African American Families

It was August 25, 2006, my first on-camera studio open for the CBS News broadcast 60 Minutes. Executive Producer Jeff Fager poked his head in the dressing room." Good luck, Brotha! You've come a long way to get here. You've earned it." …If only he knew. My mind flashed back to elementary...

In this tender coming-of-age novel set in the socioeconomic tinderbox of the 1960s, two sisters in a struggling and damaged family only have each other to rely on . . . until an ugly secret tears them apart and threatens the cause of justice in their small town. Fifteen-year-old Pip and...

Momma's Baby Daddy's Maybe is an Essence best seller by popular author Jamise L. Dames. This steamy tale revolves around the lives of the three Jacobs siblings: wild Kennedy, corporate Simone, and handsome Derrick.

All of Chenille Abrams' dreams came true the day she married NFL star Brayden Carpenter. He's the down-to-earth, loving, and protective man she never thought she'd find. And with her own successful career, Chenille plans to be more than just a famous athlete's wife. She's determined to balance work, marriage, and motherhood, as the couple awaits their first child.... Until their son is born with a crippling heart ailment. Until a devastated Brayden starts putting his career above everything else. And when tragedy strikes, Chenille struggles to find a reason to go on....

Four preteens receive mysterious enamel pins that grant them superpowers. Together, they must put aside their differences and embark on an epic journey to find the mysterious pinmaker, discover the truth behind the new theme park, and of course, trade pins—all while learning how to navigate...

Still reeling from her husband’s untimely death, Deborah Robinson needs a fresh start. So she decides to pack up her family and return to her grandmother’s ancestral home on Cavanaugh Island. The charming town of Sanctuary Cove holds happy memories for Deborah, and, after she spies a gorgeous stranger in the local bakery, it promises the possibility for a bright future. Dr. Asa Monroe is at a crossroads. Ever since the loss of his family, he has been traveling from one town to another. When he meets Deborah, the beautiful bookstore owner with the sunny smile, Asa believes he has finally found a reason to stay in one place.

Nothing can mend a broken heart quite like family. Sherry has struggled all her life to understand who she is, where she comes from, and, most important, why her mother slapped her cheek one summer afternoon. The incident has haunted Sherry, and it causes her to dig into her family's past. Like many family histories, it is fractured and stubbornly reluctant to reveal its secrets. But Sherry is determined to know the full story. In a few days' time, her extended family will gather for a reunion, and Sherry sets off across the country with her mother, Dumpling, to join them.

Critically acclaimed, for readers of Paul Beatty's The Sellout and Jennifer Egan's The Candy House, a moving and darkly funny novel about an attempt to found an underground Utopia. An abandoned restaurant on a hill off the highway in Western Massachusetts doesn't look like much. But to Rio, a...

A 1960s teen pop group determined to conquer the music world must contend with the cost of fame—and a ghost with a grisly past—in this riveting family story from the New York Times bestselling author of The Black Kids. “My favorite kind of read: epic and immersive, riding the line between...

Roux is a novel that brims with family, secrets, and love. Award-winning author Tamika Christy writes about the devastation of loss, the difficulty of relationships, and the family ties that bond. Written in the vein of Steel Magnolias, the story takes us into the lives of African American families with their unique hardships, triumphs in relationships, culture, and values. It is relatable, comforting, and challenging.

When Bonnie and Mansour meet in New York in 1968―his piercing gaze in a downtown jazz club threatening to carry her away―their connection is undeniable. Both from fractured homes, with childhoods spent crossing the Atlantic, they quickly find peace with each other. And as Mansour's soaring...

“Tolani Akinola is a gifted, powerful new voice in American fiction.”—Rachel Khong, New York Times bestselling author of Real Americans "A warm, smart, hilarious, delicious, riveting" (Curtis Sittenfeld) debut about the uncomfortable, unbreakable ties of family as four adult siblings come...

Ameerah Vincent rose from the unforgiving streets of Brooklyn’s projects to become one of the most powerful real estate moguls in the world. With an empire that caters to the ultra-wealthy, a luxury lifestyle that includes her own private island, and a passionate love affair with the dashing Xavier Coleman, Ameerah has it all.

“At once narrative history, family chronicle and personal memoir… [a] luminous work of investigation and introspection.” -Wall Street Journal National Humanities Medal recipient and two-time recipient of the Pulitzer Prize David Levering Lewis’s own family history that shifts our...

The story carries a profound message about embracing unexpected events with a positive attitude. Lysis's brother is inspired by Nana's resilience and aspires to emulate her ability to find happiness even in challenging situations. With the story lingering in their hearts, the children snuggle up in their cozy blankets, cherishing the lessons of laughter and optimism.

A trio of women bond in friendship as a neighborhood tries to seek justice from a system that has forgotten them. “The Shape of Dreams is a powerful prayer, a novel that indicts the injustice for which there is no quick solution. . . . [It is] a song of furor and tenderness that will leave its...

"A high-stakes fantasy that’s impossible to put down... the dangerous romance between Emma and Malcolm kept me on the edge of my seat. Don’t miss this beautiful, powerful debut." - Kristen Ciccarelli, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Heartless Hunter A thrilling and romantic debut...

Coleman Hill is the exhilarating story of two American families whose fates become intertwined in the wake of the Great Migration. Braiding fact and fiction, it is a remarkable, character-rich tour de force exploring the ties that bind three generations. In 1916, Celia Coleman and Lucy Grimes...

Past and present collide in this posthumous, semiautobiographical masterpiece by the author of Beetlecreek. In the present day, a Black American expat to Rome named D. reconnects with his former Army friend, Tillman, and their former commanding officer, Joe Stabat, to organize a gospel summit...

She's smart, gorgeous, and mysterious. For business executive Nathan Carver, a man with everything, Jessica Bolton is the first woman he can't simply charm, buy, or seduce. And even before Jessica gets a taste of his luxurious lifestyle and irresistible moves, she's determined to eliminate the competition and become this handsome bachelor's one and only. But Jessica's deceptive allure is just the beginning.