AALBC.com's 25 Best Selling Books
(Fiction & Nonfiction) for 2010.

Fiction

Nonfiction

#1

For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide when the Rainbow Is Enuf: A Choreopoem
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by Ntozake Shange

Paperback: 80 pages
Publisher: Scribner (September 1, 1997)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0684843269
ISBN-13: 978-0684843261
Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.4 inches

#3 Best Selling eBook for 2010

AALBC.com #5 Best-selling Book for the Year 2000

From its inception in California in 1974 to its highly acclaimed critical success at Joseph Papp's Public Theater and on Broadway, the Obie Award-winning for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf has excited, inspired, and transformed audiences all over the country. Passionate and fearless, Shange's words reveal what it is to be of color and female in the twentieth century.

First published in 1975 when it was praised by The New Yorker for "encompassing...every feeling and experience a woman has ever had," for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf will be read and performed for generations to come. Here is the complete text, with stage directions, of a groundbreaking dramatic prose poem written in vivid and powerful language that resonates with unusual beauty in its fierce message to the world.

#1

Confessions of a Video Vixen
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by Karrine Steffans

Hardcover: 224 pages
Publisher: Amistad; First Edition edition (June 28, 2005)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0060842423
ISBN-13: 978-0060842420
Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches

Part tell-all, part cautionary tale, this emotionally charged memoir from a former video vixen nicknamed 'Superhead' goes beyond the glamour of celebrity to reveal the inner workings of the hip-hop dancer industry—from the physical and emotional abuse that's rampant in the industry, and which marked her own life—to the excessive use of drugs, sex and bling.

Once the sought-after video girl, this sexy siren has helped multi-platinum artists, such as Jay-Z, R. Kelly and LL Cool J, sell millions of albums with her sensual dancing. In a word, Karrine was H-O-T. So hot that she made as much as $2500 a day in videos and was selected by well-known film director F. Gary Gray to co-star in his film, A Man Apart, starring Vin Diesel. But the film and music video sets, swanky Hollywood and New York restaurants and trysts with the celebrities featured in the pages of People and In Touch magazines only touches the surface of Karrine Steffans' life.

Her journey is filled with physical abuse, rape, drug and alcohol abuse, homelessness and single motherhood—all by the age of 26. By sharing her story, Steffans hopes to shed light on an otherwise romanticised industry and help young women avoid the same pitfalls she encountered. If they're already in danger, she hopes to inspire them to find a way to dig themselves out of what she knows first-hand
to be a cycle of hopelessness and despair.

#2

Getting to Happy
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by Terry McMillan

Hardcover: 400 pages
Publisher: Viking Adult (September 7, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0670022047
ISBN-13: 978-0670022045

An exuberant return to the four unforgettable heroines of Waiting to Exhale--the novel that changed African American fiction forever.

Terry McMillan's Waiting to Exhale was more than just a bestselling novel-its publication was a watershed moment in literary history. McMillan's sassy and vibrant story about four African American women struggling to find love and their place in the world touched a cultural nerve, inspired a blockbuster film, and generated a devoted audience.

Now, McMillan revisits Savannah, Gloria, Bernadine, and Robin fifteen years later. Each is at her own midlife crossroads: Savannah has awakened to the fact that she's made too many concessions in her marriage, and decides to face life single again-at fifty-one. Bernadine has watched her megadivorce settlement dwindle, been swindled by her husband number two, and conned herself into thinking that a few pills will help distract her from her pain. Robin has an all-American case of shopaholism, while the big dream of her life-to wear a wedding dress- has gone unrealized. And for years, Gloria has taken happiness and security for granted. But being at the wrong place at the wrong time can change everything. All four are learning to heal past hurts and to reclaim their joy and their dreams; but they return to us full of spirit, sass, and faith in one another. They've exhaled: now they are learning to breathe.

#2

The Isis Papers: The Keys to the Colors
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by Dr. Frances Cress Welsing

Paperback: 300 pages
Publisher: Third World Press (December 1991)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0883781042

We now are nearing the final decade of the 20th century. Recently, there has been an unraveling and an analysis of the core issue of the first global power system of mass oppression-- the power system of racism (white supremacy). Once the collective victims (non-white population) understands this fundamental issue, the ultimate organizing of all of the appropriate behaviors necessary to neutralize the great injustice of the white supremacy power system will only be a matter of time. The length of time required to neutralize global white supremacy will be inversely proportional to 1) the level of understanding of the phenomenon; plus 2) the evolution of self- and group-respect, the will, determination and discipline to practice the appropriate counter-racist behaviors--on the part of the non-white victims of white supremacy."

#3

Total Eclipse of the Heart
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by Zane

Hardcover: 336 pages
Publisher: Atria (December 1, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0743499298
ISBN-13: 978-0743499293

Brooke Alexander, a waitress who has self-esteem issues regarding her lackluster existence and her fluctuating weight, is in love with Patrick Sterling, one of the most prominent attorneys in Washington, D.C. On his good days, Patrick is the man in every woman's dream. On his bad days, Patrick's behavior is demeaning and he is angry at the world.

Damon Johnson, who's been married to Carleigh for four years, is one of "the last good men" -- compassionate and honest, he worships the ground his wife walks on. But Carleigh treats Damon like a trophy husband, allowing her friends to salivate over him and disrespect their happy home. Damon has dreams beyond his six-figure corporate job, and Carleigh views his life aspirations as a joke. Her selfish nature makes Damon wonder if he made the right decision when he asked for her hand in marriage.

