After a successful life in the drug game, twenty-one-year-old Kisa Kane plans to retire -- settle down, find a good man, and raise a family of her own. Done with the thug life, she has everything a ghetto girl would want: plenty of money, drop-dead-gorgeous looks, and two thriving legitimate businesses. Until she falls in love with Sincere Montega, a powerful drug dealer whose down-and-dirty money pulls Kisa back into the world she is trying so hard to leave behind. With lies, cheating, and conflict, Kai, their newborn, may be the only reason for this couple to stay together, but their lives are inevitably changed in the most unexpected way, the only way the streets of Harlem can.
Kennedy Sanchez is a 22-year-old |round the way girl| with a heart of gold. After partying in Las Vegas, Kennedy and her cousin Nina fly back home to New York. That night, Nina's kids call Kennedy to tell her that Nina's boyfriend is beating her. Kennedy rushes to help but it's too late - Nina dies in Kennedy's arms after making her promise to take care of her kids. Then Kennedy is offered a chance to become a rapper and leave the streets behind. But once she's in the music world, she realises that the scenery may have changed but the hustle is still the same.
A little girl is smuggled out of a Ghetto. Two courageous women. And an inspirational story of survival It is 1941, the height of World War II, and in a Polish ghetto, a baby girl named Rachel is born. Her parents, Jacob and Zippa, are willing to do anything to keep her alive. They nickname her Lalechka. Just before Lalechka's first birthday, the Nazis begin to murder everyone in the ghetto. Her mother discovers a hideaway in the attic where other Jews are hiding. The father, serving as Jewish policeman in the ghetto, understands that staying in the attic will mean a certain death for his wife and child. In a desperate but hope-filled move, Lalechka's parents decide to save their daughter no matter what the price. Jacob smuggle them outside the boundaries of the ghetto where Zippa meets Polish friends, Irena and Sophia. She gives her beloved Lalechka to them and returns to the ghetto to be with her husband and parents - unaware of the fate that awaits her. Irena and Sophia take on the burden of caring for Lalechka during the war, pretending that she is part of their family despite the danger of being discovered and executed. Lalechka is based on the unique journal written by the young mother during the annihilation of the ghetto, as well as on interviews with key figures in the story, rare documents and authentic letters.
Four young Black sisters come of age during the American Civil War in So Many Beginnings, a warm and powerful YA remix of the classic novel Little Women, by national bestselling author Bethany C. Morrow. North Carolina, 1863. As the American Civil War rages on, the Freedpeople's Colony of Roanoke Island is blossoming, a haven for the recently emancipated. Black people have begun building a community of their own, a refuge from the shadow of the "old life." It is where the March family has finally been able to safely put down roots with four young daughters: Meg, a teacher who longs to find love and start a family of her own. Jo, a writer whose words are too powerful to be contained. Beth, a talented seamstress searching for a higher purpose. Amy, a dancer eager to explore life outside her family's home. As the four March sisters come into their own as independent young women, they will face first love, health struggles, heartbreak, and new horizons. But they will face it all together. Praise for So Many Beginnings: A Little Women Remix "Morrow’s ability to take the lingering stain of slavery on American history and use it as a catalyst for unbreakable love and resilience is flawless. That she has remixed a canonical text to do so only further illuminates the need to critically question who holds the pen in telling our nation’s story." —Booklist, starred review "Bethany C. Morrow's prose is a sharpened blade in a practiced hand, cutting to the core of our nation's history. ... A devastatingly precise reimagining and a joyful celebration of sisterhood. A narrative about four young women who unreservedly deserve the world, and a balm for wounds to Black lives and liberty." —Tracy Deonn, New York Times-bestselling author of Legendborn "A tender and beautiful retelling that will make you fall in love with the foursome all over again." —Tiffany D. Jackson, New York Times-bestselling author of White Smoke and Grown
Hard Core Logo is an epistolary novel that portrays a punk rock band reunited for one last shot at glory. Adapting a scrapbook approach, consisting of monologues, conversations, letters, interviews, photographs, and related paraphernalia (including posters, invoices and contracts), Hard Core Logo tells the story of Joe Dick, an unrepentant, true-blue punk rocker, whose no-holds-barred approach to music was severely undermined by the breakup of his band, Hard Core Logo, done in by changing times and fortunes. However, when he and the band are asked by a longtime fan to reunited for an environmental benefit, his passions are once again stirred, and he convinces his band mates to turn the one-time reunion into an actual tour. The book provides a fascinating, warts-and-all glimpse into the life and times of a rock band, and the dichotomy between the grim realities of life on the road, and the rock-n-roll spirit that inspired them in the first place. Hard Core Logo was made into a feature film by director Bruce McDonald, debuting at the Cannes Film Festival in 1996 to rave reviews. Hard Core Logo has also been adapted for radio; a stage version will debut in Vancouver in 2010.
