The following is a selective list of African-American interest books for adult readers; compiled from publisher responses to our October PW Call for Information, these titles are publishing between September 2012 and March 2013. For a list of African-American interest books for young readers, please visit African-American Interest Young Readers' Titles, 2012–2013.
ABINGDON PRESS
Called to the Fire: A Witness of God in Mississippi (Jan., $21.99) by Chet Bush recounts the story of Dr. Charles Johnson, a black preacher who went to Mississippi in 1961 during the summer of the Freedom Rides.
AKASHIC
The Gospel According to Cane: A Novel (Feb., paper $15.95) by Courttia Newland meditates on inner-city youth in contemporary London, where everyone is the victim and no one is to blame.
The Baker’s Son: A Memoir (Sept., $24.95; paper $15.95) by Lowell Hawthorne records the story of an immigrant family from rural Jamaica whose enterprise became the hugely successful Golden Krust Caribbean Bakery & Grill.
AMBER BOOKS
Obama Talks Back: Global Lessons: A Dialogue with America's Young Leaders (Oct., paper $19.95) by Gregory J. Reed presents students’ letters together with President Obama’s responses from his campaign through his presidency.
AMBER CLASSICS
The African American Criminal Justice Guide: Staying Alive and Out of Jail (Sept., paper $14.95) compiled by Amber Classics teaches how to fight crime in the community, survive in the criminal justice system, and much more.
AMBER/COLOSSUS
Nicki Minaj: The Woman Who Stole the World (Sept., paper $12) by Lynette Holloway uses photos and interviews to reveal the heart and soul of the modern day queen of hip-hop.
AMBER/DESMOON
Still Waters (Sept., paper $21.95) by Renee Montalvan. A small town’s outcast and the most popular boy in school somehow find themselves deeply and helplessly in love–except that the boy is a ghost.
AMISTAD
Better than Good Hair (Jan., paper $14.99) by Nikki Walton. The natural hair blogger and psychotherapist offers advice on natural hair care for women of all ages and styles.
ATLANTIC MONTHLY PRESS
Color Blind (Mar., $25) by Tom Dunkel recounts the true story of an integrated semipro baseball team that played in North Dakota during the Great Depression and whose marquee player was the pitcher Satchel Paige.
ATRIA
If Your Back’s Not Bent (Sept., $25) by Dorothy Cotton shares a personal account of her experiences at the front lines in the fight for civil rights, as the former director of the SCLC’s Citizens Education Project.
South By Southeast (Sept., $15) by Blair Underwood, Tananarive Due and Steven Barnes finds Tennyson Hardwick and his family in South Beach, Florida, filming his role in a television detective series.
On the 7th Day: A Novel (Oct., $24.99) by TD Jakes follows a couple whose love and commitment are tested when their only child is kidnapped from their gated New Orleans community.
Silent Cry (Oct., paper $15) by Dywane Birch focuses on the effects of secondhand domestic violence on children in this sequel to Beneath the Bruises.
Daddy’s Maybe (Nov., paper $15) by Pat Tucker. The ultimate daddy by default, who was stuck paying child support for a kid that DNA proved wasn’t his, is now an advocate for fathers who are being victimized by the system.
Notes to the Future: Words of Wisdom (Nov., $20) by Nelson Mandela presents more than 300 quotations gathered from privileged access to Mandela's personal archive of private papers, speeches, correspondence and recordings.
Whitney: Tribute to an Icon (Nov., $39.99) by Pat Houston and Randee St. Nicholas curates images spanning thirty years of Whitney Houston’s career.
Man Who Turned Both Cheeks (Dec., paper $16) by Gillian Royes. The second in the mystery series, set in Jamaica, featuring bartender-turned-detective Shad.
Dark Hunger (Jan., paper $15) by Joelle Sterling. The second installment of the Eternal Dead Series, in which Holland and Jonas attempt to restore their taboo love amidst a dire clash among witches, zombies, and vampires.
A Deeper Love Inside: The Porsche Santiaga Story (Jan., $26.99) by Sister Souljah tells a coming-of-age story in the words of Porsche Santiaga, Winter’s younger sister.
Domino Falls (Feb., paper $15) by Tananarive Due and Steven Barnes delivers the second in a new paranormal series exploring what happens when an alien race brings Earth to the brink of Apocalypse.
Make It Last Forever: The Do’s and the Don’ts (Feb., $24) by Keith Sweat offers help for relationship problems, based on his popular radio show “The Sweat Hotel.”
I Would Die 4 U (Mar., paper $14) by Tourè draws on new research and in-depth interviews with band members, musicologists, and Bible scholars to deconstruct the life and work of the artist known as Prince.
The Motherhood Diaries (Mar., paper $15) by ReShonda Tate Billingsley takes suggestions from social media followers to reveal imperfections of a mother trying to balance it all.
The Young and the Ruthless: Back in the Bubbles (Mar., paper $15) by Victoria Rowell continues the adventures of soap diva Calysta Jeffries who has survived a drug rehab and returned to the set to resume her role as lead actress in The Rich and the Ruthless.
AVERY
Lose It Fast, Lose It Forever: A 4-Step Permanent Weight Loss Plan from the Most Successful "Biggest Loser" of All Time (Sept., $26) by Pete Thomas. One of the most successful contestants on NBC’s The Biggest Loser shares his fitness program which has helped hundreds of his students lose weight and keep it off.
Formula 50: A 6-Week Workout and Nutrition Plan that Will Transform Your Life (Dec., $30) by 50 Cent offers 50 reasons to start working out now.
The Vegucation of Robin: How Real Food Saved My Life (Mar., $35) by Robin Quivers shares her journey to newfound health thanks to a vegan diet.