When a tragic event causes Brooke's and Damon's lives to intersect, truths unfold as they begin to reflect on their own relationships.

In this provocative tale of love and heartbreak, Zane explores what happens when you cater to your emotional well-being and discover the meaning of unconditional love...or, rather, experience a total eclipse of the heart.

#3

The Vixen Manual: How to Find, Seduce, & Keep the Man You Want
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by Karrine Steffans

Hardcover: 272 pages
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (July 13, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0446582271
ISBN-13: 978-0446582278

Since she exploded on the scene with her two juicy and impossible-to-put-down tell-alls, readers have wanted to know even more about what makes Karrine Steffans tick. How was she able to meet all the high profile politicians, movie stars, and other celebrities that are her close acquaintances? What skills does she possess to keep men wanting more? Finally, Karrine lays it all out and explains exactly what a woman must do to win over the man of her dreams. With chapters like "Never Let Him See You Sweat,""Flirting,""Encouraging His Manhood," and "Give Him What He Wants," this hot and sexy manual is a must-have for every woman's bookshelf.

#4

Thug Matrimony
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by Wahida Clark

Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Dafina (April 1, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0758212550

Book Description: In Wahida Clark phenomenal, gritty new novel Angel is getting ready to marry the man of her dreams - but his past isn't about to let go...

Angel, Jaz, Tasha and Kyra are four girlfriends pulling themselves out of the ghetto-and trying to bring their hearts up to higher ground with them. Now Angel has started her own law practice and new life with Kaylin. But when an unwamted guest crashes their wedding, all the rage and bloodlust from the hood comes bustin' out - and Angel's gonna need every prayer in heaven to make it to the altar alive...

#4

Brainwashed: Challenging the Myth of Black Inferiority
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by Tom Burrell

Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Smiley Books; 1 edition (February 1, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1401925928
ISBN-13: 978-1401925925
Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1 inches

"Black people are not dark-skinned white people," says advertising visionary Tom Burrell. In fact, they are much more. They are survivors of the Middle Passage and centuries of humiliation and deprivation, who have excelled against the odds, constantly making a way out of "No way!" At this pivotal point in history, the idea of black inferiority should have had a "Going-Out-of-Business Sale." After all, Barack Obama has reached America’s Promised Land.

Yet, as Brainwashed: Challenging the Myth of Black Inferiority testifies, too many in black America are still wandering in the wilderness. In this powerful examination of "the greatest propaganda campaign of all time" --the masterful marketing of black inferiority, aka the BI Complex--Burrell poses ten disturbing questions that will make black people look in the mirror and ask why, nearly 150 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, so many blacks still think and act like slaves. Burrell’s acute awareness of the power of words and images to shift, shape, and change the collective consciousness has led him to connect the contemporary and historical dots that have brought us to this crossroads.

Brainwashed is not a reprimand—it is a call to action. It demands that we question our self-defeating attitudes and behaviors. Racism is not the issue; how we respond to media distortions and programmed self-hatred is the issue. It’s time to reverse the BI campaign with a globally based initiative that harnesses the power of new media and the wisdom of intergenerational coalitions. Provocative and powerful, Brainwashed dares to expose the wounds so that we, at last, can heal.

#5

Thug Lovin'
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by Wahida Clark

Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (August 10, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0446178098
ISBN-13: 978-0446178099

Tasha and Trae, the hood's favorite couple, are still together following the events of Thug Matrimony. Even with their relocation to sunny Los Angeles, the drama of New York cannot be escaped. From running a nightclub to dealing with models, shady lawyers, big money, new kinds of temptations, seductions, and drugs-not to mention new love interests-can this infamous couple weather all the storms and keep it together?

#5

The Vixen Diaries
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by Karrine Steffans

Hardcover: 208 pages
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing; 1 edition (September 25, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0446582263
ISBN-13: 978-0446582261
Product Dimensions: 6.2 x 1 x 9.2 inches

This titillating exposé chronicles the personal and professional adventures of this tabloid-laden socialite, dispelling some rumors, while confirming others. Diaries unveils the heavily shrouded Hollywood backrooms and its coveted secrets. Offering her ardent fans answers to burning questions and presenting lessons learned, this book will surely not disappoint.

Karrine Steffans continues to dish out juicy gossip and the much sought after details of her star studded lifestyle and the celebrity men that helped her get where she needed to be.

Karrine draws you in to get an up-close and personal look at the Hollywood life of fast money and sex; all the things that make for a great movie. She discusses her interactions with people after the release of Confessions of a Video Vixen and how she copes with it all.

#6

Missionary No More: Purple Panties 2
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Zane (Editor)

Paperback: 256 pages
Publisher: Strebor Books; Original edition (January 6, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1593092113
ISBN-13: 978-1593092115
Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches

Steamy, sensual and poetically hypnotic, Missionary No More: Purple Panties 2 is the follow-up to the bestseller Purple Panties.

No one can debate the fact that Zane knows sex. The Queen of Erotic Fiction has hit home run after home run in the literary arena with her literary offerings. Now comes the latest, a collection of lesbian erotica that will have readers squirming on the edge of their seats, curling up beneath the sheets, and fantasizing about the possibilities.

Including such stories as "The Namma's Nectar," "Coast to Coast" and "She Loved a Girl," Missionary No More gives an insight into a world where love and lust have no boundaries. Come take a journey through the eyes of several women who have one thing in common: an appreciation for female sensuality.

