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In His Own Write
By John Lennon. 2010
The Probability of Everything
By Sarah Everett. 2023
“One of the best books I have read this year (maybe ever).” —Colby Sharp, Nerdy Book ClubNPR Books We Love…
2023 | Publishers Weekly Best of 2023 | Winner of the Governor General's Literary Awards for Young People's LiteratureA heart-wrenching middle grade debut about Kemi, an aspiring scientist who loves statistics and facts, as she navigates grief and loss at a moment when life as she knows it changes forever.Eleven-year-old Kemi Carter loves scientific facts, specifically probability. It's how she understands the world and her place in it. Kemi knows her odds of being born were 1 in 5.5 trillion and that the odds of her having the best family ever were even lower. Yet somehow, Kemi lucked out.But everything Kemi thought she knew changes when she sees an asteroid hover in the sky, casting a purple haze over her world. Amplus-68 has an 84.7% chance of colliding with earth in four days, and with that collision, Kemi’s life as she knows it will end.But over the course of the four days, even facts don’t feel true to Kemi anymore. The new town she moved to that was supposed to be “better for her family” isn’t very welcoming. And Amplus-68 is taking over her life, but others are still going to school and eating at their favorite diner like nothing has changed. Is Kemi the only one who feels like the world is ending?With the days numbered, Kemi decides to put together a time capsule that will capture her family’s truth: how creative her mother is, how inquisitive her little sister can be, and how much Kemi's whole world revolves around her father. But no time capsule can change the truth behind all of it, that Kemi must face the most inevitable and hardest part of life: saying goodbye."My heart hurt as I raced through the last chapters of this unique book that shines a light on family, friends, grief, and love." —Lisa Yee, author of Maizy Chen's Last ChanceBlues and Trouble: Twelve Stories (Banner Books)
By Tom Piazza. 1996
Exploring the diverse landscape of American life, the stories in Blues and Trouble: Twelve Stories capture the lives of people…
caught between circumstance and their own natures or on the run from fate, from a Jewish couple encountering a dealer in Nazi memorabilia to the troubled family of a Gulf Coast fisherman awaiting a hurricane. Tom Piazza’s debut short story collection, originally published in 1996, heralded the arrival of a startlingly original and vital presence in American fiction and letters. Set in Memphis, New Orleans, Florida, Texas, New York City, and elsewhere, the stories echo voices from Ernest Hemingway to Robert Johnson in their sharp eye for detail and their emotional impact. New to this volume is an introduction written by the author. Drawing themes, forms, and stylistic approaches from blues and country music, these stories present a tough, haunting vision of a landscape where the social and spiritual ground shifts constantly underfoot.Bivouac
By Kwame Dawes. 2019
The death of a Jamaican man's father raises questions about the father's political endeavors, and about the plight of 1980s…
Jamaica. Kwame Dawes has been named a 2019 Windham-Campbell Prize Recipient in poetry "Few other novels encapsMy hands sing the blues: Romare Bearden's childhood journey
By Jeanne Walker Harvey. 2011
As a young boy growing up in North Carolina, Romare Bearden listened to his great-grandmother's Cherokee stories and heard the…
whistle of the train that took his people to the North people who wanted to be free. When Romare and his family, faced with Jim Crow laws, boarded that same train, he watched out the window as the world whizzed by. Later he captured those scenes in a famous painting, Watching the Good Trains Go By. Using that painting as inspiration and creating a text influenced by the blues and jazz that Bearden loved, Jeanne Walker Harvey tells the story of Bearden's children by describing the patchwork of daily southern life that Romare saw out the train's window and the story of his arrival in shimmering New York City. Artists and critics today praise Bearden's collages for their visual metaphors honoring his past, African American culture, and the human experience. 2011. For grades K-3All aboard the schooltrain: a little story from the Great Migration
By Glenda Armand. 2023
Good Vibrations: A Children's Picture Book (LyricPop #0)
By Brian Wilson, Mike Love. 1966