In this shocking novel of a young girl alone on the streets, Goines delves into yet another facet of the ghetto experience - the dark, despair-ridden world of a black girl's soul. Sandra took to the streets when she was eight years old and tried to fight off the pangs of hunger by shoplifting and then moving on to drug dealing. Then she met Chink and discovered love and affection...and rape and murder!
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown is a wholly original story of rage and revenge, of guilt and horror, and of love and loathing from bestselling and acclaimed author Holly Black. Tana lives in a world where walled cities called Coldtowns exist. In them, quarantined monsters and humans mingle in a decadently bloody mix of predator and prey. The only problem is, once you pass through Coldtown's gates, you can never leave. One morning, after a perfectly ordinary party, Tana wakes up surrounded by corpses. The only other survivors of this massacre are her exasperatingly endearing ex-boyfriend, infected and on the edge, and a mysterious boy burdened with a terrible secret. Shaken and determined, Tana enters a race against the clock to save the three of them the only way she knows how: by going straight to the wicked, opulent heart of Coldtown itself. The Coldest Girl in Coldtown is a wholly original story of rage and revenge, of guilt and horror, and of love and loathing from bestselling and acclaimed author Holly Black.
As China opens itself to the world and undertakes historic economic reforms, a little girl in the southern city of Guangzhou immerses herself in a world of fantasy and foreign influences while grappling with the mundane vagaries of Communist rule. She happily immigrates to Oakland, California, expecting her new life to be far better in all ways than life in China. Instead, she discovers crumbling schools, unsafe streets, and racist people. In the land of the free, she comes of age amid the dysfunction of a city's brokenness and learns to hate in the shadows of urban decay. This is the unforgettable story of her journey from China to an American ghetto and how she prevailed.
Based on a true life story: As if growing up in the hood wasn’t hard enough, as a biracial half White, half Black girl, LaMonica Powers has to also navigate finding her identity (whatever that means). She’s not accepted in the suburban White schools her mama carts her off to and she’s not fully accepted by the Black community either. Add in a heaping of undiagnosed ADHD, a cup of discipline dealt out “southern style,” throw in some seeds of God given talent and intellect - and you’ve got yourself a recipe for a pretty, hot, ghetto surprise. It would be a miracle if she didn’t fall prey to the statistical forces pulling at her from all sides. This coming of age tale is a cross between “A Hero Ain’t Nothin' But A Sandwich” and “A Child Called It.” If you love banned books then you’ll love this! Trigger warnings: Racial overtones acted out through politically incorrect speech, alcohol abuse, emotional abuse, child abuse, rape, and very mild profanity. Praise For Poor Little Mixed Girl VERY GOOD READ! ANTICIPATION WITH EVERY PAGE, FELT AS IF I WERE THERE...CAN'T