#6

The MIS-Education of the Negro
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by Dr. Carter G. Woodson

Paperback: 215 pages
Publisher: Africa World Press; 1990 Africa World Press Inc Ed edition (July 1, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 086543171X
ISBN-13: 978-0865431713
Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches

"When you control a man's thinking you do not have to worry about his actions. You do not have to tell him not to stand here or go yonder. He will find his 'proper place' and will stay in it. You do not need to send him to the back door. He will go without being told. In fact, if there is no back door, he will cut one for his special benefit. His education makes it necessary."

In 1926 Woodson initiated the annual February observance of Negro History Week. He chose February for the observance because February twelfth was Abraham Lincoln's birthday and February fourteenth was the accepted birthday of Frederick Douglass. By the 1970s, Negro History Week had expanded to become Black History Month.

#7

Purple Panties: An Eroticanoir.com Anthology
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Zane (Editor)

Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Strebor Books; Original edition (May 6, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1593091656
ISBN-13: 978-1593091651
Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches

What happens when "The Finest Man" you have ever laid eyes on is a woman? What happens when a woman comes home to her man after a hard day's work with "Lipstick on Her Collar?" What happens when a married woman runs across the love of her life -- another woman -- who insists that "It's All or Nothing?" Is there such a thing as playing too "Hard to Get?" What happens when "Mom's Night Out" turns into group sex? What happens when you discover your true sexuality "At Last?" All of these questions and more are answered within the pages of Purple Panties.

Written by women from all over the world, here is a new level of lesbian erotica, compiled by Zane, that promises the most exciting and steamy reading experience possible. These stories move beyond race, age, and all walks of life, including long-hidden passions, secret rendezvous with strangers, and May-December romances.

With Zane's ever-growing popularity, and the need for increasingly quality erotica, Purple Panties will satisfy a long-standing demand for African-American lesbian literature.

In the tradition of such successful erotica anthologies as Chocolate Flava and Caramel Flava, Purple Panties uncovers a new world of evocative risk-taking that has never been explored before from a lesbian perspective.

#7

Letters to a Young Brother: Manifest Your Destiny
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by Hill Harper

SBN: 1592402003
Format: Hardcover, 192pp
Pub. Date: April 2006
Publisher: Penguin Group

Most people associate Hill Harper with Hollywood, as he’s appeared in dozens of films and television shows. But he is just as comfortable in a school auditorium, rousing groups of students with his unique style of real-life wisdom. Having addressed thousands of high-school and middle- school students over the years, Hill is ready to take his message to an even wider audience. Letters to a Young Brother is drawn from the humbling life lessons he learned on the road to his Ivy League education and beyond. Inspired by the countless letters and e-mails he has received from teens, Hill Harper set out to write a series of letters to young people that would catch the attention of even the most reluctant readers.

The result is a motivational but approachable book full of encouragement on a wide array of hot topics, particularly among young African-American and Hispanic men. From the challenges of getting a good education and making it through college to the media’s destructive emphasis on material wealth, Letters to a Young Brother delivers eye-opening answers. Reminiscent of Marian Wright Edelman’s New York Times bestseller, The Measure of Our Success: A Letter to My Children and Yours, Hill Harper’s words will resonate for years to come.

#8

Big Girls Do Cry
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by Carl Weber 

Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: Kensington (January 26, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0758231814
ISBN-13: 978-0758231819

New York Times bestselling author Carl Weber cranks up the heat in this explosive follow-up to Something on the Side--a novel of friendship, family ties, and the bonds--and betrayals--of love. . .

Isis and her sister, Egypt--two of the original curvaceous members of the Big Girls Book Club--have hightailed it out of New York and settled in Richmond, Virginia, where they've started a new chapter of the BGBC. The same rules apply here: You must be at least a bodacious size 14 to join.

Living in the plush suburbs, Isis has it all--almost. The thirty-seven-year-old plus-size beauty is happily married to Rashid, and they're living in the lap of luxury. There's just one thing missing. They want to start a family.

Enter Egypt, who's moved into her sister's McMansion with dreams of starting over. There's just one hitch: before her sister married Rashid, he was Egypt's man for ten years. Egypt thought she was over him, but the close quarters are giving both her and her sister doubts. She's ready to pack her bags until Isis and Rashid ask her for a serious favor. Egypt knows she shouldn't get involved, but she can't say no to her sister--even if the price might be way too high for them all.

Egypt isn't the only one with drama. Rumor has it that Loraine--Isis's brilliant boss and one of BGBC's newest members--is in the running to be her sorority's next national president. But Loraine has more than one secret that will ruin her if they ever see the light of day. Thank goodness only one other person knows them--BGBC's first male member, Jerome--and what he knows just might destroy him.

As friendships and family and past and present collide, these book lovers are about to learn that drama can follow you wherever you go--and that big girls do cry...

New York Times bestselling author Carl Weber cranks up the heat in this explosive follow-up to Something on the Side--a novel of friendship, family ties, and the bonds--and betrayals--of love

#8

Sistergirl Devotions: Keeping Jesus in the Mix on the Job
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by Carol M. Mackey

Paperback: 224 pages
Publisher: Revell;
Original edition (May 1, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0800733975
ISBN-13: 978-0800733971
Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches

 #2 Best Selling eBook for 2010

Finally, a book of meditations for African American women that understands the world they live in. Centering on the lessons God teaches us at work, at church, and in our relationships, this book of devotions uses stories and settings that will resonate with women of color--urban life, office culture, and the leading of the Spirit in things large and small. Using Scripture, conventional wisdom, and stories from the African American community, each devotional will show women how their faith can empower them to have success on the job--at whatever workplace they find themselves. With topics such as respect, resourcefulness, image, timeliness, honesty, negativity, and balancing work and home, each devotion ends with a "power move"--practical affirmations that will move readers toward success at work.