Mike Love and Brian Wilson's world-famous song, gloriously illustrated by Paul Hoppe, will bring smiles to the faces of children…
and parents alike. I'm pickin' up good vibrations She's giving me the excitations (oom bop bop)Hadriana in All My Dreams
By René Depestre. 2017
Included in "10 Best New Books to Read This May," Chicago Review of Books."Originally published in 1988 and written by…
one of Haiti’s seminal authors, still with us at age 90, this vibrant, erotically charged work shows how humans counter fear—particularly the fear of death—in varied more or less magical ways, even as it paints a fresh and enticing picture of Haitian culture. . .Luscious and affirmative reading, this is work both the serious-minded and the lighthearted can enjoy."—Library Journal, Starred review"Depestre presents a rich and nuanced exploration of large and significant themes expertly couched in one fantastical, expertly translated tale."—Booklist, Starred review"One-of-a-kind...[A] ribald, free-wheeling magical-realist novel, first published in 1988 and newly, engagingly translated by Glover. . .An icon of Haitian literature serves up a hotblooded, rib-ticking, warmhearted mélange of ghost story, cultural inquiry, folk art, and véritable l'amour."—Kirkus Reviews, Starred review"The sights and sounds of Haiti’s vibrant carnival season invigorate this tale of vodou and Haitian culture. . .The truth of Hadriana’s fate proves more poignant than horrifying, but in Depestre’s hands, this incident is a touchstone of a culture in which distinctions between the empirical and spiritual are obscured, and whose traditional celebrations and beliefs introduce an element of the mythic into the everyday. Eroticism and humor course through his narrative. Depestre’s intimacy with his subject matter and his familiarity with the people he portrays—the story is set in his hometown, at the time when he was 12 years old—give readers an insider’s look at Jacmelian culture."—Publishers Weekly"For the first time, this slim and beguiling novel about the mysterious death and possible zombification of a young woman on her wedding day has been translated into English...With its lyrical commentary on the origins of myth, this mesmeric and frequently erotic work transcends its focus on a young woman to address the complexities of race, class and religion."—Shelf Awareness for Readers, Starred ReviewWith a foreword by Edwidge Danticat. Translated from the French by Kaiama L. Glover.Hadriana in All My Dreams, winner of the prestigious Prix Renaudot, takes place primarily during Carnival in 1938 in the Haitian village of Jacmel. A beautiful young French woman, Hadriana, is about to marry a Haitian boy from a prominent family. But on the morning of the wedding, Hadriana drinks a mysterious potion and collapses at the altar. Transformed into a zombie, her wedding becomes her funeral. She is buried by the town, revived by an evil sorcerer, and then disappears into popular legend.Set against a backdrop of magic and eroticism, and recounted with delirious humor, the novel raises universal questions about race and sexuality. The reader comes away enchanted by the marvelous reality of Haiti's Vodou culture and convinced of Depestre's lusty claim that all beings—even the undead ones—have a right to happiness and true love.From the introduction by Edwidge Danticat:Despestre offers us the kind of tale we rarely get in the hundreds of zombie stories featuring Haitians, stories set both inside and outside of Haiti. In Hadriana in All My Dreams we get both langaj—the secret language of Haitian Vodou—as well as the type of descriptive, elegiac, erotic, and satirical language, and the artistic license needed to create this most nuanced and powerful novel.Kaiama L. Glover is an associate professor of French and Africana Studies at Barnard College, Columbia University. She is the author of Haiti Unbound: A Spiralist Challenge to the Postcolonial Canon, coeditor of Yale French Studies' Revisiting Marie Vieux-Chauvet: Paradoxes of Postcolonial Feminine (issue no. 128), and translator of Frenkétienne's Ready to Burst and Marie Vieux-Chauvet's Dance on the Volcano. She has received awards from the National EndowmGood Times Roll: A Children's Picture Book (LyricPop #0)
By Ric Ocasek. 1978
Ric Ocasek's rock and roll classic, "Good Times Roll"—one of the Cars' hit songs—leaps off the page in this exhilarating…
picture book. "Let the good times roll Let them knock you around Let the good times roThe Game Don't Change
By Mazaradi Fox. 2016
