|
|
Black Stories and Voices February 2025 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store
by James McBride
When a skeleton is unearthed in the small, close-knit community of Chicken Hill, Pennsylvania, in 1972, an unforgettable cast of characters—living on the margins of white, Christian America—closely guard a secret, especially when the truth is revealed about what happened and the part the town's white establishment played in it.
|
|
|
|
All the sinners bleed
by S. A. Cosby
Former FBI agent Titus Crown returns to his hometown and decides to run for sheriff to fight a bigoted police force and must trust his instincts when a serial killer appears to be hiding in plain sight. 250,000 first printing.
|
|
|
|
Lovely one
by Ketanji Brown Jackson
In this unflinching account, the first Black woman to ever be appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court pulls back the curtain to marry the public record of her life with what is less known, chronicling her extraordinary path to become a jurist on America's highest court.
|
|
|
|
Above ground
by Clint Smith
"The number one New York Times bestselling author, intellectual, and spoken word poet Clint Smith gives his devoted readers a collection of poetry straight from the heart. It is a meditation on the country he studies through the lens of all he has learned from fatherhood. The poems are manifestations of Smith's wisdom and latest observations, starting with the precarious birth of his son, to the current political and social state of the country, to childhood memories, and back again. Smith traverses the periods of his life from four different cities and the process pf realizing what it means to build a life that orbits around his family. Amid all of it, he has watched as the country has been forced to confront the ugliest manifestations of itself, and has thought about what it means to raise children amid the backdrop of political tumult. Smith is a poet who uses the form to interrogate his own autobiography and the state of the country today, affording those who prefer reading poetry a shot of news, andthose who normally seek out nonfiction, some lyrical beauty"
|
|
|
|
The other black girl
by Zakiya Dalila Harris
Tired of being the only Black employee at Wagner Books, 26-year-old editorial assistant Nella Rogers is thrilled when Harlem-born and bred Hazel is hired until she after a string uncomfortable events, is elevated to Office Darling, leaving Nella in the dust.
|
|
|
|
In pursuit of flavor
by Edna Lewis
Provides recipes for Southern style staples, explains how to prepare local Virginia produce, and describes how to preserve items as they go out of season
|
|
|
|
Shine bright : a very personal history of black women in pop
by Danyel Smith
From a noted cultural critic comes a combination of memoir, criticism, and biography that tells the story of black women in music—from the Dixie Cups to Gladys Knight to Janet Jackson, Whitney Houston, and Mariah Carey—as the foundational story of American pop. Illustrations.
|
|
|
|
One of us knows
by Alyssa Cole
A resident caretaker of a historic home, Kenetria, diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder, finds their newfound life disrupted by a group of strangers, including the man who destroyed her life, and when he turns up dead, they must prove their innocence or risk losing their future—and their life. Original.
|
|
|
|
John Lewis
by David Greenberg
Based on interviews and previously unreleased FBI files, a professor of history at Rutgers University presents the definitive biography of John Lewis's journey from rural Alabama poverty to becoming a pivotal Civil Rights leader and "conscience of Congress. Illustrations.
|
|
|
|
This is the honey
by Kwame Alexander
Exploring joy, love, origin, race, resistance and praise, this beautiful poetry anthology, featuring works from the most prominent and promising Black poets and writers of our time, is filled with poignant and delightful imagery, music and raised fists.
|
|
|
|
The survivors of the Clotilda
by Hannah Durkin
Chronicles the history of the Clotilda, the last slave ship to land on U.S. soil, told through the stories of its survivors—the last documented survivors of any slave ship—whose lives diverged and intersected in profound ways. Illustrations. Maps.
|
|
|
|
The prophets
by Robert Jones
Two enslaved young men on a Deep South plantation find refuge in each other while transforming a quiet shed into a haven for their fellow slaves, before an enslaved preacher declares their bond sinful. A first novel.
|
|
|
|
Everything and nothing at once
by Joel L. Daniels
In this collection of wide-ranging essays, the performer and storyteller recalls his upbringing in the Bronx to raising two little girls of his own, while deconstructing what it means to be a Black man in America. 100,000 first printing.