#9

Echoes of a Distant Summer
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by Guy Johnson

Format: Hardcover, 584pp.
ISBN: 0375505679
Publisher: Random House, Incorporated
Pub. Date: August 2002
Edition Desc: 1ST

Read an AALBC.com review by Thumper

Guy Johnson, the author of the critically acclaimed debut Standing at the Scratch Line, continues the Tremain family saga.

Jackson St. Clair Tremain hasn't spoken to his grandfather King in nearly twenty years. Disgusted by the violence and bloodlust that seemed to be his grandfather's way of life, Jackson chose to distance himself from King and live a simpler life. But now King is gravely ill, and his impending death places Jackson's life, as well as those of his family and friends, in jeopardy. Reluctantly, Jackson travels to Mexico to see King. But after a brief reconciliation, his grandfather is assassinated, and Jackson suspects that his grandmother Serena may have had a hand in it. Jackson takes control of King's organization, and as he does, he reflects on the summers he spent in Mexico as a child and the lessons he learned there at the knee of his strong-willed, complex grandfather.

In Echoes of a Distant Summer,, Guy Johnson introduces us to a new hero, Jackson St. Clair Tremain, who learns that, like his grandfather, he must be willing to protect those he loves--at all costs. 

#9

From "Superman" to Man
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by Joel Augustus Rogers

ISBN: 0960229442
Format: Hardcover, 132pp
Pub. Date: January 1989
Publisher: Helga Rogers

This short book follows a prolonged conversation on skin color prejudice between a white senator from the South and his widely traveled, well-read Black porter. Rogers himself worked as a Chicago porter and was largely self-educated. Toward the end of the book, Dixon, the porter, is asked if Christianity has not been a solace to mistreated Black people. Dixon echoes the feelings of his creator:

To enslave a man, then dope him to make him content! Do you call THAT a solace? . . . The honest fact is that the greatest hindrance to the progress of the Negro is that same dope that was shot into him during slavery. . . . The slogan of the Negro devotee is: Take the world but give me Jesus, and the white man strikes an eager bargain with him. . . . Another fact  there are far too many Negro preachers. Religion is the most fruitful medium for exploiting this already exploited group. As I said, the majority of the sharpers, who among the whites would go into other fields, go, in this case, to the ministry.

--John Ragland

#10

Every Thug Needs A Lady
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by Wahida Clark

Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Dafina (October 1, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0758212887

#7 AALBC.com's Best Selling Books for 2004

"Every Thug Needs A Lady" is the spellbinding sequel to Wahida Clark's "Thugs And The Women Who Love Them". After taking us through the rugged, thug-filled lives of Jaz, Kyra and Angel, Clark now takes us into the unique and unbelievable life of their best friend Roz. She's sexy, beautiful, and a slave for the love of Trae, her irresistable thuggish beau. Will Roz and Trae's love survive? The answers lie inside the pages of "Every Thug Needs A Lady"! --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

#10

Peace from Broken Pieces: How to Get Through What You're Going Through
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by Iyanla Vanzant

Hardcover: 280 pages
Publisher: Smiley Books (November 15, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1401928226
ISBN-13: 978-1401928223
Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.2 inches

It is often difficult to identify the exact moment that your life falls apart. In most cases, it is not a one-shot deal. If you ask most people who have had the experience of losing everything they love or believe in, they will probably say it was not one telephone call or one letter, one revelation or realization that caused the collapse of life as they knew it. I now understand that my life fell apart one piece at a time. Piece by piece; one experience, one situation, and one circumstance at a time, until I found myself standing in the midst of a heap of broken promises, splintered relationships, and shattered dreams. It is not a place I ever imagined I would find myself again, after I had gotten through it the first fifty or sixty times.

#11

Last Bitch Standing
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by Deja King

Paperback: 254 pages
Publisher: A King Production (November 24, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 097558118X
ISBN-13: 978-0975581186

In the final installment of the Bitch Series, Precious Cummings only has one agenda and that is to destroy her most conniving enemy yet, Maya. Precious has no doubt that she can shut it down, the only problem is locating her nemesis who has disappeared with her husband, Supreme and daughter, Aaliyah. As Precious fights to not only win the battles but the war, she is determined to be the Last Bitch Standing

#11

Dear G-Spot: Straight Talk About Sex and Love
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by Zane

ISBN: 0743457056
Pub. Date: July 10, 2007
Format: Hardcover, 256pp
Publisher: Atria Books

Dear G-Spot includes real letters from real people, both women and men, who have sought Zane's advice over the years -- the preacher's wife worrying about being judged, the virgin, the guy next door, the gay man next door, the woman with low self-esteem, and the other woman with a sex drive over the moon.

In her own uniquely can-did and humorous way, Zane answers all your questions -- even questions you never thought to ask -- about making whoopee.

#12

Wifey
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#12

The Willie Lynch Letter and the Making of a Slave
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Paperback: 30 pages
Publisher: Frontline Distribution International (March 1, 1999)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0948390530
ISBN-13: 978-0948390531
Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 1 inches

"The infamous "Willie Lynch" letter gives both African and Caucasian students and teacher some insight, concerning the brutal and inhumane psychology behind the African slave..."

The Willie Lynch Letter and the Making of a Slave is a study of slave making. It describes the rationale and the results of Anglo Saxon's ideas and methods of insuring the master/slave relationship.