"Having grown up on the streets of South Jamaica, Queens, Fox wrote this first novel in 2013 while incarcerated at…
the Orleans Correctional Facility. After moving to rap music as a pal of artist 50 Cent, in 2014 the author unfortunately was gunned down by a killer in a black ski mask. Here, Teen DeMarco Jones finds himself in a correctional center to do a bid for 18 months. By luck he breaks out and returns to the streets and starts dealing."--Library Journal"[A] paean to hip-hop life in Queens . . . [Protagonist] DeMarco’s rise is meteoric, and his fall as fast and inevitable, in this tragic tale filled with street talk."--Publishers Weekly"The only novel from deceased legendary Queens rapper Mazaradi Fox, a member of 50 Cent’s G-Unit crew."--Publishers Weekly, Fall 2016 Announcements"A gripping, gritty, riveting read from cover to cover...Highly recommended."--Midwest Book Review"As gritty as they come."--Ozzie's Book Blog"The Game Don't Change is a story from the streets, where life and death are closer than you think. Mazaradi Fox knew how to play the game better than most, and his life and experience shine through every page of this tough and unsentimental book. An instant classic of NYC thug life."--Prodigy of Mobb DeepMazaradi Fox wrote this novel in 2013 during his incarceration at the Orleans Correctional Facility. The Game Don't Change opens when DeMarco Jones escapes from a juvenile detention center. Successfully evading the law, DeMarco builds his reputation on the streets of Queens as a fearless and charismatic drug hustler. Though he is only sixteen, women of all ages can't get enough of him. He quickly finds, however, that he must battle ferociously to maintain his new kingpin status.Lean on Me: A Children's Picture Book (LyricPop #0)
By Bill Withers. 1972
Bill Withers's classic anthem to friendship lives on in this moving children's picture book adaptation. Lean on me When you’re…
not strong And I’ll be your friend I’ll help you carry on . . . Lean on Me is an endearing children's picture book that beautifully demonstrates the power of friendship, based on Bill Withers's classic song of the same name. “Lean on Me” appeared on Withers's 1972 album Still Bill. The song reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and ranked #208 on Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list. With Withers's lyrics and illustrations by Rachel Moss, this picture book follows four close friends through the stages of their childhood, from elementary school until their high school graduation. Withers’s classic and loving refrain serenades them as they lean arm-in-arm into adulthood.Move the Crowd: A Children's Picture Book (LyricPop #0)
By Eric Barrier, William Griffin. 1981
Innovative illustrator Kirk Parrish brings the iconic song "Move the Crowd" to life for the first time as a children's…
picture book. With knowledge of self, there's nothing I can't solve At 360 degrees I revolve This is actual fact, iWhere Is My Mind?: A Children's Picture Book
By Black Francis, Alex Eben Meyer. 1988
Black Francis's cult classic song from Pixies' album Surfer Rosa is brought to life as a whimsical adventure story in…
this vibrant picture book. "Where is my mind? Where is my mind? Way out in thThe long-awaited paperback reissue of the acclaimed Jamaican author's debut novel. The incredible debut novel from 2015 Man Booker Prize…
winner Marlon James Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and the Commonwealth Writers' Prize "A powerful first novel...Writing with assurance and control, James uses his small-town drama to suggest the larger anguish of a postcolonial society struggling for its own identity." --New York Times Book Review, Editors' Choice "A Brief History of Seven Killings might have won the Booker, and Black Leopard, Red Wolf might be the next Game of Thrones, but if you're looking for an entry point into the much-lauded, highly raucous mind of Marlon James, his 2005 debut could actually be the place to start: it's just as powerful and intricately written as James's later works, but it's quite a bit shorter, and easier to carry around with you everywhere you go, something you will surely want to do." --Literary Hub, 10 Debut Novels Nobody Reads Anymore--But Should "Elements coalesce in a Jamaican stew spicier than jerk chicken. First novelist James moves effortlessly between lyrical patois and trenchant observations...It's 150-proof literary rum guaranteed to intoxicate and enchant. Highly recommended." --Library