African American Literature Fiction

In Mules and Men, some of the rich cultural heritage of black America is revealed and preserved. In the 1930s, Zora Neale Hurston returned to her home town of Eatonville, Florida, to collect and record the oral histories, songs, and sermons, many dating back to slavery times, that she remembered hearing as a child. These highly metaphorical folktales, "big old lies", and powerful songs helped her to recover her history, and preserve an important part of American culture.

A.J. Grayson has come a long way from adopted orphan to fast-rising executive at a cutting-edge technology firm. Now an anti-terrorist agency wants to use the revolutionary artificial intelligence system she developed to thwart a plot against Jafir's monarchy—and handsome, dynamic Damon Toca, the region's newly crowned king. In six short months, Damon has gone from gallery owner to controversial politician. When his cabinet hires A.J. Grayson—without his consent—he gets ready for a battle.

After taking us through the rugged, thug-filled lives of Jaz, Kyra, and Angel, Wahida now takes us into the drama-filled life of their best friend, Roz, aka Tasha. She is sexy, beautiful, and torn between her desires to distance herself from the streets and the magnetic attraction to the irresistible and thuggish Trae Macklin, who acknowledges that mature women are a turn-on. Women come and go for a thug who is more about his business over everything else, yet Trae surprisingly falls head over heels for his business partner's woman, Tasha.

Jasmine dreaded seeing pro football's hottest new star, Chris Hays, again after eight long years. Back in high school, he was the tall, blonde captain of the football team and had a reputation for sleeping his way through the cheerleading squad. Jasmine, on the other hand, was painfully shy, poor and lived on the "wrong side of the tracks". She knew there was never a chance he'd ever ask her out, but it never stopped her from dreaming.

Since they were five years old, Jasmine Cox Larson Bush and Kyla Blake had a bond that could not be broken. They shared secrets, marked milestones, and held each other up through life's adversities. It was a friendship they both thought would last forever. But when Jasmine's jealousy led her to seduce Kyla's husband, Dr. Jefferson Blake, that bond was severed, and their friendship was damaged forever.... Now, 20 years later, a major tragedy brings the two together when Jefferson, in New York for a medical convention, is shot in an attempted robbery.

Jaylin and Nokea Rogers have been married for almost four years. Jaylin has finally tamed his womanizing ways, and they're happily raising their children together. Things couldn't be more perfect, until an unforgettable kiss from Nokea's past has her wondering what could - or should - have been. The tender kiss was placed on her lips by Jaylin's best friend, Shane, and when Nokea is forced to spend a night alone with him, the unthinkable happens.

Ricky Rice is a middling hustler with a lingering junk habit, a bum knee, and a haunted mind. A survivor of a suicide cult, he scrapes by as a porter at a bus depot in Utica, New York, until one day a mysterious letter arrives, summoning him to enlist in a band of paranormal investigators comprised of former addicts and petty criminals, all of whom had at some point in their wasted lives heard what may have been the voice of God.

Wherever your home is, it’s probably not as tough as Gary, Indiana. Gary has been called a lot of things. The Armpit of Chicago. The Land of Robbing Hoods. Hell. For the children of Gary, living often boils down to surviving. Maybe these kids get caught up in games of gin rummy. Maybe they spin tops as a way to scratch something fun out of their desperation. Maybe they stand by helplessly as their tenement buildings go up in flames. Or maybe they get held up at gunpoint by somebody who wants more money than he could steal from his church collection box.

Growing up in an affluent suburb of New York City, 16-year-old Nevaeh Levitz never thought much about her biracial roots. When her Black mom and Jewish dad split up, she relocates to her mom's family home in Harlem and is forced to confront her identity for the first time. Nevaeh wants to get to know her extended family, but because she inadvertently passes as white, her cousin thinks she's too privileged, pampered, and selfish to relate to the injustices African Americans face on a daily basis.

