!!!!!

    Join us for the 4th Buzzed Adult Spelling Bee presented by Babe Events and Kindred Stories, sponsorship by the Third Ward Cultural District and Brugal 1888!

    EVENT DEETS

    When: Sunday, February 16 @ 6 PM (Doors open at 5 PM)

    Where: Eldorado Ballroom (2310 Elgin Street, HTX, 77004)

    How: There are two different ticket options. If you would like to attend and enjoy the show, purchase your ticket as an attendee. If you would like to contest as the spelling bee champ, grab your ticket as a contestant. Both tickets come with three drinks. THIS EVENT IS FOR ADULTS (21+) ONLY! 

    Tickets are final sale and non refundable. You will not be allowed to transfer tickets. 

    ABOUT THE SPELLING BEE 

    Contestants will be asked to spell words that speak to the theme of Black History Month including slang and AAVE over the course of four rounds. If you misspell the word, you are out!  As the words get harder, you might be able to Phone a Friend or Battle to earn your place back into the competition. Fun and music-filled, this event is for folks looking for something BLACKITY BLACK to do on a Sunday night! 

    Be mindful that you don't have to participate in the Bee. We definitely need an audience! 

    Contact lanise.harris@gmail.com or chanecka@kindredstorieshtx.com for more details.

  • IN PERSON AUTHOR TALK: The House of Eve with Sadeqa Johnson-April 23 @5PM CST
    Sold out
    Come meet Sadeqa Johnson, author of Yellow Wife and The House of Eve! 

    EVENT DEETS

    When: Sunday, April 23, 2023 at 5PM CST

    Where: Hogan Brown Gallery (2310 Elgin St, Houston, TX 77004)

    How: RSVP ONLY for TICKET or RSVP WITH BOOK to get your copy of THE HOUSE OF EVE!

    ABOUT THE BOOK

    “A triumph of historical fiction” (The Washington Post) set in 1950s Philadelphia and Washington, DC, that explores what it means to be a woman and a mother, and how much one is willing to sacrifice to achieve her greatest goal.

    1950s Philadelphia: fifteen-year-old Ruby Pearsall is on track to becoming the first in her family to attend college, in spite of having a mother more interested in keeping a man than raising a daughter. But a taboo love affair threatens to pull her back down into the poverty and desperation that has been passed on to her like a birthright.

    Eleanor Quarles arrives in Washington, DC, with ambition and secrets. When she meets the handsome William Pride at Howard University, they fall madly in love. But William hails from one of DC’s elite wealthy Black families, and his par­ents don’t let just anyone into their fold. Eleanor hopes that a baby will make her finally feel at home in William’s family and grant her the life she’s been searching for. But having a baby—and fitting in—is easier said than done.

    With their stories colliding in the most unexpected of ways, Ruby and Eleanor will both make decisions that shape the trajectory of their lives.

    ABOUT THE AUTHOR

    Sadeqa Johnson is the award-winning author of four novels, including Yellow Wife. Her accolades include the National Book Club Award, the Phillis Wheatley Book Award, and the USA Best Book Award for Best Fiction. She is a Kimbilio Fellow, former board member of the James River Writers, and a Tall Poppy Writer. Originally from Philadelphia, she currently lives near Richmond, Virginia, with her husband and three children. To learn more, visit SadeqaJohnson.net.


  • Virtual Author Talk: Good Morning Love with Ashley M. Coleman & Pauleanna Reid-June 22 @ 6:30 CST
    Sold out

    Kindred Stories, Solid State Books,  Cafe Con Libros, and Shelves Bookstore presents Good Morning, Love with Ashley M. Coleman & Pauleanne Reid. 

    Event Deets

    When: June 22 @ 6:30PM CST

    Where: Virtual via Crowdcast

    How:  Register on this page or head over to register on Crowdcast directly using this link.  If you register using our website (with or without purchasing the book) and not Crowdcast, you will register a Crowdcast watch link at least 24 hours before the start of the event.