Journal, Starred review "Set in James's native Jamaica, this dynamic, vernacular debut sings of the fierce battle between two flawed preachers...an exciting read." --Publishers Weekly "A mesmerizing treatise on the nature of good and evil, faith and madness, guilt and forgiveness, eloquently captured in a microcosm of society." --Booklist "John Crow's Devil engages the political legacy of Frantz Fanon without sacrificing the power of fiction...There's a temptation to compare John Crow's Devil to novels by Toni Morrison or Earl Lovelace, among others, and there are certainly similarities to those works in this one. There is even an echo of Faulkner in the meticulous, multi-vocal rendering of conflicts entrenched in village life. But more important than any comparison is that James' debut is very much its own book, and stands as tall on its own as it would with any other volume beside it." --Small Spiral Notebook This stunning debut novel tells the story of a biblical struggle in a remote Jamaican village in 1957. With language as taut as classic works by Cormac McCarthy, and a richness reminiscent of early Toni Morrison, Marlon James reveals his unique narrative command that will firmly establish his place as one of today's freshest, most talented young writers. In the village of Gibbeah--where certain women fly and certain men protect secrets with their lives--magic coexists with religion, and good and evil are never as they seem. In this town, a battle is fought between two men of God. The story begins when a drunkard named Hector Bligh (the "Rum Preacher") is dragged from his pulpit by a man calling himself "Apostle" York. Handsome and brash, York demands a fire-and-brimstone church, but sets in motion a phenomenal and deadly struggle for the soul of Gibbeah itself. John Crow's Devil is a novel about religious mania, redemption, sexual obsession, and the eternal struggle inside all of us between the righteous and the wicked.A Tall History of Sugar
By Curdella Forbes. 2019
A haunting, epic Caribbean love story, reminiscent of García Márquez's Love in the Time of Cholera.WINNER of the 2020 Hurston/Wright…
Legacy Award for Fiction!"A Tall History of Sugar is a gift for grown-up fans of fairy tales and those who love fiction that metes out hard and surprising truths. Forbes's writing combines the gale-force imagination of Margaret Atwood with the lyrical pointillism of Toni Morrison."--New York Times Book Review, Editors' Choice"A mesmerizing love story that takes place over 50 years in Jamaica."--Tayari Jones in O, the Oprah MagazineA Tall History of Sugar has been longlisted for the 2020 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature (Fiction shortlist)!"Curdella Forbes's A Tall History of Sugar is the most recent in an impressive new wave of novels by Jamaican writers--from Marlon James's Booker Prize–winning A Brief History of Seven Killings to Kei Miller's Augustown, Marcia Douglas's The Marvelous Equations of the Dread, and Nicole Dennis-Benn's Patsy, among others. Forbes provides an eclectic, feverish vision of Jamaican 'history' from the 1950s to the present glimpsed through the experiences of an abandoned mystic-child named Moshe, whose translucent skin and mismatched eyes defy racial category. Who he is and who he becomes--like the country itself--is a riddle that unfolds in episodic bursts and linguistic flourishes."--Vanity Fair, one of the Best Books of 2019"An epic tale of two soulmates: Moshe Fisher, born with mismatched eyes and pale skin that bruises easily, and Arrienne Christie, 'her skin even at birth the color of the wettest molasses, with a purple tinge under the surface.' Arrienne is his protector at school--and later his lover--but how they eventually wind up together is part of this unconventionally crafted story that spans decades, from the years before Jamaica's independence to the 2010s. Forbes' sentences are the stars here; it's a book that rewards slow, careful reading."