|
|
|
|
Meals, music, and muses
by Alexander Smalls
The acclaimed James Beard award-winning restaurateur, while sharing anecdotes from his childhood in the Low Country, and examinations of Southern musical tradition, presents classic African American dishes that originated in the South, Illustrations.
|
|
|
|
Family meal
by Bryan Washington
Haunted by the ghost of Kai, the love of his life, Cam returns to his hometown of Houston where he reconnects with his former best friend, TJ, and his family's bakery and wonders if they can find a way back to being okay again.
|
|
|
|
Blackbirds singing
by Janet Dewart Bell
This collection of speeches by African American women from the nineteenth century until today features contributions from such trailblazers as Harriet Tubman, Barbara Lee, Josephine Baker and Barbara Jordan.
|
|
|
|
The love songs of W.E.B. Du Bois
by Honorâee Fanonne Jeffers
To come to terms with who she is and what she wants, Ailey, the daughter of an accomplished doctor and a strict schoolteacher, embarks on a journey through her family's past, helping her embrace her full heritage, which is the story of the Black experience in itself. 75,000 first printing.
|
|
|
|
Top billin'
by Bill Bellamy
The MTV trailblazer, stand-up comedian and actor, in this original and outrageous tour through the eternally iconic world of‘90s pop culture, provides an all-access backstage pass to his career and life, showing how he broke color and class barriers during one of the most exciting and innovative periods. 100,000 first printing. Illustrations.
|
|
|
|
Crook manifesto : a novel
by Colson Whitehead
A furniture store owner and ex-grifter leaves the straight and narrow path when he needs Jackson 5 tickets for his daughter in 1971 Manhattan, in the new novel by the two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Nickel Boys. Simultaneous.
|
|
|
|
Everybody come alive
by Marcie Alvis-Walker
"Dazzling essays on faith, family and being a Black woman in America that explore what we do with the legacies we inherit, the faith that shapes our responses, and how we rebuild our stories for those who come after us--from the author of the popular blog Black Coffee with White Friends. On her blog, Marcie Alvis-Walker creates spaces for conversations about cultural norms, race, faith, and womanhood that encourage readers to unburden themselves from misconceptions they've inherited about the nature of God and their own identities. Now, in Everybody Come Alive, a deeply intimate and illuminating collection of lyrical essays written largely for a Black audience, Alvis-Walker invites readers into stories and personal histories from her own life. She tells candidly of her experience as a curious daughter raised under the watchful eye of the matriarchs who came before her. Readers are transported into stories of family, loyalty, and ambition; of assimilation, self-preservation, and risk; of creativity and the exercise of freedom. These essays reveal a journey of both inheritance and creation-a grappling of the things we are given, the things we must carry, and the ways we co-create life anew for ourselves and our communities. "Let us rejoice let us rejoice let us rejoice," Alvis-Walker writes. "On the bad days when no one speaks for us let us rejoice. On the long days when all seems to speak against us let us rejoice, and on the empty days when no one can see us let us rejoice let us rejoice let." Alvis-Walker's unforgettable writing challenges readers to hold the contradictions that become inevitable and essential to every moment we encounter-moments that ultimately comprise the whole of our lives"
|
|
|
|
Red at the bone
by Jacqueline Woodson
As Melody celebrates a coming of age ceremony at her grandparents' house in 2001 Brooklyn, her family remembers 1985, when Melody's own mother prepared for a similar party that never took place in this novel about different social classes. (general fiction). (This book was listed in a previous issue of Forecast.)
|
|
|
|
American spy
by Lauren Wilkinson
A Cold War FBI intelligence officer joins an undercover task force to seduce a revolutionary African Communist president she secretly admires and comes to love, in a story inspired by true events. A first novel.
|
|
|
|
Illustrated Black history
by George McCalman
Profiling 145 Black heroes, both famous and unsung, in politics, science, literature, music and more, this illuminating, informative, vibrant and timely compendium showcases the depth and breadth of Black genius. Illustrations.
