That was the reason I studied so hard in school, didn’t hang out with the popular kids, and didn’t rebel against my parents. When I turned 17 years old and became the Valedictorian of my class, I knew I was on the right track. I was ready to go to college and embark on my journey towards becoming a corporate lawyer. Never in a million years did I think that by the time I was eighteen years old, I would be pushing out a baby. Never did I think my life could change so drastically. I had no degree, no career, no house, and no husband; but I had a daughter. I still remember the night everything changed between us. Or maybe things had already changed, and it was the first time I noticed it. I know for sure that it was the first time I had ever accepted the fact that I was truly just a “baby mama” and Flip had no real plans of making me his wife. I remember feeling so many emotions that night. I was hurt, angry, confused, disappointed, and betrayed. But I was still very much in love. I loved him too much to hate him so quickly, so I resented him and I hated myself for being so naiive. It didn’t take long for that resentment to magnify because once the truth is out, you begin to connect the dots to every lie you’ve ever been fed and it makes you wonder if any of it was ever real. The moment you lose respect for someone, everything changes. The love is still there, but it’s not the same. You become guarded, you become defensive, and sometimes you just want to hurt them the way they hurt you. That’s when they start to call you bitter. I never pictured myself becoming a bitter baby mama, but you know what? Maybe they’re right. Maybe I am bitter but I feel like I have every damn right to be. This is my story.

    

    In the days before the Civil War, a runaway slave named Liz Spocott breaks free from her captors and escapes into the labyrinthine swamps of Maryland’s eastern shore, setting loose a drama of violence and hope among slave catchers, plantation owners, watermen, runaway slaves, and free blacks. Liz is near death, wracked by disturbing visions of the future, and armed with “the Code,” a fiercely guarded cryptic means of communication for slaves on the run. Liz’s flight and her dreams of tomorrow will thrust all those near her toward a mysterious, redemptive fate. Filled with rich, true details—much of the story is drawn from historical events—and told in McBride’s signature lyrical style, Song Yet Sung is a story of tragic triumph, violent decisions, and unexpected kindness.

    As a young woman, Helga teaches at an all-black school in the South, but even here she feels different. Moving to Harlem and eventually to Denmark, she attempts to carve out a comfortable life and place for herself, but ends up back where she started, choosing emotional freedom that quickly translates into a narrow existence. Quicksand , Nella Larsen's powerful first novel, has intriguing autobiographical parallels and at the same time invokes the international dimension of African American culture of the 1920s. It also evocatively portrays the racial and gender restrictions that can mark a life.

    Can anything save them when the spirit decides they belong to him? Crying through Plastic Eyes-A messy divorce, a room filled with creepy dolls, and a missing six-year-old all create the perfect storm for a young mother’s worse nightmare. Will Work for Food- You see them everywhere begging for money or food. When an older couple decides to lend a helping hand to a young man and his son, someone gets more than they bargain for. Pieces-A battered woman confesses to the mutilation and death of her husband, but did she really commit this heinous crime? Paying the Hitchhiker-You see a beautiful young woman on the side of the road with her thumb out, asking for a ride. Who should be the most afraid: the hitchhiker or the person picking her up? Inheritance-A confession from Accalia’s grandmother about a curse and an inheritance are just the prologue to seven days of suffering through a living hell.

    Some are darkly humorous—from two mothers exchanging snide remarks through notes in their kids’ backpacks, to the young girl contemplating how best to notify her Facebook friends of her impending suicide—while others are devastatingly poignant—a new mother and funeral singer who is driven to madness with grief for the young black boys who have fallen victim to gun violence, or the teen who struggles between her upper middle class upbringing and her desire to fully connect with black culture.Thompson-Spires fearlessly shines a light on the simmering tensions and precariousness of black citizenship. Her stories are exquisitely rendered, satirical, and captivating in turn, engaging in the ongoing conversations about race and identity politics, as well as the vulnerability of the black body. Boldly resisting categorization and easy answers, Nafissa Thompson-Spires is an original and necessary voice in contemporary fiction.

    Especially, when all the dogs involved are hungry! For a sheltered mama s boy like Demarcus, everything was all roses until a life changing experience showed him that every rose has thorns. After a well-orchestrated set up, Demarcus' plans to go to college are derailed by a trip to state prison. It is while in the belly of the beast, that the mama's boy has to make the choice between being a man, or being a victim. Upon his release, Demarcus tries to get his life back on track, but his felony conviction causes door after door to be slammed in his face. Going to college is no longer an option, and flipping burgers is not in his plans. With little other choice, Demarcus applies the lessons learned in prison and takes it to the streets. He gets caught up in the game of selling heroin, known on the streets as Dog Food. When all hell breaks loose between the major dealers, in Memphis, over the city s heroin distribution, Demarcus finds himself on the losing side of a bloody drug war. As he prepares for the show down with his opposition, he begins to uncover truths about his past, including what happened that fateful night of his arrest. To add insult to injury, when he finally stands face to face with his enemy, he discovers that the face is a familiar one. They say that blood is thicker than water, but when it comes to cash, sometimes even those closest to you will try to do you in.