#13

Be Careful What You Pray For
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by Kimberla Lawson Roby

Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: William Morrow (January 19, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0061443115
ISBN-13: 978-0061443114
Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 4.9 x 0.7 inches

Read an AALBC.com Review

New York Times bestselling author Kimberla Lawson Roby returns with this delightful sequel to The Best of Everything, in which the infamous Reverend Curtis Black's beautiful daughter, Alicia, is all grown up and headed for trouble of her own.

Her first marriage didn't work out, but that isn't going to stop Alicia Black, the privileged daughter of the charismatic Reverend Curtis Black, from getting what she wants. One month after her wedding to her second husband, she can't believe her good fortune. God has heeded her prayers, blessing her with Pastor JT Valentine, a handsome, dynamic man of the cloth with his own large congregation, just like her father.

Unfortunately, Alicia doesn't understand just how much like Curtis her new husband truly is. She doesn't know that JT has been sneaking around town with other women or that he only married her to get close to her father's money and fame. But while Alicia is blinded by love, her dad certainly isn't. He warned his little girl that JT simply can't be trusted. After all, it takes one to know one, and who better to see into the darkness of a sinner's heart than Curtis?

It will take a miracle to save the day. But God acts in mysterious ways, and soon a host of lies, longtime secrets, and acts of betrayal comes to light, and Alicia must face some very crucial and life-changing decisions. This time, she's got to be careful what she prays for...

#13

Age Ain't Nothing but a Number: Black Women Explore Midlife
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Carleen Brice Editor & Contributor

"Age Ain't Nothing but a Number is my roadmap."--Iyanla Vanzant

Forty-five black women writers, known and new, discuss midlife in the first anthology of its kind.

Finally, a collection that celebrates, considers, contemplates, even criticizes "midlife" from a black woman's point of view. Age Ain't Nothing but a Number ranges over every aspect of black women's lives: personal growth, family and friendship, love and sexuality, health, beauty, illness, spirituality, creativity, financial independence, work, and scores of other topics.

Midlife today isn't your grandmother's "change of life." Today, black women call hot flashes "power surges," and menopause, the "pause that refreshes." These days, middle-aged women may be newlyweds or new mothers, as well as grandmothers or widows. They may experience the empty-nest syndrome and then the "return-to-the-nest syndrome" as adult children move back home. They may navigate the field of Internet dating, travel the world, teach homeless women, take up pottery, or study international business.

his anthology captures all of these aspects of midlife as experienced by some of the finest voices in African-American writing today. Featuring the work of Maya Angelou, J. California Cooper, Pearl Cleage, Nikki Giovanni, Susan L. Taylor, Alice Walker, and dozens of others, Age Ain't Nothing but a Number will make readers think, laugh, and cry and will be the perfect gift book for spring.

#14

Head Bangers: An APF Sexcapade (Strebor Quickiez)
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by Zane

Paperback: 160 pages
Publisher: Strebor Books; Original edition (May 26, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1593092393
ISBN-13: 978-1593092399
Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 6.2 x 0.4 inches

Hope and Faith: two things that everyone needs to survive. But the words take on a different meaning in the form of a set of twins who attend Crockett University in Washington, D.C. As seniors, they are looking forward to a bright future in corporate America. Meanwhile, they have decided to relieve some of the stress involved in getting a higher education by being members of APF.

Soror Ride 'em High and Soror Lick 'em Low, originally hail from Atlanta and, like most twins, they share a connection. In fact, their physical bond is so strong, that one can often feel a pounding in her vagina while the other is engaged in sexual activity. But everything is not perfect when it comes to being a twin. Sometimes animosity and jealousy can creep in; especially when Hope and Faith find themselves both attracted to the same man on campus. Is blood really thicker than water? Or, in this case, thicker than basic carnal desires?

In this long-anticipated second volume in the APF series, a follow-up to The Sisters of APF: The Indoctrination of Soror Ride Dick, New York Times Bestselling Author Zane, once again proves why she is "The Queen of Erotic Fiction." Over the years many have tried to emulate her but Zane's imagination is not to be replicated any time in the near future. The freak nights of APF are some of the most artistic, exhilarating, erotic experiences that have ever graced the pages of a book; evidenced by the thousands of emails Zane has received over the years from women yearning to join the sorority.

The sexual revolution continues...within the pages of Head Bangers: An APF Sexcapade.

#14

Black Pain: It Just Looks Like We're Not Hurting
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#15

Standing at the Scratch Line
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by Guy Johnson

Publisher:  Random House, Incorporated
Date Published:  November 1998
Format:  Trade Cloth

Standing at the Scratch Line was selected as AALBC.com on-line book club's reading selection for October 1999

In this hard hitting and action-filled novel, newcomer Guy Johnson (the son of Maya Angelou) introduces LeRoi Boudreaux Tremain, one of the most complex and engaging African-American characters in fiction. From the forests of France in WWI to the streets of New York City to a black township in Oklahoma, "King" Tremain is the angel of vengeance wherever he sees injustice inflicted on his people, friends or family.

After murdering two white lawmen, LeRoi Tremain is on the run -- straight into the army and the Great War, where he proves himself an able killer. The result is "a brief history of 20th-century black America in the guise of a testosterone-fueled adventure yarn in this fast-paced, intelligent, and extremely violent first novel." The author comes by his talents naturally; he's the son of Maya Angelou.

