“My work is to give you what I know of my own particular path while allowing you to walk your own.”
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Underground has a simple narrative that follows a group of enslaved people as they travel the Underground Railroad. Written for children in early elementary and younger, Evans moves us one page at a time through the struggle of escaping a plantation.
Read MoreIn 2017, Hannah Ali published The Story of Us with Market Fifty Four, which launched in October of that year. She will be the first contemporary writer to be translated and published in Somali, her native language. The Story of Us is a collection of 4 short stories about womanhood from a Somali perspective.
Read MoreWritten by C.C. Lyons, Alpha Females Unleashed: From the Boardroom to the Bedroom takes a look at how strong women, known as Alphas, tend to take charge and what that might mean for life and future happiness. She presented a wide range of ideas, but all coming back to the notion that knowing the ins and outs of an Alpha Female can help both men and women be their best selves for their partners, coworkers, and families.
Read MoreSo You Want To Talk About Race is a hybrid memoir and guidebook for discussing some of the toughest topics here in the U.S. Oluo uses her history and background to insert common racial topics onto her life, showing how the missteps of the majority population create a challenging world for people with Brown skin. Written to and for non-People of Color, So You Want To Talk About Race cuts to the heart of why this subject is so difficult.
Read MoreIn 1927, Zora Neale Hurston traveled to Africatown, a small settlement in Georgia, to document the first-hand account of a man named Cudjo Lewis. Barracoon is the culmination of interviews Hurston collected over multiple trips about Lewis' life, including his capture, enslavement, and eventual release.
Read MoreAn American Marriage is a hard book to ignore. That shiny "Oprah's Book Club" sticker pulls you in, just long enough to read the dust jacket. It must be good, right? Knowing very little about Tayari Jones before her book blew up, I'm grateful that her beautiful writing is being celebrated.
Read MoreIn 2011, Micheaux-Nelson published the young adult, historical fiction novel, No Crystal Stair: A Documentary Novel of the Life and Work of Lewis Michaux, Harlem Bookseller. But she wasn't done there. She wanted to be able to share this story with a younger audience, so in 2015, she published The Book Itch.
Read MoreI was excited about this book the moment I heard about it. I don't gravitate to poetry but I like to branch out and plus- this book has Beyonce in the title. It HAS to be good. With all the accolades, I expected this collection to be show stopping. But that wasn't the case for me.
Read MoreI got to know her work through her 2015 publication, Bad Feminist. From there I have followed her book tours, writing engagements, and social media. While her writing has always been a reflection of her life, Hunger gets even more personal.
Read MoreWords With Wings is a collection of poems as told in a first-person story. It's a pretty cool concept where every page is a poem but progresses the story of Gabby the daydreamer. When she thinks of a word, it has the power to fill her mind with images of her past. According to all the adults in her life, she has trouble focusing. Her daydreaming doesn't get any better once her parents split and she has to adjust to life at a new school. All she has is her daydreaming but has that finally gotten in the way of navigating her reality?
Read MoreRest in Power: The Enduring Life of Trayvon Martin a joint memoir by Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin. It recounts the night of Trayvon's murder by a local neighborhood watch captain and into the murder trial that follows. The book is separated in sections devoted to each parent's perspective. One at a time, they remember their son and the events that took him away.
Read MoreWhen I think of Hughes, I think of his short form works like "The Negro Speaks of Rivers," standing alone in it's water theme. But, did you know that he has an entire collection of poems dedicated to the love of the water?
Read MoreNtozake Shange is a poet whose name may feel funny in your mouth and who's face you may not recognize. Have no doubt that she is a very influential woman. She is best known for her award-winning choreopoem, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow is Enuf, which was later turned into a movie of the same name.
Read MoreHe calls himself "your personal astrophysics" and he is one fly guy. Neil deGrasse Tyson has been in the public eye for a number of years but most recently he was the guy who demoted Pluto. His latest book is Astrophysics for People in a Hurry, and I chose to experience it on audiobook.
Read MoreCourage is Contagious: And Other Reasons to be Grateful for Michelle Obama is a collection of essays praising the life and style of the first lady. The contributors are a diverse group of individuals: chefs, actors, activists, designers, writers, comedians, and even school children.
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