--BuzzFeed, included in BuzzFeed's Fall 2019 PreviewA Tall History of Sugar tells the story of Moshe Fisher, a man who was "born without skin," so that no one is able to tell what race he belongs to; and Arrienne Christie, his quixotic soul mate who makes it her duty in life to protect Moshe from the social and emotional consequences of his strange appearance.The narrative begins with Moshe's birth in the late 1950s, four years before Jamaica's independence from colonial rule, and ends in the era of what Forbes calls "the fall of empire," the era of Brexit and Donald Trump. The historical trajectory layers but never overwhelms the scintillating love story as the pair fight to establish their own view of loving, against the moral force of the colonial "plantation" and its legacies that continue to affect their lives and the lives of those around them.Written in lyrical, luminous prose that spans the range of Jamaican Englishes, this remarkable story follows the couple's mysterious love affair from childhood to adulthood, from the haunted environs of rural Jamaica to the city of Kingston, and then to England--another haunted locale in Forbes's rendition.Following on the footsteps of Marlon James's debut novel, John Crow's Devil, which Akashic Books published in 2005, we are delighted to introduce another lion of Jamaican literature with the publication of A Tall History of Sugar.Strawberry Swing: A Children's Picture Book (LyricPop #0)
By Coldplay, Mitch Miller. 2008
Coldplay’s warm and infectious hit song “Strawberry Swing” finds a perfect vessel in this gentle picture book for children. "I…
remember We were walking up to strawberry swing I can't wait till the morninHow Deep Is Your Love: A Children's Picture Book
By Bee Gees. 2024
A majestic picture book based on the Bee Gees's classic love song "How deep is your love? I really mean…
to learn 'Cause we're living in a world of fools Breaking us down When they all should let us be We belong to you and me . . ." How Deep Is Your Love is a fantastical picture book based on one of the Bee Gees's biggest hits. The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart, remaining in the top ten for seventeen weeks, and won the band's first of eight GRAMMY awards. With lyrics by the Bee Gees and illustrations by J.L. Meyer, the picture book tells the tale of two bunny mermaids who meet on a rock and descend into the water together. As the bunnies escape traps, skirt around nets and hooks, and protect each other in this thrilling adventure, they realize how deep their love is. Meyer's imaginative story compliments the hit song perfectly and will delight children and adults alike.The Perfume Burned His Eyes
By Michael Imperioli. 2018
"An edgy coming-of-age romp set in New York City."--Parade"Screenwriter and Emmy-winning actor Imperioli's first novel is the atmospheric coming-of-age story…
of 17-year-old Matthew, whose mother moves them from Queens to a posh apartment in Manhattan in 1976...Matt is not an atypical teenager--think Holden Caulfield without the cynicism--but, often afraid and awkward, he is a reactor, not an actor, until the end of the novel, which, without foreshadowing, comes as a harrowing surprise...Imperioli can definitely write, and he gets high marks for the verisimilitude and empathy that he evokes in this fine crossover novel."--Booklist, Starred Review"Imperioli's book follows a Queens teen named Matthew as his shattered family moves from Jackson Heights to Manhattan, where he finds an unlikely mentor in a drug-addled Lou Reed."--New York Post"A coming-of-age tale dashed with relatable angst and humor."--EW.com"A restless Queens teenager becomes the protégé of music legend Lou Reed in Imperioli's energetic debut novel...Matthew's first-person narrative is full of endearing vulnerability, immediacy, and authenticity. This is a sweet and nostalgic coming-of-age novel."--Publishers Weekly"Imperioli's lived-in details about the city help make the world feel realistic...[The novel] is an immersive trip into its narrator's memories of a turbulent time. Some fictional trips into 1970s New York abound with nostalgia; this novel memorably opts for grit and heartbreak."--Kirkus Reviews"Imperioli delivers a spot-on coming-of-age novel...A winner."--Library Journal"Even though [Lou] Reed looms large throughout--the novel even takes its title from Reed's 'Romeo Had Juliette,' from his 1989 solo album New York--the book is much less about him and more about Matthew's own journey through adolescence in the seedier corners of 1970s New York."--Stereogum"Compelling...Lou Reed appears as a major character; he's an unlikely father figure to the teenage protagonist, Matthew, who's trying to find himself in 1976 Manhattan. The iconoclastic--and at the time, troubled--rocker inspires Matthew artistically, even as he coaxes him to walk on the wild side."--Maclean's"[Imperioli's] debut novel, The Perfume Burned His Eyes, not only deserves an award for best title, but has garnered praise from Joyce Carol Oates...This should come as no surprise...Bravo!"