#15  

Letter to My Daughter
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by Maya Angelou

Paperback: 192 pages
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks (October 27, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0812980034
ISBN-13: 978-0812980035
Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches

Dedicated to the daughter she never had but sees all around her, Letter to My Daughter reveals Maya Angelou's path to living well and living a life with meaning. Here in short spellbinding essays are glimpses of the tumultuous life that taught Angelou lessons in compassion and fortitude: how she was brought up by her indomitable grandmother in segregated Arkansas, taken in at thirteen by her more worldly and less religious mother, and grew to be an awkward six-foot-tall teenager whose first experience of loveless sex paradoxically left her with her greatest gift, a son.

Whether she is recalling lost friends such as Coretta Scott King and Ossie Davis, extolling honesty, decrying vulgarity, explaining why becoming a Christian is a "lifelong endeavor," or simply singing the praises of a meal of red rice, Maya Angelou writes from the heart to millions of women she considers her extended family.

#16

Dutch III: The Finale
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by Kwame Teague

Publisher: Teri Woods Publishing (2007)
ASIN: B001IVY2CC
Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches

Hailing from Newark, New Jersey, Kwame Teague is the award winning, critically acclaimed, and Essence #1 bestselling author of the street classic Dutch trilogy. His other novels include The Adventures of Ghetto Sam and the Glory of My Demise, and Thug Politics under the pseudonym Dutch. With a passion for writing, Kwame is hard at work on his next novel.

#16

Stolen Legacy: Greek Philosophy Is Stolen Egyptian Philosophy
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by George G. M. James

The book is an attempt to show that the true authors of Greek philosophy were not the Greeks, but the people of North Africa, commonly called the Egyptians; and the praise and honor falsely given to the Greeks for centuries belong to the people of North Africa, and therefore to the African Continent. Consequently, this theft of the African legacy by the Greeks led to the erroneous world opinion that the African Continent has made no contribution to civilization, and that its people are naturally backward. This is the misrepresentation that has become the basis of race prejudice, which has affected all people of color.

#17

True to the Game II
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by Teri Woods

Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (November 1, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0446581666

This is the sequel to Teri's amazing first novel True to the Game. Fans have been awaiting this story for over five years. TRUE TO THE GAME II will pick up where True to the Game left off-- with one difference, Gena is now seeing a new guy named Jay. Little does Gena know that the man she has fallen in love with, so soon after Quadir's death, is his archrival, Jerrell Jackson. Unfortunately, Jerrell is determined to get his revenge against Quadir's crew and he'll start with Gena.

#17

The Souls of Black Folks
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by W.E.B. Du Bois

ISBN: 0451526031
Format: Mass Market Paperback, 278pp
Pub. Date: April 1995
Publisher: Dutton

"The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line." Thus speaks W.E.B. Du Bois in The Souls Of Black Folk, one of the most prophetic and influental works in American literature. In this eloquent collection of essays, first published in 1903, Du Bois dares as no one has before to describe the magnitude of American racism and demand an end to it. He draws on his own life for illustration, from his early experiences teaching in the hills of Tennessee to the death of his infant son and his historic break with the conciliatory position of Booker T. Washington.

Far ahead of its time, The Souls Of Black Folk both anticipated and inspired much of the black conciousness and activism of the 1960's and is a classic in the literature of civil rights. The elegance of DuBois's prose and the passion of his message are as crucial today as they were upon the book's first publication.

#18

True to the Game III
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Paperback: 240 pages
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (July 2, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0446581682

The third and most explosive installment of the groundbreaking True to the Game trilogy will take you on a marathon race through the mean streets of Philly. Starting off where the second installment's dramatic cliffhanger left us, True III will finally reveal Gena's mysterious stalker and savior, as well as introduce a new killer so vicious, so cunning, so ruthless, he'll have you looking over your shoulder with each turn of the page.

The crooked cops are searching for the money, Gena's family members are now the target for Gena who's hiding from everything and everyone, as the race is on for Gena's survival. Will she manage to keep the money, can she get out of town and make a new life for herself, and will her family survive the maniacal killer that is hell bent on tracking her down? Will Gena stay, True to the Game?

#18

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
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by Maya Angelou

Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Ballantine Books; Reissue edition (April 21, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0345514408
ISBN-13: 978-0345514400
Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.1 x 0.7 inches

Sent by their mother to live with their devout, self-sufficient grandmother in a small Southern town, Maya and her brother, Bailey, endure the ache of abandonment and the prejudice of the local “powhitetrash.” At eight years old and back at her mother’s side in St. Louis, Maya is attacked by a man many times her age–and has to live with the consequences for a lifetime. Years later, in San Francisco, Maya learns about love for herself and the kindness of others, her own strong spirit, and the ideas of great authors (“I met and fell in love with William Shakespeare”) will allow her to be free instead of imprisoned.

Poetic and powerful, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is a modern American classic that will touch hearts and change minds for as long as people read.

#19

Some Sing, Some Cry: A Novel
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by Ntozake Shange & Ifa Bayeza

Hardcover: 576 pages
Publisher: St. Martin's Press; First Edition edition (September 14, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 031219899X
ISBN-13: 978-0312198992
Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.6 x 1.8 inches

Award-winning writer Ntozake Shange and real-life sister, award-winning playwright Ifa Bayeza achieve nothing less than a modern classic in this epic story of the Mayfield family. Opening dramatically at Sweet Tamarind, a rice and cotton plantation on an island off South Carolina's coast, we watch as recently emancipated Bette Mayfield says her goodbyes before fleeing for the mainland. With her granddaughter, Eudora, in tow, she heads to Charleston. There, they carve out lives for themselves as fortune-teller and seamstress. Dora will marry, the Mayfield line will grow, and we will follow them on an journey through the watershed events of America's troubled, vibrant history -- from Reconstruction to both World Wars, from the Harlem Renaissance to Vietnam and the modern day. Shange and Bayeza give us a monumental story of a family and of America, of songs and why we have to sing them, of home and of heartbreak, of the past and of the future, bright and blazing ahead.

