#11 -
Makeda
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Print Length: 350 pages
Publisher: OpenLens (August 30, 2011)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
"Makeda is brilliant and path-breaking, filled with passion and
compassion. It took hold in my heart and wouldn't let go. A scholar and a
poet uncompromisingly committed to justice, Randall Robinson is a rare and
exquisite writer. This novel will burn into your brain long after you've
left its haunting pages."
--Susan L. Taylor, former Editor
in chief Essence magazine.
Makeda Gee Florida Harris March is a proud matriarch, the anchor and
emotional bellwether who holds together a hard-working African American
family living in 1950s Richmond, Virginia. Lost in shadow is Makeda's
grandson Gray, who begins escaping into the magical world of Makeda's tiny
parlor. Makeda, a woman blind since birth but who has always dreamed in
color, begins to confide in Gray the things she "sees" and remembers from
her dream state, and a story emerges that is layered with historical
accuracy beyond the scope of Makeda's limited education. Gradually, Gray
begins to make a connection between his grandmother's dreams and the epic
life of an African queen described in the Bible.
Part coming-of-age story, part spiritual journey, and part love story,
Makeda is a universal tale of family, heritage, and the ties that bind.
Randall Robinson plumbs the hearts of Makeda and Gray and summons our
collective blood memories, taking the reader on an unforgettable journey of
the soul that will linger long after the last page has been turned.
#12 - My Name is Butterfly
Print Length: 181 pages
Publisher: Naki Publishing (April 7, 2012)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
The #3 Best-Selling eBook in 2012
In the tradition of Chris Cleave's LITTLE BEE - My Name Is Butterfly, is a
contemporary story that offers an educational, eye opening account into the
practice of ritual servitude in West Africa – in this case, Ghana.
A young Abebe “Butterfly” Tsikata experiences plenty of joy in Ghana as the
privileged daughter of a government employee and stay at home mother. The
love that her parents and extended family lavish her with knows no bounds.
When the Tsikata’s idyllic life style begins to take a turn for the worse,
Abebe's father places a nine-year-old Abebe in a shrine, hoping that the
sacrifice of his daughter will serve as religious atonement for the crimes
of his ancestors. Unspeakable acts befall Abebe for the fifteen years she is
enslaved.
When Abebe is finally released back into the world and finds herself not
only dealing with the newness of Ghana, but also the fast-paced world of New
York, she is broken—emotionally, mentally, physically, sexually, and
spiritually. But to live the rest of her years on earth, she must learn to
overcome her past, endure familial secrets, and learn to love herself—the
good, the bad, and the ugly.
Spanning decades and two continents, My Name Is Butterfly will break and
heal your heart …
#13 - A Family Affair
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or
download the 1st 7 chapters for free!
Print Length: 337 pages
Publisher: Pocket Books (July 30, 2013)
Sold by: Simon and Schuster Digital Sales Inc
#1 Power List Best-Selling Book - Fall 2013
Award-winning author ReShonda Tate Billingsley, whose best-selling fiction
“tackles some of life’s toughest situations“ (The Florida
Times-Union), unravels the secrets in a mother’s past that turn her
daughter’s life upside down—by revealing the family she never knew
existed.
Her dream of studying dance at Juilliard is within reach, but Olivia Dawson
turns down the opportunity, choosing instead to stay with her ailing mother
in the Houston projects where they barely make ends meet. Lorraine Dawson is
Olivia’s whole world, and now Olivia insists on being there for her.
But when Lorraine learns Olivia is sacrificing college for her sake, her
heartache triggers a series of shattering events that results in Olivia
discovering her father, a man she was told had died years ago. But he is
alive and well—and he’s the powerful CEO of one of the country’s
richest corporations.
With her best friend urging her to claim a much-deserved chunk of Bernard
Wells’s fortune, Olivia seeks out his Los Angeles mansion. But
it’s not money she wants—it—s answers: Why did he abandon Lorraine
when Olivia was three years old? Why did they suffer in poverty while he
gave his “real“ wife and son a life of luxury? Opening up the
past, however, is more complicated than Olivia—or Bernard—expected, and the
pain of yesterday’s sins must be confronted before true healing and a
bright tomorrow can begin.
#14 -
Daddy Dearest
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by
Kevin Bullock
Print Length: 207 pages
Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
After Carl "Hammer" Bobbit was sentenced to fifteen years in prison, he
became obsessed with his daughter, Cataya. Through his best friend, Ron, he
controls every aspect of her life. He regulates where she goes, what she
watches on T.V and who she hangs with. He knows that Cataya hates him, but
his fatherly instincts won't allow him to lighten up, or confess to his
guilt.
Now that Cataya is a senior in high school, she has been living with her
father's mother ever since her own mother had been found murdered twelve
years prior. She has very little contact with her mother's side of the
family, but has learned through them the truth surrounding her mother's
unsolved death.
She proves that she's cut from the same cloth as her father when she
formulates an icy plan that would punish Hammer for the role that he played
in her mother's death. But she gets side tracked when Hammer escapes from
prison and give the real meaning to Daddy Dearest.
#15 - The Twelve Tribes of Hattie
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by Ayana Mathis
Print Length: 258 pages
Publisher: Vintage; 1 edition (December 6, 2012)
Sold by: Random House LLC
The newest Oprah’s Book Club 2.0 selection: this special eBook edition of
The Twelve Tribes of Hattie by Ayana Mathis features exclusive content,
including Oprah’s personal notes highlighted within the text, and a reading
group guide.
The arrival of a major new voice in contemporary fiction.
A debut of extraordinary distinction: Ayana Mathis tells the story of the
children of the Great Migration through the trials of one unforgettable
family.