    About the Book

    Carlisa “Carli” Henton is a musician and songwriter hoping to follow in her father’s musical footsteps. But, biding her time until she makes it big in the music industry, she works as a junior account manager at a big-name media company to cover her New York City rent. Carli meticulously balances her work with her musical endeavors as a songwriter—until a chance meeting with rising star Tau Anderson sends her calculated world into a frenzy. Their worlds collide and quickly blur the strict lines Carli has drawn between her business and her personal life, throwing Carli’s reputation—and her burgeoning songwriting career—into question.

    About the Author

    Ashley M. Coleman is a freelance writer and music executive from Philadelphia. Working in the music industry for over ten years, she has also written for Essence, The Cut, Apartment Therapy, and GRAMMY.com among others. In 2017, she launched a writing community for BIPOC writers entitled Permission to Write. 

    About the Moderator 

    Pauleanna Reid is a celebrity ghostwriter who helps high-profile leaders and doers turn their personal stories into powerful brand assets. She founded The WritersBlok, a full-service ghostwriting agency composed of a team of content ninjas responsible for some of the most talked-about pop culture moments, books and noteworthy speeches. Pauleanna is Senior Contributor at Forbes and Business Insider where she reports on female leaders who are shaping the future. Pauleanna penned her debut novel, Everything I Couldn’t Tell My Mother, a loose adaptation of her life story. If she isn’t holding a pen or fostering next-generation leaders, Pauleanna is re-imagining a new world and crafting an exciting one of her own. 

     

  • IRL Author Talk: If My Flowers Bloom with DeShara Suggs - Joe - May 24 @ 6:30PM
    Sold out

    Celebrate the release of If My Flowers Bloom with DeShara Suggs!

    EVENT DEETS

    When: Friday, May 24 at 6:30 PM

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

    How: RSVP ONLY to serve your seat or RSVP WITH BOOK to support the author and our programming. 

    This event is in collaboration with OQUPI HTX.

    ABOUT THE BOOK

    If My Flowers Bloom is about desire. Is there room to bloom or does the harvest only come in the afterlife? Is it okay to be Black and queer and woman in this world?

    Overflowing with love and aching for more space, DeShara Suggs-Joe questions the powers that be while longing for space carved out for her flourishing.

    ABOUT THE AUTHOR

    DeShara is a queer, Black poet and visual artist. She co-founded Daughter’s Tongue (an all-women writing collective), worked as the Creative Director of Workshops at Winter Tangerine, and is a former member of the Youth Speaks Collective. She received her MFA in Writing from California College of the Arts and fellowships from Callaloo, the Poetry Incubator, and Pink Door. In 2021, she was nominated for “Best of the Net.” She has published poems in Apogee Lit, Voicemail Poems, Tinderbox Journal, The Texas Review, and elsewhere. She has also been featured on Button Poetry’s YouTube platform and has performed at the likes of Spotify, Yahoo, and Pinterest


  • IRL AUTHOR TALK: City Summer, Country Summer with Kiese Laymon - April 6 @ 2PM

    Kiese Laymon

    Sold out

    Celebrate the release of City Summer, Country Summer with Kiese Laymon!

    EVENT DEETS

    When: Sunday, April 6 @ 2PM

    Where: 2304 Stuart Street, HTX, 77004

    How: RSVP ONLY to reserve your seat or RSVP WITH BOOK to support the author and our store programming

    ABOUT THE BOOK

    A lyrical picture book from the award-winning author of Heavy, about three Black boys who form a deep connection during a transformative summer trip down South to visit family.

    On the ground of that garden, covered in vegetables and dirt, coated in laughter, I want to say that the Mississippi and New York in our Black boy bodies were indistinguishable.

    Three Black boys spend one special summer exploring the Mississippi woods and woulds and coulds of sharing the kind of freeing friendship that is love.

    Watched over and given space to discover by Grandmama and Mama Lara, New York, Country, and little C find camaraderie in their contrasts and all the unspoken things between them while playing games of marco polo in the thick garden and sledding on cardboard by the underpass. 

    With text brimming with love by award-winning author Kiese Laymon and deeply evocative illustrations by Ashley Franklin, City Summer, Country Summer illuminates the tenuous and tender bonds of friendship Black boys forge with one another.