|
|
|
|
This great hemisphere
by Mateo Askaripour
When authorities claim her brother, who was presumed dead, is alive?—?and the main suspect in the murder of the Chief Executive of Northwestern Hemisphere?—?Candace, a young invisible woman, must find him before it's too late in a world where no one and nothing is ever as it seems.
|
|
|
|
Becoming
by Michelle Obama
An intimate and uplifting memoir by the former First Lady chronicles the experiences that have shaped her remarkable life, from her childhood on the South Side of Chicago through her setbacks and achievements in the White House.
|
|
|
|
Black food
by Bryant Terry
A James Beard Award-winning chef, educator and author presents a joyful celebration of Black culture by interweaving food, experiences and community through poetry, essays and recipes including Crispy Cassava Skillet Cakes,, Meatballs with Egusi and Squash and Jerk Chicken Ramen.
|
|
|
|
Life and other love songs
by Anissa Gray
When her husband disappears on his 37th birthday, Deborah and her daughter, in the days, months and years to follow, look backward and forward as they piece together the life of the man they love, but whom they come to realize they might never have truly known.
|
|
|
|
The unsettled
by Ayana Mathis
In a multi-generational novel set in the 1980s in racially and politically turbulent Philadelphia and in the tiny town of Bonaparte, Alabama, a mother fights for her sanity and survival.
|
|
|
|
The personal librarian
by Marie Benedict
"In her twenties, Belle da Costa Greene is hired by J. Pierpont Morgan to curate a collection of rare manuscripts, books, and artwork for his newly built Morgan Library. Belle becomes a fixture on the New York society scene and one of the most powerful people in the art and book world, known for her impeccable taste and shrewd negotiating for critical works as she helps build a world-class collection. But Belle has a secret, one she must protect at all costs. She was born not Belle da Costa Greene but Belle Marion Greener. She is the daughter of Richard Greener, the first Black graduate of Harvard and well-known advocate for equality. Belle's complexion isn't dark because of her alleged Portuguese heritage that lets her pass as white--her complexion is dark because she is African American. The Personal Librarian tells the story of an extraordinary woman, famous for her intellect, style, and wit, and shares the lengths she must go--for the protection of her family and her legacy--to preserve her carefullycrafted white identity in the racist world in which she lives"
|
|
|
|
The mayor of Maxwell Street
by Avery Cunningham
In 1921 Chicago, Nelly Sawyer, the daughter of the“wealthiest Negro in America,” works undercover to identify the head of an underground crime syndicate with the help of Jay Shorey, the low-level manager of the city's swankiest speakeasy, who introduces her to a whole new world.
|
|
|
|
Homegoing
by Yaa Gyasi
Two half sisters, unknown to each other, are born into different villages in 18th-century Ghana and experience profoundly different lives and legacies throughout subsequent generations marked by wealth, slavery, war, coal mining, the Great Migration and the realities of 20th-century Harlem. Reprint.
|
|
|
|
Black lives, American love
by D. B. Maroon
"This personal biography of America, offered from the thoughtful viewpoint of a Black anthropologist, takes on some of the country's fiercest debates and most profound challenges with an unflinching style. Black Lives, American Love is a relentless truth-telling about our country's failures to its Black population-yet it is also a discussion on how we might all do more to secure America's still vastly beautiful possibilities of liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all rather than a few"
|
|
|
|
James
by Percival Everett
Describes the events of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn through the eyes of the enslaved Jim, who decides to hide on nearby Jackson Island after learning he is to be sold to a man in New Orleans.
|
|
|
|
South to America : a journey below the Mason-Dixon to understand the soul of a nation
by Imani Perry
This intricately woven tapestry of stories of immigrant communities, exploitative opportunists, enslaved peoples, unsung heroes and lived experiences shows the meaning of American is inextricably linked to the South—and understanding its history and culture is the key to understanding our nation as a whole. 150,000 first printing. Illustrations.