In 1923, fifteen-year-old Hattie Shepherd flees Georgia and settles in
Philadelphia, hoping for a chance at a better life. Instead, she marries a
man who will bring her nothing but disappointment and watches helplessly as
her firstborn twins succumb to an illness a few pennies could have
prevented. Hattie gives birth to nine more children whom she raises with
grit and mettle and not an ounce of the tenderness they crave. She vows to
prepare them for the calamitous difficulty they are sure to face in their
later lives, to meet a world that will not love them, a world that will not
be kind. Captured here in twelve luminous narrative threads, their lives
tell the story of a mother’s monumental courage and the journey of a nation.
Beautiful and devastating, Ayana Mathis’s The Twelve Tribes of Hattie is
wondrous from first to last—glorious, harrowing, unexpectedly uplifting, and
blazing with life. An emotionally transfixing page-turner, a searing
portrait of striving in the face of insurmountable adversity, an indelible
encounter with the resilience of the human spirit and the driving force of
the American dream.
#16 -
Devil in a Blue Dress: Featuring an Original Easy Rawlins Short Story
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Print Length: 228 pages
Publisher: Washington Square Press (June 22, 2010)
Sold by: Simon and Schuster Digital Sales Inc
This is the first book in Mosley’s Easy Rawlins mystery series
Los Angeles, 1948: Easy Rawlins is a black war veteran just fired from his job at a defense plant. Easy is drinking in a friend's bar, wondering how he'll meet his mortgage, when a white man in a linen suit walks in, offering good money if Easy will simply locate Miss Daphne Money, a blonde beauty known to frequent black jazz clubs....
#17 -
Echoes of a Distant Summer: A Novel
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by
Guy Johnson
Print Length: 688 pages
Publisher: Random House; 1st edition (October 12, 2011)
Sold by: Random House LLC
Guy Johnson, the author of the critically acclaimed debut Standing at the
Scratch Line, continues the Tremain family saga.
Jackson St. Clair Tremain hasn’t spoken to his grandfather King in nearly
twenty years. Disgusted by the violence and bloodlust that seemed to be his
grandfather’s way of life, Jackson chose to distance himself from King and
live a simpler life. But now King is gravely ill, and his impending death
places Jackson’s life—as well as those of his family and friends—in
jeopardy. Reluctantly, Jackson travels to Mexico to see King. But after a
brief reconciliation, his grandfather is assassinated, and Jackson suspects
that his grandmother Serena may have had a hand in it. Jackson takes control
of King’s organization, and as he does, he reflects on the summers he spent
in Mexico as a child and the lessons he learned there at the knee of his
strong-willed, complex grandfather.
In Echoes of a Distant Summer, Guy Johnson introduces us to a new hero,
Jackson St. Clair Tremain, who learns that, like his grandfather, he must be
willing to protect those he loves—at all costs.
#18 - How Stanley Got His Back in Groove
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Print Length: 31 pages
Publisher: IAJ Books (August 28, 2012)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
A Sneak Peek from the erotic anthology,
Can You Feel What I'm Saying?
What happens when Stanley Brewster, a 40-year-old "born-again" virgin, runs
into Robert "Bobby" Carpenter, Jr., one of his former elementary school
students, who is now 20, sexy, and sinfully stacked? Naturally, Stanley gets
his back in groove—and, to his surprise, may finally conquer his fear of
intimacy.
#19 - Obama Talks Back: Global Lessons - A Dialogue with America's Young Leaders
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by Gregory Reed
Print Length: 289 pages
Publisher: Amber Books (October 4, 2012)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Read an AALBC.com
Book Review
Winner 2013 NAACP Image Awards for Literature (Youth/Teens)
President Barack Obama achieved a landslide victory in 2008 and has
touched the lives of young people more so than any previous president.
During his presidency, he sought to continue that inspiration by maintaining
an engaged relationship with the nation’s youth.
This Outstanding and Historic collection of students’ letters accompanied
with President Obama’s responses, speeches, public statements, and
quotations during his campaign, tenure as President-Elect, and his
presidency is the most comprehensive collection of letters and responses
ever assembled as a book in the history of our nation for a sitting
president. This historic collection of letters featuring the voices of
today’s young leaders and their mission to be heard is a rarity.
From these letters, we learn that these young citizens are committed to
their country and the world. From President Obama we learn the importance of
listening to one another, and of perseverance. We learn in desperate times,
we must have faith and know that we are empowered to change the
circumstances and conditions of our lives and the destiny of America for the
better.
The personal thoughts of the writers are a rare and private glimpse into the
dialogue between our nation’s youth and a sitting president in office. Their
letters are priceless, timeless, inspiring and powerful.
It is recommended that every Home, Organization, Library, University,
Bookstore and College have this important book for the many upcoming
generations of young leaders to read and remember the words of this historic
44th President of the United States of America.
#20 - Scandalous
by Victoria Christopher Murray
Print Length: 233 pages
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
The #6 Best-Selling eBook in 2012
Before she was a minister's wife, she was Jasmine Cox, the most prized
dancer at Foxtails. Newly engaged to her high school sweetheart, Kenny
Larson, Jasmine knows it's time to leave her secret life behind and settle
down. But on the night of her bachelorette party, she meets Roman and their
lust-at-first-sight tells Jasmine this man is nothing but bad news. Built
like a god yet sinful as dark chocolate, Roman ignites a passion in Jasmine
that has long since fizzled out between her and Kenny. When a mindblowing
one night stand with Roman turns into another...then another...Jasmine must
face the fact that she's full on addicted to a man who isn't her
husband--and this secret can only lead to trouble.
A prequel to the Jasmine series, written with Victoria Christopher Murray's
trademark twists and electrifying voice, SCANDALOUS is a thrilling peek into
Jasmine's world before she becomes the woman we all love to hate.