#19

Sex and Race: Negro-Caucasian Mixing in All Ages and All Lands: The Old World
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by J. A. Rogers

Hardcover: 302 pages
Publisher: Helga M. Rogers (June 15, 1970)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 096022940X
ISBN-13: 978-0960229406
Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches

#20

Dirtier Than Ever: A Novel
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Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Atria; 1 edition (February 16, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1439166110
ISBN-13: 978-1439166116
Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches

Following the phenomenal success of Essence bestsellers Dirty Red and Still Dirty, Vickie M. Stringer takes readers on another bumpy ride in Dirtier Than Ever with Red, Bacon, and Q'the crazy love-hate triangle who makes the series a favorite among urban fiction fans.

Q wished that Bacon had killed Red when he had the chance. Red knew that Q's career as a hustler was over and he was counting on starting a new legit business with the money he had made. He had once believed her when she promised that the money didn't mean a thing and she would give it all up to be with him.

Bacon returns from prison and suddenly Q is left for dead. With Q out of the picture, Bacon now has Red to himself. His sights are set on being the top hustler with Red by his side. He believes Red has fi nally changed when she reveals the truth about her past.

But all comes to a head when the snooping detective, Thomas, suspects Red's involvement in Q's getting shot and the murder of Zeke, Q's best friend. With two murders, a tumultuous love affair, and money on her mind, Red must make a decision . . . does she turn over a new leaf or revisit her dirty ways of old?

Gritty, steamy, and intense, Stringer delivers another page-turning caper about a hustler in high heels who is Dirtier Than Ever

#20

The Ditchdigger's Daughters: A Black Family's Astonishing Success Story
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by Yvonne S. Thornton, M. D. as told to Jo Coudert

Hardcover: 272 pages
Publisher: Kensington (January 1, 2002)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0758201168
ISBN-13: 978-0758201164
Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches

Read an AALBC.com Review

As leader, Edan Mirav must protect his people from the enemies who wish to destroy them. Despite his extraordinary abilities, Edan has not been able to locate his double - the one person who could make him whole and help him control his remarkable power to age himself with a simple thought. With her, he can grow even stronger. Without her, he is doomed to an uncertain fate. Just when he's about to abandon all hope, she stands before him in the blazing hot sun of the desert like a shimmering mirage...Recently rescued and freed, Ava Arganos has been working in the desert - and waiting for the day that her double finds her. When Ava first lays eyes on Edan, she doesn't recognize him immediately even though she feels the charged, sizzling connection between them. Now united, Edan and Ava surrender to a fiery, explosive passion that only renews their bond as they combine forces to battle their most treacherous foe yet...

#21

Gettin' Buck Wild: Sex Chronicles II
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by Zane

Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Atria (October 29, 2002)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0743457013
ISBN-13: 978-0743457019
Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.6 x 1 inches

Zane is back with Gettin' Buck Wild: Sex Chronicles II, more stories for the legion of readers that made The Sex Chronicles a bestseller.

Zane's erotic short stories have captivated the minds of both sexes and all races. The Sex Chronicles: Shattering the Myth did exactly what its title implies -- exploded the myth that men are more sexual in nature than women, and that African-American women in particular are inhibited compared to their female counterparts of other cultures.

Her audience is growing by leaps and bounds, nurtured by her Internet site and her previous bestselling titles, including The Heat Seekers, her debut in hardcover. Zane knows exactly what her readers want, and in Gettin' Buck Wild she gives them some of her most provocative prose to date. Her characters and settings run the gamut from committed, monogamous couples looking to experiment, to the wild single sisters who belong to a very unconventional sorority. Zane tells the story of a high-paid multi-tasking career woman who gets her groove back in "When Opposites Attract," a couple who try something new in "The Subway -- A Quickie," and a new way of celebrating Christmas in "The Santa Claus." She spices up real-life scenarios with over-the-top sexual fantasy and ultimately gives her readers the best time they've ever had between the pages of a book.

With all-new characters and settings, Gettin' Buck Wild is Zane's hottest collection of stories yet. Smart, witty and extremely sexy, this second volume of Sex Chronicles is tailored to women -- but perfect for lovers to share.

#21

Create Dangerously: The Immigrant Artist at Work
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by Edwidge Danticat

Hardcover: 208 pages
Publisher: Princeton University Press (September 19, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0691140189
ISBN-13: 978-0691140186
Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches

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"Create dangerously, for people who read dangerously. This is what I've always thought it meant to be a writer. Writing, knowing in part that no matter how trivial your words may seem, someday, somewhere, someone may risk his or her life to read them."--Create Dangerously

In this deeply personal book, the celebrated Haitian-American writer Edwidge Danticat reflects on art and exile, examining what it means to be an immigrant artist from a country in crisis. Inspired by Albert Camus' lecture, "Create Dangerously," and combining memoir and essay, Danticat tells the stories of artists, including herself, who create despite, or because of, the horrors that drove them from their homelands and that continue to haunt them. Danticat eulogizes an aunt who guarded her family's homestead in the Haitian countryside, a cousin who died of AIDS while living in Miami as an undocumented alien, and a renowned Haitian radio journalist whose political assassination shocked the world. Danticat writes about the Haitian novelists she first read as a girl at the Brooklyn Public Library, a woman mutilated in a machete attack who became a public witness against torture, and the work of Jean-Michel Basquiat and other artists of Haitian descent. Danticat also suggests that the aftermaths of natural disasters in Haiti and the United States reveal that the countries are not as different as many Americans might like to believe.