|
|
|
|
Cooking for the culture
by Toya Boudy
An intimate celebration of New Orleans food and its Black culture from a born-and-raised local chef
|
|
|
|
Long after we are gone
by Terah Shelton Harris
Told from alternating points of view from all four siblings, this emotional story about the power of family and letting go follows CeCe, Junior, Nance and Angeline, each fighting their own personal battles, as they return home to save their ancestral land—and themselves—after the death of their father.
|
|
|
|
The swans of Harlem
by Karen Valby
Steeped in the glamour and grit of professional ballet, this captivating account of five extraordinarily accomplished Black ballerinas, the Swans of Harlem, celebrates both their historic careers and their 50-year sisterhood, offering a window into the history of Black ballet, hidden for too long. Illustrations.
|
|
|
|
Deacon King Kong
by James McBride
In the aftermath of a 1969 Brooklyn church deacon's public shooting of a local drug dealer, the community's African-American and Latinx witnesses find unexpected support from each other when they are targeted by violent mobsters. Tour.
|
|
|
|
Jubilee
by Toni Tipton-Martin
Drawing from historical texts and rare African-American cookbooks, a collection of 125 recipes takes readers into the world of African-American cuisine made by enslaved master chefs, free caterers and black entrepreneurs and culinary stars that goes far beyond soul food. Illustrations.
|
|
|
|
This could be us
by Kennedy Ryan
When her life explodes in a cloud of betrayal and disillusion, Soledad Barnes, while working to support her daughters, rediscovers herself, but when a man she shouldn't want but can't resist enters the picture, she wonders if she can be brave enough to make room for what could be.
|
|
|
|
An American marriage
by Tayari Jones
When her new husband is arrested and imprisoned for a crime she knows he did not commit, a rising artist takes comfort in a longtime friendship only to encounter unexpected challenges in resuming her life when her husband's sentence is suddenly overturned. By the author of Silver Sparrow.
|
|
|
|
The message
by Ta-Nehisi Coates
The #1 New York Times best-selling author of Between the World and Me travels the world to explore how the stories we tell—and the ones we don't—shape our realities.
|
|
|
|
The ballad of Jacquotte Delahaye
by Briony Cameron
An indentured servant to the infamous Blackhand, a ruthless pirate captain, Jacquotte, as she struggles to survive his brutality, must rely on her wits, resourcefulness and friends when she discovers treachery at play, forcing her to decide what price she's willing to pay to secure a better future for them all.
|
|
|
|
Life's too short
by Darius Rucker
The three-time Grammy award-winning, Diamond-album-selling lead singer of Hootie & the Blowfish and country music star tells the story of his life through the music that made him and his own music with Hootie and as a solo artist, sharing stories of his road-hardened life that are raw, real, funny and deeply emotional. Illustrations.
|
|
|
|
Come and get it
by Kiley Reid
A senior resident assistant at the University of Arkansas accepts an easy yet unusual opportunity offered by a visiting professor and things get messy when her new side-hustle is jeopardized by strange new friends and illicit and vengeful dorm antics.
|
|
|
|
Medgar & Myrlie
by Joy-Ann Reid
Tracing the extraordinary lives and legacy of two civil rights icons, this gripping account of Medgar and Myrlie Evers is told through their relationship and the work that went into winning basic rights for black Americans, and the repercussions that still resonate today.
|
|
|
|
Take my hand
by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
In 1973 Montgomery, Alabama, Civil Townsend, a young black nurse working for the Montgomery Family Planning Clinic, grapples with her role when she takes two young girls into her heart and the unthinkable happens, and nothing will ever be the same for any of them.
|
|
|
|
Becoming Ella Fitzgerald
by Judith Tick
A landmark biography that reclaims Ella Fitzgerald as a major American artist and modernist innovator. Illustrations.
|
|
|
|
The vanishing half
by Brit Bennett
Separated by their embrace of different racial identities, two mixed-race identical twins reevaluate their choices as one raises a black daughter in their southern hometown while the other passes for white with a husband who is unaware of her heritage.
|
|
|
Pierce County Library System
3005 112th St. E, Tacoma, Washington 98446
253-548-3300mypcls.org |
|
|
|