4 Books Published by Blackstone Publishing on AALBC — Book Cover Collage

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Bits and Pieces: My Mother, My Brother, and Me by Whoopi Goldberg Bits and Pieces: My Mother, My Brother, and Me

by Whoopi Goldberg
Blackstone Publishing (May 08, 2024)
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From multi-award winner Whoopi Goldberg comes a new and unique memoir of her family and their influence on her early life.

If it weren’t for Emma Johnson, Caryn Johnson would have never become Whoopi Goldberg. Emma gave her children the loving care and wisdom they needed to succeed in life, always encouraging them to be true to themselves. When Whoopi lost her mother in 2010—and then her older brother, Clyde, five years later—she felt deeply alone; the only people who truly knew her were gone.

Emma raised her children not just to survive, but to thrive. In this intimate and heartfelt memoir, Whoopi shares many of the deeply personal stories of their lives together for the first time. Growing up in the projects in New York City, there were trips to Coney Island, the Ice Capades, and museums, and every Christmas was a magical experience. To this day, she doesn’t know how her mother was able to give them such an enriching childhood, despite the struggles they faced—and it wasn’t until she was well into adulthood that Whoopi learned just how traumatic some of those struggles were.

Fans of personal memoirs such as Finding Me by Viola Davis and In Pieces by Sally Field will be touched by Bits and Pieces: a moving tribute from a daughter to her mother, and a beautiful portrait of three people who loved each other deeply. Whoopi writes, “Not everybody gets to walk this earth with folks who let you be exactly who you are and who give you the confidence to become exactly who you want to be. So, I thought I’d share mine with you.”


Click for more detail about Promise Kept by K’wan Promise Kept

by K’wan
Blackstone Publishing (Mar 19, 2024)
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In this stunning sequel to Promise Broken, K’wan spins a pulse-pounding story about surviving, thriving, and the consequences of love.

Promise and her best friend Mouse have fled Newark and are hiding out in New York City, wanted by the police–and the streets–for the death of B-Stone, leader of the Bloods. In the city, Promise has found work as a waitress at a hole-in-the-wall strip club. But one fateful night, she is forced to face her past when an up-and-coming rapper draws several shady characters into her orbit.

Meanwhile, Asher has maneuvered himself into a position of great importance after B-Stone’s death, albeit with some help. But his ambition may cost him when he must make the ultimate choice: his best friend’s life, or his own.

Promise and Asher have each come into their own, but will they ever be able to come together?

Bestselling author K’wan weaves a tangled web of complex relationships and power struggles in Promise Kept, a tale peopled with gangstas, drug dealers, dreamers, and schemers from both sides of the Hudson.


Click for more detail about Ain’t That a Mother: Postpartum, Palsy, and Everything in Between by Adiba Nelson Ain’t That a Mother: Postpartum, Palsy, and Everything in Between

by Adiba Nelson
Blackstone Publishing (May 03, 2022)
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From pasties to postpartum and everything in between

No one said motherhood would be easy. For Adiba Nelson, the journey to parenthood started with a big bang and continues with a breakdown (or two) and several “why?” questions for God.

Witty and bold, Afro-Latina Adiba grew up in survival mode. Her sometimes complicated relationship with her strong-willed, vibrant, religious mother marked her views of mothering and love. When a chance encounter with a tall-ish, brown-skinned brotha at Ruby Tuesday’s right before closing time collided with a Jill Scott song and the right time of the month, Adiba found herself unexpectedly pregnant. She also found herself unexpectedly falling into the same relationship patterns of the matriarchs before her—the ones she swore she’d never end up in.

Mom to a new baby with high medical needs and a slew of hardships that just didn’t seem to quit, she set out on a reckoning that was just as generational as it was personal. Along the way, Adiba never loses her heart or her humor. This is a true love story, but the kind about a woman loving herself enough to change the course of her life for herself, her child, and the women after her as well as before. From pasties to postpartum depression, Ain’t That a Mother is not your average motherhood memoir—and Adiba is not your average mother.

The in-between moments and the self-revelations are where this bold and brilliant story of love, family secrets, and lots of "what the…?" really shines. Just like parenting, the story is messy, but the reward is incredibly satisfying.


Click for more detail about Promise Broken by K’wan Promise Broken

by K’wan
Blackstone Publishing (Mar 15, 2022)
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Beware of the company you keep.

K’wan’s urban fiction coming-of-age novel, Promise Broken, is set in the gritty streets of Newark, New Jersey. The story follows seventeen-year-old Promise Mohammed as she attempts to uphold friendships and new relationships—even if they lead to her demise.

After Promise’s mother dies in a tragic car accident, it leaves a void in Promise’s life that she is yearning to fill. This titular novel finds Promise spiraling into a life of crime and drug affiliation by the company she chooses to keep.

Also coping with abandonment and a lifelong broken commitment from her biological father, Promise ultimately has two goals: to graduate from high school and to be loved. But can she find the love that she seeks from her aunt Dell, two best friends, Mouse and Keys, or drug-dealer Asher—the man who captivates her—despite the fact that each relationship will lead to life-altering events? Only time will tell.