WAIT TO READ THE NEXT BOOK WHEN IT'S RELEASED. ~BILLIE SHEFFIELD SO ENLIGHTENING ENJOYED EVERY MINUTE OF THIS BOOK! VERY ENLIGHTENING ON SO MANY LEVELS! THIS BOOK GAVE ME THE OPPORTUNITY TO WALK IN LA MONICA'S SHOES FOR A WHILE AND I FEEL I AM BETTER OFF BECAUSE OF IT. I THINK THIS IS DEFINITELY A MUST READ FOR EVERYBODY! LET'S KNOW BETTER SO WE CAN DO BETTER WITH OUR KIDS. GOD BLESS AND PROTECT ALL THE LA MONICA'S AND LORD OPEN OUR EYE'S TO SEE THEM AND HELP THEM. IN JESUS NAME! ~JENNIFER JO DANKERT WOW! AUTHOR LAMONIQUE MAC’S NEW MEMOIR IS SO REAL, SO COURAGEOUS, SO INSIGHTFUL, HER VOICE LITERALLY BECOMES THE READER’S INTERNAL VOICE AS PAGES ARE TURNED. THE READER IS LEFT WITH THE FEELING THIS IS THE REAL STUFF. HER REAL LIFE AS SHE HAS EXPERIENCED IT. LIFE AS AN ADOPTED CRACK BABY. A MUST FOR ANY WORKING WITH DISENFRANCHISED CHILDREN AND YOUTH. ~CAROL BRECKINRIDGE SUCH AN AMAZING STORY. YOU SEE MIXED RACES QUITE FREQUENTLY NOWADAYS, BUT DID YOU EVER WONDER WHAT LIFE WAS LIKE FOR THEM? THIS BOOK GIVES YOU INSIGHT ON HOW A BEAUTIFUL CHILD WAS TREATED FOR SOMETHING SHE HAD NO CONTROL OF.. HER RACE. THE AUTHOR GAVE GREAT DETAIL ABOUT HER LIFE AND IT'S SO EMOTIONAL YOU CAN’T HELP BUT TO FEEL COMPASSION. GREAT BOOK AND I CAN’T WAIT TO READ TO PART 2! ~SUELYNN VARGAS Excerpt from Poor Little Mixed Girl – Chapter 5. The Babysitter “Hey young man, is your name Randall?” “Yes ma’am.” “Well, I’m Ms. Demona. I’m helping Mrs. Powers out with LaMonica.” “Oh yes. I’m friends with LaMonica.” “Yes. That’s what I’m here to talk to you about. LaMonica doesn’t need any friends at this time. Especially not any friends that are boys. I’m working with Mrs. Powers to help get LaMonica under control. She comes from a rough background.“ “A rough background?” Randall asked. “Yes. She actually was one of those drug babies.” THE MIXED GIRL SERIES READING ORDER: Book 1: Poor Little Mixed Girl Book 2: Mixed Out (releasing April 7th 2021 & available for preorder) Book 3: Snakes in The Mix (releasing July 4th 2021 & available for preorder)
Barely eighteen, Kanika has everything to look forward to. She's fine, smart, and strong—qualities she inherited from a momma who made sure her little girl had every privilege—courtesy of Tony, one of Brooklyn's most powerful crime lords. Born to the life, Kanika knows the hustle from the inside out, but her future holds college and some quality time with Tony's second-in-command, Tyrell... Then Kanika's world explodes in a hail of bullets and blood when a hit takes down both the man who raised her and the mother she adores. Alone, shattered, and possibly a target herself, Kanika lets Tyrell convince her to attend college in Virginia and move in with her birth father. Down South has a whole other rhythm than Brooklyn, and the parent Kanika barely knows is a different kind of mobster than Tony was. Shon is angry and unpredictable... Determined as she is to make things work, Kanika is equally committed to finding out who killed Tony and her momma. She's not about to forget Tyrell. But nothing can prepare Kanika for what she's about to face: from temptation to danger to revelations that will call all her loyalties into question—and put her life on the line...