#22

I'm Still Wifey
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by Kiki Swinson

Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Dafina; Reprint edition (January 1, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 075822902X
ISBN-13: 978-0758229021

While Kira's husband Ricky is behind bars serving federal time, she clings onto the hope that one day she'll get a taste of sweet revenge for Russ�the nigga who played her! In the mix of all the drama, Kira unintentionally falls for a new 'hood rich cat who has it all. Money, good looks, and yes, a girl back home in Jersey! This time around Kira plans to play by a different set of rules!

Although, Ricky is locked down in a Virginia federal prison, it doesn't stop his reign of terror. He gets wind of everything that went down with Kira and gives her a life altering ultimatum. Nevertheless, Kira refuses to adhere to his demand and Ricky has no choice but to suit up his street team. The question is: How will it end this time?

#22

Faith in the Valley: Lessons for Women on the Journey to Peace
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by Iyanla Vanzant

Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Fireside; Original edition (May 8, 1996)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0684801132
ISBN-13: 978-0684801131
Product Dimensions: 6 x 4 x 0.9 inches

Read the First Chapter

Julia A. Boyd author of In the Company of My Sisters Wisdom, courage, and faith sprinkled with lots of blessings and love: the message of Iyanla Vanzant comes right from the heart and goes straight to the soul. Iyanla truly loves and cares about us sisters and it shows. Thank you, sister Iyanla, for your gifts. -- Review

A companion volume to the best-selling Acts of Faith discusses the eight ""valleys"" that cause stress and imbalance for women of color and explains how women can cleanse their minds and promote a healthy foundation for living in the modern world.  

#23

Imagine This
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by Vickie Stringer

ISBN: 0743493478
Format: Paperback, 246pp
Pub. Date: August 2004
Publisher: Atria Books

Imagine This is the sequel to Vickie Stringer's bestselling Let That Be the Reason, her stunning debut novel based on life as she knew it in the shocking underworld of the sex and drug trade.

Vickie Stringer has gained a legion of fans for her portrayal of Pamela, a.k.a. Carmen, a woman who had it all but lost out when the love of her life left her penniless and alone to raise their son. Pamela refuses to remain powerless, though. She pulls herself up, becomes a major hustler in the street game, gains independence, and makes big money -- but the consequences are more dreadful than she ever imagined.

Imagine This continues the saga of Pamela as she does jail time and has to decide who she really is: Pamela, a woman who, more than anything, loves her son and wants to be there to raise him; or Carmen, the ruthless baller, who does the crime, serves the time, and honors, at any expense, the code of the street.

#23

The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration
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by Isabel Wilkerson

Hardcover: 640 pages
Publisher: Random House (September 7, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0679444327
ISBN-13: 978-0679444329
Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.6 inches

One of The New York Times Book Review’s 10 Best Books of the Year

In this epic, beautifully written masterwork, Pulitzer Prize–winning author Isabel Wilkerson chronicles one of the great untold stories of American history: the decades-long migration of black citizens who fled the South for northern and western cities, in search of a better life. From 1915 to 1970, this exodus of almost six million people changed the face of America. Wilkerson compares this epic migration to the migrations of other peoples in history. She interviewed more than a thousand people, and gained access to new data and official records, to write this definitive and vividly dramatic account of how these American journeys unfolded, altering our cities, our country, and ourselves.

#24

Mama
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by Terry McMillan 

Mass Market Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Pocket; First Edition edition (January 1, 1994)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0671884484
ISBN-13: 978-0671884482
Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches

As men enter and exit her life, Mildred Peacock, a feisty, funny survivor, is determined to raise her five children into strong adults.

Mama is McMillan's first novel.

#24

Acts of Faith: Daily Meditations for People of Color
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by Iyanla Vanzant

Acts of Faith is a thoughtful and inspirational book that explores the unique pressures of people of color today with great insight and sensitivity. This book is the minimum daily requirement for people of color in search of inspiration and support.

#25

Prime Choice: Perry Skky Jr. Series #1
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Reading level: Young Adult
Paperback: 208 pages
Publisher: Dafina (July 1, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 075821863X
ISBN-13: 978-0758218636
Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.6 x 0.6 inches

Torn between his desire for sex and his desire to please God, Perry Skky Jr. needs some guidance--before he lets down both himself and the Lord...

It's Perry's senior year--and he has every reason to feel good about himself. One of the most popular kids in his class, he's not only the best football player in the state, he's also acing every one of his AP classes. College recruiters are beating down his door to sign him. He even has such a good thing with his girlfriend, Tori, that he finally feels ready to take their relationship to the next level.

There's only one problem. Tori isn't ready. Her Christian beliefs tell her she needs to save herself. And with plenty of girls to choose from, Perry is tempted to break up with Tori and start spending time with someone who is ready for something more. The choice is his: to do what feels good--or to do right by God.

#25

Great Speeches by African Americans: Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Barack Obama, and Others
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Paperback: 160 pages
Publisher: Dover Publications (April 28, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0486447618
ISBN-13: 978-0486447612
Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.1 x 0.5 inches

This anthology comprises speeches by influential figures in the history of African-American culture and politics. Contents include the famous "Ain't I a Woman?" speech by Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglass' immortal "What, to the Slave, Is the Fourth of July?" Martin Luther King, Jr.,'s "I Have a Dream," Barack Obama, and many others.

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