On the surface, Corinne Thomas has the world at her fingertips. Adventurous by nature, her daring persona allows her the freedom to take risks and live her life, at times, in complete anonymity. But there is something that lingers deep down that, if brought to light, could stir the masquerade Corinne's built for herself. For the past few weeks, exchanges with a certain someone wreaks havoc on her ability to maintain a solid pretense.

Bruce was threatening to expose a big secret of the Yoshida family—he wasn't Lee's biological father. Aside from Lee's CEO title on the line, the real hurt was the identity of his real father. That was about to shake the entire family upside down. Also, Lee has been keeping certain details about himself from Constance. Eventually, he'll have to come clean which terrifies him that he could scare her off for good.

Gutted, I was the day you left my side, but I understood it was no one's fault but mine. I pushed you away, wearing my pain on my sleeve while pursuing a passion that stemmed from that very pain. In the end, you decided to choose yourself, and I could never fault you for that. But it hurt, and still does 'til this day.

A weekend spent antiquing is shadowed by the colonial atrocities that occurred on that land. A walk at dusk is interrupted by casual racism. A loving marriage is riven by mysterious tensions. And a remarkable cascade of voices speaks out from a pulsing metropolis. We’re invited to experience these events and others through the eyes and ears of Tunde, a West African man working as a teacher of photography on a renowned New England campus.

The stories in Five-Carat Soul - none of them ever published before - spring from the place where identity, humanity, and history converge. They’re funny and poignant, insightful and unpredictable, imaginative and authentic - all told with McBride’s unrivaled storytelling skill and meticulous eye for character and detail. McBride explores the ways we learn from the world and the people around us. An antiques dealer discovers that a legendary toy commissioned by Civil War General Robert E. Lee now sits in the home of a black minister in Queens.

At the age of 12, Sophie Caco is sent from her impoverished village of Croix-des-Rosets to New York, to be reunited with a mother she barely remembers. There she discovers secrets that no child should ever know and a legacy of shame that can be healed only when she returns to Haiti - to the women who first reared her. What ensues is a passionate journey through a landscape charged with the supernatural and scarred by political violence in a novel that bears witness to the traditions, suffering, and wisdom of an entire people.

Zora Neale Hurston is best remembered today for her work as a novelist, but she was also an accomplished dramatist, short story writer, and folklorist. That range of interests and styles is on full display in this collection.

When Lena Johnson’s beloved grandmother dies, and the full extent of the family debt is revealed, the Black millennial drops out of college to support her family and takes a job in the mysterious and remote town of Lakewood, Michigan. On paper, her new job is too good to be true. High paying. No out of pocket medical expenses. A free place to live. All Lena has to do is participate in a secret program - and lie to her friends and family about the research being done in Lakewood.

Asim Nour is the type of man who appreciates life and all that it has to offer. He’s been in the streets for years and is now realizing the benefit of building his legal status as well. Both worlds keep him busy and his pockets full. As much as he appreciates his status, the women appreciate it more. Kyori Spencer is the type of woman who takes full advantage of all life has to offer. Even if it’s not by way of her own bank account. It just so happens that the man she committed herself to, has loosely committed himself to several other women. When is enough, enough?

Harley is a young queer black man struggling to find his way in nineties Britain. Returning home, having just dropped out of college, he is racked by feelings of failure and inadequacy. Standing in the woods one day, on the verge of doing something drastic and irreversible, Harley is held back by a stranger: a tall, husky guy who emerges from the bushes holding a pair of binoculars.

You ever wonder what events led up to an individual’s inability to trust in love? Rayna Brimm survives a series of betrayals and loss, only to forge ahead into self-preservation. After receiving her degree, she finds herself in California and tries to build a self-contained life. Enter Azmir Jacobs. A tall, dark, handsome, and very wealthy man, whose street credibility and executive power in the corporate world has beautiful women at his beck and call. However, only one woman has caught his eye: the resilient Rayna Brimm, who turns out to be more than he bargained for.