Noteworthy New Books, Miss Chloe Reviewed, and More – June 28, 2022

[Troy]

National Book Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Ibram X. Kendi (How to Be an Antiracist, Antiracist Baby) returns with a new picture book that serves as a modern bedtime classic.   As children all over the world get ready for bed, the moon watches over them. The moon knows that when we sleep, we dream. And when we dream, we imagine what is possible and what the world can be.   With dynamic, imaginative art and poetic prose, Goodnight Racism delivers important messages about antiracism, justice, and equality in an easy-to-read format that empowers readers both big and small. Goodnight Racism gives children the language to dream of a better world and is the perfect book to add to their social justice toolkit. Buy Now ▶

AALBC Book Reviews

Miss Chloe: A Literary Friendship with Toni Morrison by A.J. Verdelle “Miss Chloe is an important book, dealing with the friendship of A. J. Verdelle and Toni Morrison. It's about the close bond between them as women, writers, and creative artists. …it's also a clinic about creative writing, publishing, and inspiration.” —Robert Fleming, AALBC Book Review and Author of Evil Never Sleeps   Verdelle describes Toni Morrison aka Chloe A. Wofford, the wise, reflective woman from the small town of Lorain, Ohio. She had been a faithful reader of Morrison’s complex, enlightening novels, notably The Bluest Eye and Beloved, so the inevitable meeting occurred at a church function in Boston. Her rendition of the meeting with the legendary author is priceless and the rest is history. More ▶

Noteworthy New Books

She Memes Well: Essays by Quinta Brunson From comedian Quinta Brunson (creator and star of Abbott Elementary) comes a deeply personal and funny collection of essays about trying to make it when you’re struggling, the importance of staying true to your roots, and how she’s redefined humor online.   Quinta Brunson is a master at breaking the internet. Before having any traditional background in media, her humorous videos were the first to go viral on Instagram’s platform. From there, Brunson’s wryly observant POV helped cement her status in the comedy world at large, with roles on HBO, Netflix, ABC, Adult Swim, BuzzFeed, the CW, and Comedy Central. Now, Brunson is bringing her comedic chops to the page in She Memes Well, an earnest, laugh-out-loud collection about this unusual road to notoriety. More ▶

Game: An Autobiography by Grant Hill Grant Hill always had game. His choice of college was a subject of national interest, and his arrival at Duke University cemented the program’s arrival at the top. In his freshman year, he led the team to its first NCAA championship and three championship appearances in four years. His Duke career produced some of the most iconic moments in college basketball history, and Coach K proved to be a lifelong mentor. Later, as one of the NBA’s best players and a new face of the Detroit Pistons franchise, Hill was the first person with the potential to give Michael Jordan a run for his money, not just as a player but as a brand. His $45 million rookie contract was almost the least of it. He turned down Nike for Fila, and soon Method Man and Tupac Shakur were wearing his shoes. More ▶

Under the Skin: The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives and on the Health of Our Nation by Linda Villarosa In 2018, Linda Villarosa’s New York Times Magazine article on maternal and infant mortality among black mothers and babies in America caused an awakening. Hundreds of studies had previously established a link between racial discrimination and the health of Black Americans, with little progress toward solutions. But Villarosa’s article exposing that a Black woman with a college education is as likely to die or nearly die in childbirth as a white woman with an eighth-grade education made racial disparities in health care impossible to ignore. Now, in Under the Skin, Linda Villarosa lays bare the forces in the American healthcare system and in American society that cause Black people to “live sicker and die quicker” compared to their white counterparts. More ▶

Carl Weber’s Kingpins: Brooklyn by Brandie Davis In the Eighties and Nineties, Wesley Evans, better known as Ruby, was Brooklyn’s wealthiest, longest-reigning kingpin. Accomplishing all it took to make history, including rubbing elbows with celebrities and expanding his businesses out of state, he avoided all the bounties put on his head and NYPD’s handcuffs.   Ruby set the bar in Brooklyn, and when he finally became a legit family man, he left behind rules that would ensure not only success but also humility, for the kings who would follow him. What happens when these rules are not followed… More ▶

Dele Weds Destiny by Tomi Obaro “Fast-paced, glamorous, and bursting with emotion…. The bonds between women—as friends, and across the generations—are the jewels that make this story shine.” —Tayari Jones, author of An American Marriage   The story of three once-inseparable college friends in Nigeria who reunite for the first time in thirty years at a lavish wedding in Lagos for one of their daughters—a sparkling debut novel about mothers and daughters, culture and class, sex and love, and the extraordinary resilience of female friendship. More ▶

Troy Johnson Appeared on Black Authors Matter TV

Black Authors Matter TV Black Authors Matter TV is a weekly, live-streamed program where authors, publishers, bookstore owners, book club facilitators, book marketers, and other movers and shakers in the African-American literature arena are interviewed. BAM TV is live-streamed every Tuesday on the National Black Book Festival's Facebook page from 7 to 9 pm CST.   On May 24, 2022, Troy Johnson, Brandon Massey, and Mary Monroe appeared on the Black Authors Matter TV podcast. Listen Now ▶

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