Showing results by narrator "Adenrele Ojo" in All Categories

A debut of extraordinary distinction: through the trials of one unforgettable family, Ayana Mathis tells the story of the children of the Great Migration, a story of love and bitterness and the promise of a new America. In 1923, 15-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.

What does it mean to call a place home? Who is allowed to become a member of a community? When can we say that we truly belong? These are some of the questions of place and belonging that renowned cultural critic Bell Hooks examines in Belonging: A Culture of Place. Traversing past and present, Belonging charts a cyclical journey in which Hooks moves from place to place, only to end where she began—her old Kentucky home.

Mississippi plantation mistress Amanda Satterfield loses her daughter to cholera after her husband refuses to treat her for what he considers to be a “slave disease.” Insane with grief, Amanda takes a newborn slave child as her own and names her Granada, much to the outrage of her husband and the amusement of their white neighbors. Troubled by his wife’s disturbing mental state and concerned about a mysterious plague sweeping through his slave population, Master Satterfield purchases Polly Shine, a slave reputed to be a healer.

Odder spends her days off the coast of central California, practicing her underwater acrobatics and spinning the quirky stories for which she’s known. She’s a fearless daredevil, curious to a fault. But when Odder comes face-to-face with a hungry great white shark, her life takes a dramatic turn, one that will challenge everything she believes about herself—and about the humans who hope to save her.

DJ and Gina are TOTALLY ordinary kids. But Hilo isn't! ALERT! ALERT! ALERT! Has our favorite space boy finally met his match? Not if D.J. and Gina can help it! Mega Robot Monsters are suddenly waking up all over and they're TOO BIG and TOO STRONG for Hilo to fight on his own!

Evelyn is a Creole woman who comes of age in New Orleans at the height of World War II. Her family inhabits the upper echelon of black society, and when she falls for no-name Renard, she is forced to choose between her life of privilege and the man she loves. In 1982, Evelyn's daughter Jackie is a frazzled single mother grappling with her absent husband's drug addiction. Just as she comes to terms with his abandoning the family, he returns, ready to resume their old life.

A long time ago, I helped her. Little tips about what to wear, how to leave a man wanting more, ways to be sexy without being too obvious. The guy she'd wanted was wrong for her, though. Still, she'd wanted him anyway and ended up with a broken heart. But she wasn't the only one, because even after I'd made my own intentions known, she walked away. Now, she's back in town. Still beautiful, still intelligent, still funny, and ready to start over after a bad breakup from someone who never deserved her in the first place.

Salo’s queen has finally accepted his desire to be a mystic despite taboos concerning men’s use of magic. But her acceptance is not support; it is strategy. Under a disguise of the queen’s making, Salo enters Jungle City as a pilgrim to the Red Temple, only to find a magical barrier barring his entrance. Left at the mercy of the warring political factions that run the city, Salo faces a series of obstacles wrought by an unseen hand, knowing he cannot return home without completing his pilgrimage. But Isa, King of the Saire clan, has her own plans for Salo.

All Devyn wants - besides a tall, fine husband and eventually a few babies to fulfill her "about to turn thirty, running out of time, cute black family" dreams - is to finish her yearlong internship at University Hospital. She's excited about the experience, eager to learn, glad to help wherever she can...it should be easy, right? Well, it would be...if it weren't for arrogant, know-it-all, always-got-something-to-say Dr. Joseph Wright. Devyn can't stand him, and if his attitude is any indication, the feeling is mutual...or is it?

Savvy Sheldon spends a lot of time tiptoeing around the cracks in her life: her high-stress and low-thanks job, her clueless boyfriend and the falling-apart kitchen she inherited from her beloved grandma—who taught her how to cook and how to love people by feeding them. But when Savvy’s world starts to crash down around her, she knows it’s time for some renovations.

Chastity Jeffries and Xavier King come from very different backgrounds, though they have one thing in common: they’re both living with family secrets. Chastity is the only child of a prominent pastor and has been raised with privilege, but her father’s testimony as a philanderer and her mom’s role as dutiful wife have tainted her view of love. Xavier never knew his father, and his mother abandoned him. His grandmother raised him in a household built on cruelty and violence instead of love and acceptance, instilling in him a fear of abandonment and an enormous sense of insecurity.

Kendrick Lamar is at the top of his game. The 13-time Grammy Award­-winning rapper is just in his early 30s, but he’s already won the Pulitzer Prize for Music, produced and curated the soundtrack of the megahit film Black Panther, and has been named one of Time’s 100 Influential People. But what’s even more striking about the Compton-born lyricist and performer is how he’s established himself as a formidable adversary of oppression and force for change.

A magical collection of 17 original stories by an amazing list of contributors—including a Dune story by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson!

For a place that just won an award for Best Small Town, Peachtree Cove sure has a big rumor mill. And Tracey Thompson is tired of being at the center of it. She’s worked hard to make her bed-and-breakfast a success—only to have her soon-to-be ex’s very public affair with her business partner result in a shocking pregnancy…and the biggest scandal around.

Haitian Vodou is a fascinating spiritual tradition rich with ceremonies and magic, songs and prayers, dances and fellowship. Yet outside of Haiti, next to no one understands this joyous and profound way of life. In Haitian Vodou, Mambo Chita Tann explores the historical roots and contemporary practices of this unique tradition.

The sky is not the limit. From an alley in New York to an interstellar wormhole, the path to the future looks different for everyone. These cosmic short stories from some of today’s most influential Black authors reveal a universe of possibilities.

Quirky Holly Jackson was unlucky in love, yet her romantic heart refused to give up her search for companionship—even after her fiancé left her at the altar on Christmas Eve. Grumpy restaurant owner Kai Kane wanted nothing to do with love. Unfortunately for him, when an eccentric Holly kept entering his restaurant nightly with a different first date, his annoyance grew. When Kai volunteered to help Holly find a suitor, it was for one reason only: to get her out of his restaurant and on to a second date with someone at a different location.

Valiant Jackson always gets what he wants - and he's wanted Mae for years. The door finally opens for him when Mae strikes a bargain: seduce her virginal young cousin, Cecily, who is engaged to Frank Washington. Frank values her innocence above all else. If successful, Val's reward will be a night with Mae. But Val secretly seeks another prize. Elizabeth Townsend is fiercely loyal to her church and her civil rights attorney husband. Little does she know that her worst mistake will be Val's greatest triumph.

Ida B. Wells is an American icon of truth telling. Born to slaves, she was a pioneer of investigative journalism, a crusader against lynching, and a tireless advocate for suffrage, both for women and for African Americans. She cofounded the NAACP, started the Alpha Suffrage Club in Chicago, and was a leader in the early civil rights movement. This engaging memoir relates Wells’ private life as a mother as well as her public activities as a teacher, lecturer, and journalist in her fight for equality and justice.

Every hero has a beginning. So does every villain. Titan, the world’s greatest superhero, has been murdered by his longtime archenemy Lord Borealis. And from the ashes rises a new generation. Gifted with powers on the night of Titan’s death, 15-year-old Hugo awakes to the strange world of superheroes. A world he isn’t prepared for. But with godlike powers and a history of tragedy, will Hugo become a guardian of justice...or agent of chaos?