12 Books Published by Orion Publishing Group on AALBC — Book Cover Collage

This short story is a parable for 8-11-year-old, African American, Native American, Spanish American, and Puerto Rican children. And, it has a coming-of-age theme in that it presents a fairy godmother-type figure who protects two pre-teen siblings from their cruel stepfather who forces them into dangerous nighttime adventures wherein they learn many lessons. Hence, this story is like the treasured fable, Hansel and Gretel.

From the WINNER OF THE FORWARD PRIZE FOR BEST COLLECTION 2014, a ’humorous, bittersweet fiction, combin[ing] the fantastical realism of Marquez with the domestic comedy of Andrea Levy’ INDEPENDENT

It all begins with the theft of Tessa Walcott’s panties…

After the hurricane of 1974, Jamaica is devastated. Imelda Richardson is sent to England, without a place to stay or a plan of what to do. Luckily sheis taken in by Purletta Johnson, a member of the ex-pat bourgeoisie who has decided to become more Jamaican than any Jamaican: sucking her teeth, sporting a gold tooth, and growing ganja on her balcony.

But when her mother dies Imelda returns to Jamaica. When Tessa Walcott’s panties are stolen, she and Imelda set up a Neighbourhood Watch. But they haven’t counted on Pastor Braithwaite who denounces them in Church. The church-goers turn on Imelda, and when the river suddenly floods her home it is seen as a punishment from God. A Pentecostal fervour sweeps through the village of Watersgate, fuelled by Evangelist Millie. In her last great crusade, Miss Millie organises ’fire to burn their sins away’, equipping the villagers with kerosene as they set about burning everything. Now they are marching on the gay man’s house and only Imelda can save him.

When a woman acts assertively, makes demands, and struggles for what she wants, she is labeled a bitch. The secret is to know when and how to turn on (or turn off) that bitch switch. Not being able to locate your switch leaves you open to being a victim; not knowing how to turn it off will get you a label that is hard to shake.

From Omarosa, reality star, global television personality, and the prime-time woman you love to hate, comes The Bitch Switch, the smart and bitingly honest must-read for every woman who aspires to succeed in relationships, in business, and at home.

A group of angry and ill-assorted people accept an invitation to make a journey. Inspired by a painting and financed by a mysterious benefactor, they set off to discover the real Arcadia. Or what remains of it. Their journey begins in ignorance and chaos at Waterloo station and takes them through superstition and myth to harmony. In the Louvre, in front of Poussin’s masterpiece, they begin to understand. ’In Arcadia takes that staple Shakespearean theme of appearance versus reality and uses it to explore the notion of paradise’ Scotsman

Nega Mezlekia is a new and exciting talent. His first novel is both magical and lyrical, set in a timeless vision of Africa, it is steeped in folklore and mythology. The ethnic, religious and class struggles of pre-colonial Africa form a vivid backdrop to a story of forbidden love between a slave and his mistress.

This epic poem is intended as a celebration of humanity’s achievements at the end of this millennium, and a rallying cry for the next. Strongly political, the poem touches on issues of racism, intolerance, and environmental destruction, amongst others.

With the simplicity and innocence of Narayan or Seth, he tells the story of a young man, Omovo, an office-worker and artist who lives at home with his father and his father’s second wife. In the communal world of the compound in which he lives, Omovo has many friends and some enemies, but most important of all there is Ifeyiwa, a beautiful young married woman whom he loves with an almost hopeless passion - not because she doesn’t return his love, but because they can never be together. Ben Okri builds a vivid picture of Nigerian life: of the compound with its complete lack of privacy, the gossip, the good times, the street life, the complex nature of family relationships and the kindness and treachery of friends. Overshadowing everything, is the image of a nation struggling to come to terms with the atrocity of the recent civil war, the echoes of which presage the story’s tragic

This is a story for all ages, set in a time and place best known to lovers of fairytales and myths. It is a modern fable, a way of understanding who we are now and how our search for identity affects our perceptions and actions, shot through with the gentle magic of Ben Okri’s imaginative prose. ’Astonishing the Gods is properly worked and exact, and fulfils Calvino’s prescription for lightness - being like a bird rather than a feather’ New Statesman & Society

Azaro is a spirit child. He made a pact with his spirit companions that when he was born he would die at the first opportunity and rejoin them. But after his birth, Azaro broke his pact. His spirit companions have so far sent five spirits to reclaim him, who have failed. Two more are sent and are the most dangerous of all. In one sense Infinite Riches picks up where Songs of Enchantment left off. Azaro’s father has been implicated in the murder of a neighbour and Infinite Riches begins with his arrest and imprisonment. At the same time it introduces a new and enlightening aspect to the story of Nigeria. The writing is rich with allegorical illusion and vivid with magical imagery. This is Ben Okri at his inspiring best.

In this inspirational volume, the Booker Prize-winning author of THE FAMISHED ROAD makes essays into an art form. The ten pieces in this beautifully crafted collection range from the personal to the analytical, including a meditation on the role of the poet, a study of Picasso’s Minotaur, a paean to human freedom in honour of Salman Rushdie, and an appraisal of fellow-Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe. Lyrical, imaginative and provocative, A Way Of Being Free confirms Ben Okri’s status as one of the most inspiring of contempory writers.

This text contains two inspirational essays from the author of "The Famished Road", on the meaning of language and its power to shape our lives. The work presents an alternative spiritual response to the problems of the present day.

Raphael de Baptiste, a strong-willed, light-skinned Black woman, leaves her Detroit home and moves to Canada, where she marries a Chippewa Indian and raises three daughters who experience discrimination and assimilation when they move out into the world.