    For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

    Nice Guy who's found companionship and comfort with Marsha.  The only problem is that he's become too comfortable.  Weighing seventy-five pounds more than when the courtship first began, the newly food-obsessed Sonny just can't stay away from Marsha's marvelous dishes, even in the middle of their breakup conversation.Determined to slim down and get his girlfriend back, Sonny joins the FutraSystem weight-loss center and meets potential love interest Kayla, as well as a host of other colorful characters. In a heartwarming tale that is alternately hilarious, wise, and ultimately self-affirming, Whitfield has created a thoroughly delicious and engaging novel sure to be enjoyed by those who have waged the battle of the bulge, or know someone who has.

    Past winners and shortlisted authors have included the Pulitzer winners Junot Díaz, Anthony Doerr and Adam Johnson, plus Hilary Mantel, Ali Smith, Yiyun Li, CK Stead and Elizabeth Strout.Six Shorts 2017 brings together the six stories shortlisted for this year's award: ‘Reputation Management’ by Kathleen Alcott; ‘Half of What Atlee Rouse Knows about Horses’ by Bret Anthony Johnston; ‘The Hazel Twig and the Olive Tree’ by Richard Lambert; ‘The Tenant’ by Victor Lodato; ‘Every Little Thing’ by Celeste Ng; and ‘Mr Salary’ by Sally Rooney.Chosen by a hugely experienced and prestigious judging panel that included Booker-winner Anne Enright, Orange- and Whitbread-winner Rose Tremain, Booker-shortlistee Neel Mukherjee and critic and novelist Mark Lawson, the six stories represent the very best in contemporary English-language short fiction.

    A poor African American boy and his mother experience both discrimination and kindness during a trip to town to see the dentist.

    Ewing's narrative takes us from the streets of 1990s Chicago to an unspecified future, deftly navigating the boundaries of space, time, and reality. Ewing imagines familiar figures in magical circumstances, and identifies everyday objects - hair moisturizer, a spiral notebook - as precious icons.Her visual art is spare, playful, and poignant: a cereal box decoder ring that allows the wearer to understand what Black girls are saying; a teacher's angry, subversive message scrawled on the chalkboard. Electric Arches invites fresh conversations about race, gender, the city, identity, and the joy and pain of growing up.

    By placing ordinary characters in extraordinary situations, Adjei-Brenyah reveals the violence, injustice, and painful absurdities that black men and women contend with every day. These stories tackle urgent instances of racism and cultural unrest and explore the many ways we fight for humanity in an unforgiving world.

    Now what?As May fits into her new life we meet her friend Pam and her husband Jack - but why is Pam terrified to tell Jack that she's pregnant?And then there's Denis and Bernard, May's next-door neighbours, going about their business oblivious to the deadly threat that lurks close by.There's Paddy, who lives on his own yet never seems to be at home.And Paul, three doors up, willing to risk everything for an affair with Carmel, the young teacher who has yet to learn that there's a price to pay for having something that shouldn't be yours.But what May can't figure out is who gave her the beautiful shell necklace and was it really meant for her?On this one particular week, all is about to change for the inhabitants of Kilpatrick and May discovers that while only love can break your heart, only love can put it back together.

    After being hurt countless times by men, she shut her innermost feelings and desires off from men. Focusing on being happy with herself was her main agenda. Having a great job at the federal prison and owning her independence, Shana has everything. However, when she meets Red Anderson at the Houston Livestock Show, everything changes. Life has finally become worth living for Craig 'Red' Anderson. Having a horrible childhood, then growing up a ward of the state wasn't exactly a cake walk. After a chance encounter with a cowboy, his life is changed forever. Channeling his energy into learning to be the best steer wrestler in the world, Red Anderson is able to push out all the negativity in his life. Honing his skills and learning from the best, Legend Semien, Red becomes a force to deal with in the rodeo arena, but in life, another force brings him to his knees. Shana Albert comes in Red's life like a whirlwind and swallows him whole. Fighting demons of their past, it seems that Red and Shana face drama at every turn and difficulties of that drama threaten to tear them apart. Both being stubborn, opinionated individuals, causes unnecessary rifts that put their relationship on the line. Will Red and Shana finally figure out what loving one another is all about? Or will they decide to cut their losses and chalk it up as a lesson learned?