--Santa Barbara MagazineMatthew is a sixteen-year-old living in Jackson Heights, Queens, in 1976. After he loses his two most important male role models, his father and grandfather, his mother uses her inheritance to uproot Matthew and herself to a posh apartment building in Manhattan. Although only three miles away from his boyhood home, "the city" is a completely new and strange world to Matthew.Matthew soon befriends (and becomes a quasi-assistant to) Lou Reed, who lives with his transgender girlfriend Rachel in the same building. The drug-addled, artistic/shamanic musician eventually becomes an unorthodox father figure to Matthew, who finds himself head over heels for the mysterious Veronica, a wise-beyond-her-years girl he meets at his new school.Written from the point of view of Matthew at age eighteen, two years after the story begins, the novel concludes with an epilogue in the year 2013, three days after Lou Reed's death, with Matthew in his fifties.**Missing**: A Children's Picture Book (LyricPop #0)
By Otis Redding, Steve Cropper. 1967
Included in Publishers Weekly's Spring 2021 Children's Sneak Previews Otis Redding and Steve Cropper's timeless ode to never-ending days is…
given fresh new life in this heartwarming picture book. Sittin' in the mornin' sun I'll be sittin' when the evening comes Watching the ships roll in Then I'll watch 'em roll away again, yeah (Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay is a charming picture book set to one of the King of Soul's™ greatest hits. The song was one of the last Redding recorded, and ranked number four on Billboard's year-end Hot 100 chart, going on to win two GRAMMYs and be certified triple-platinum. With lyrics by Otis Redding and Steve Cropper and illustrations by Kaitlyn Shea O'Connor, this picture book imagines a lonesome cat fishing off a dock and hoping the fish will bite soon. (Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay is the perfect picture book for parents wanting to share a classic song with their children, allowing both to find joy in it along the way. The Otis Redding Foundation: Redding was dedicated to improving the quality of life for his community through the education and empowerment of its youth. He provided scholarships and summer music programs which continued until his untimely death on December 10, 1967. Today, the mission of the Otis Redding Foundation, established in 2007 by Mrs. Zelma Redding, is to empower, enrich, and motivate all young people through programs involving music, writing, and instrumentation. To learn more, visit: otisreddingfoundation.orgDon't Stop: A Children's Picture Book (LyricPop #0)
By Christine McVie. 1976
McVie's classic song about keeping one's chin up and rolling with life's punches is beautifully adapted to an uplifting children's…
book. Don't stop thinking about tomorrow Don't stop, it'll soon be here It'll be better than before Yesterday's gone, yesterday's gone Don't Stop is a beautifully illustrated picture book based on Christine McVie of Fleetwood Mac's enduring anthem to optimism and patience. The song was one of the singles on Fleetwood Mac's megahit album Rumours, which spent thirty-one weeks at number one on the Billboard charts and went on to sell over forty million copies worldwide. With lyrics by Christine McVie and illustrations by Nusha Ashjaee, this touching picture book imagines a rabbit willing her hibernating friends out of a long and dark winter and into joyous spring. Don't Stop is a great opportunity for fans of Christine McVie and Fleetwood Mac to introduce their favorite band to their young children, and for parents looking to share a bright message in song. Debuting in 1977, this song is one of the most identifiable of that decade A classic rock radio staple A top-five single in the US, and one of the band's most enduring hits Written by band keyboardist and vocalist Christine McVie Sung as duet between Christine McVie and guitarist Lindsey Buckingham Appears on the Grammy-winning album Rumours, which as of 2019 is the RIAA-certified tenth all-time best-selling album in the US It was the theme song for Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign "Christine McVie's lyrics paired with woodland creatures is the wholesome content we want in 2020." --Paste Magazine "With her naturally smoky low alto voice and a knack for writing simple, direct, and memorable songs about the joys and pitfalls of love, Christine McVie has had a long and productive music career." --AllMusic