    ABOUT THE AUTHOR

    Kiese Laymon is a Black southern writer from Jackson, Mississippi. Laymon is the Libbie Shearn Moody Professor of English and Creative Writing at Rice University. Laymon is the author of Long Division, which won the 2022 NAACP Image Award for fiction, and the essay collection, How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America, named a notable book of 2021 by the New York Times critics. Laymon’s bestselling memoir, Heavy: An American Memoir, won the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction, the Christopher Isherwood Prize for Autobiographical Prose, the Barnes and Noble Discovery Award, the Austen Riggs Erikson Prize for Excellence in Mental Health Media, and was named one of the 50 Best Memoirs of the Past 50 Years by The New York Times. The audiobook, read by the author, was named the Audible 2018 Audiobook of the Year. Laymon is the recipient of 2020-2021 Radcliffe Fellowship at Harvard. Laymon is at work on the books, Good God, and City Summer, Country Summer, and a number of other film and television projects. He is the founder of The Catherine Coleman Literary Arts and Justice Initiative, a program based out of the Margaret Walker Center at Jackson State University, aimed at aiding young people in Jackson get more comfortable reading, writing, revising and sharing on their on their own terms, in their own communities. He is the co-host of Reckon True Stories with Deesha Philyaw. Kiese Laymon was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in 2022.

  • APRIL 2024: Young Adult Book Club for Adults - April 23 @ 6:30 PM
    Sold out

    The bookclub meeting will take place on April 23, 2024 at 6:30 PM in the Kindred Stories' Reading Garden. Be sure to show up with the book read (or partially read). You are always welcome to just come and take up space. 

    ABOUT THE BOOK

    From the New York Times bestselling author of the Brown Sisters trilogy, comes a laugh-out-loud story about a quirky content creator and a clean-cut athlete testing their abilities to survive the great outdoors—and each other.

    Bradley Graeme is pretty much perfect. He’s a star football player, manages his OCD well (enough), and comes out on top in all his classes . . . except the ones he shares with his ex-best friend, Celine.
     
    Celine Bangura is conspiracy-theory-obsessed. Social media followers eat up her takes on everything from UFOs to holiday overconsumption—yet, she’s still not cool enough for the popular kids’ table. Which is why Brad abandoned her for the in-crowd years ago. (At least, that’s how Celine sees it.)

    These days, there’s nothing between them other than petty insults and academic rivalry. So when Celine signs up for a survival course in the woods, she’s surprised to find Brad right beside her.

    Forced to work as a team for the chance to win a grand prize, these two teens must trudge through not just mud and dirt but their messy past. And as this adventure brings them closer together, they begin to remember the good bits of their history. But has too much time passed . . . or just enough to spark a whole new kind of relationship?

  • September YA Adult Book Club-Zyla and Kai by Kristina Forest
    Sold out

    Join us for our monthly book club. Our August pick is Zyla and Kia by Kristina Forest.

    Book club will happen Wednesday, September 25 at 7:00 PM in the Kindred Stories Reading Garden. RSVP required. See ya'll there!

    About the Book

    A fresh love story about the will they, won't they—and why can't they—of first love. 


    While on a school trip to the Poconos Mountains (in the middle of a storm) high school seniors, Zyla Matthews and Kai Johnson, run away together leaving their friends and family confused. As far as everyone knows, Zyla and Kai have been broken up for months. And honestly? Their break up hadn't surprised anyone. Zyla and Kai met while working together at an amusement park the previous summer, and they couldn't have been more different.
     
    Zyla was a cynic about love. She'd witnessed the dissolution of her parents' marriage early in life, and it left an indelible impression. Her only aim was graduating and going to fashion school abroad. Until she met Kai.
     
    Kai was a serial dater and a hopeless romantic. He'd put a temporary pause on his dating life before senior year to focus on school and getting into his dream HBCU. Until he met Zyla.
     
    Alternating between the past and present, we see the love story unfold from Zyla's and Kai's perspectives: how they first became the unlikeliest of friends over the summer, how they fell in love during the school year, and why they ultimately broke up... Or did they?
     
    Romantic, heart-stirring, and a little mysterious, Zyla & Kai will keep readers guessing until the last chapter. 

Stay Informed. We're building a community committed to celebrating Black authors + artisans. Subscribe to keep up with all things Kindred Stories.