BENBELLA
Kingonomics: Twelve Innovative Currencies for Transforming Your Business and Life Inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (Jan., $24.95) by Rodney Sampson combines pertinent ideas from the life and works of Dr. King with real-life experiences to produce a guide through which one can realize their full potential and personal power.
BIBLIOASIS (dist. by Consortium)
David (Jan., paper $17.95) by Ray Robertson offers a portrait of life after the Underground Railroad, inspired by Canada’s Elgin Settlement, which by 1852 housed 75 free black families.
BLOOMSBURY
Respect Yourself (Nov., $30) by Robert Gordon chronicles the struggle of Memphis-based Stax Records to survive in an increasingly conglomerate-oriented world.
The Double V (Jan., $28) by Rawn James, Jr. narrates the history of how the struggle for equality in the military helped give rise to their fight for equality in civilian society.
Gospel of Freedom (Mar., $23) by Jonathan Rieder delves into Martin Luther King, Jr.’s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" to illuminate both its timeless message and its crucial position in the history of civil rights.
BLUE RIDER PRESS
A Woman Like Me (Sept., $26.95) by Bettye LaVette recounts a story of persistence by one of R&B’s true “soul survivors.”
BOA EDITIONS (dist. by Consortium)
The Collected Poems of Lucille Clifton 1965-2010 (Sept., $35) edited by Kevin Young and Michael S. Glaser combines all eleven of Lucille Clifton's published collections with sixty-nine previously unpublished poems.
CASH MONEY CONTENT BOOKS
Animal (Oct., paper $14.99) by K’Wan follows the infamous fugitive from the Hood Rat series on a revenge mission from the rugged streets of Puerto Rico to Harlem, the scene of the original crime.
Fly Betty (Feb., paper $14.95) by Treasure Blue. The very tools Betty used so effectively against wealthy men begin to turn against her – and deadly consequences are sure to follow.
Airtight Willie and Me (Mar., paper $14.99) by Iceberg Slim delivers six slices of city life through the terrifying urban streets from slick con men, classic tales of revenge, to a heist gone awry, Robert Beck, the man many know as Iceberg Slim.
CROWN
The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo (Sept., $27) by Tom Reiss reveals the true story of General Alex Dumas, son of a black slave and as father of the novelist Alexandre Dumas, the inspiration behind his classics The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers.
DA CAPO
A Disease in the Public Mind: A New Understanding of Why We Fought the Civil War (Mar.,$26.99) by Thomas Fleming explores why the United States became the only nation in the world to fight a war to end slavery.
DAFINA
Almost Doesn’t Count (Sept., paper $15) by Angela Winters follows three ambitious ladies who fight to get to the top amid the glitz and glam of Washington D.C.
Another Man Will (Sept., paper $15) by Daaimah Poole revolves around three sisters on the hunt for the perfect man.
Divine Intervention (Oct., paper $15) by Lutishia Lovely returns with the seventh installment of the Hallelujah Love Series.
A Gangster and a Gentleman (Oct., paper $15) by Kiki Swinson & De’Nesha Diamond collaborate in a hot urban fiction anthology.
Red Hot (Oct., paper $6.99) by Niobia Bryant delivers a scorching contemporary romance featuring the Strong family.
Holy Mayhem (Nov., paper $15) by Pat G’Orge-Walker returns with a tale of two wannabe crime investigators and their equally neurotic pet dog, Felony.
Love on the Run (Nov., paper $6.99) by Zuri Day introduces the three fine Morgan brothers who have it all, except what their mama wants most for them: wives.
Sexy Little Liar (Nov., paper $15) by Noire brings the second installment of the trilogy following the escapades of a NYC hustler pretending to be the long-lost daughter of an oil-rich Texas family.
What He’s Been Missing (Dec., paper $15) by Grace Octavia looks at one woman's journey to find happiness no matter the cost.
Gangsta Divas (Jan., paper $15) by De’Nesha Diamond brings the final installment of Memphis’s ride-or-die chicks who will do whatever it takes to get what they want.
Make Me Yours (Jan., paper $6.99) by Sophia Shaw. Island girl Rebecca has a chance encounter with new love Bryce on a trip to the United States.
The Other Side of Dare (Jan., paper $15) by Vanessa Davis Griggs continues her Blessed Trinity series with the story of two women in a battle of wills over family and faith.
Don’t Tell a Soul (Feb., paper $14) by Tiffany Warren revisits the trio of faithful friends who are definitely older—but are they wiser?
Breaking All My Rules (Mar., paper $15) by Trice Hickman returns with a fun and relatable story about an uptown girl who meets her downtown match.
The Eleventh Commandment (Mar., paper $15) by Lutishia Lovely continues the Hallelujah Love series with the members of Kingdom Citizens Christian Center who just can’t seem to stay out of drama.
GOTHAM BOOKS
It's Complicated (But It Doesn't Have to Be): A Modern Guide to Finding and Keeping Love (Oct., $22.50) by Paul Carrick Brunson presents an optimistic and plainspoken dating guide to finding romance both on- and off-line.
Unstoppable: From Underdog to Undefeated: How I Became a Champion (Oct., $25) by Anthony Robles shares how despite being born without his right leg, he defied the odds to become an all-American wrestling champion.
GRAND CENTRAL
Shattered (Oct., paper $14.99) by Kia DuPree. Kiki's world is turned upside down when her partially deaf mother loses custody of her children, sending Kiki and her siblings into foster care.
Politics. Escorts. Blackmail. (Dec., paper $14.99) by Pynk explores the call-girl industry as it spills over into the world of New York City politics.
The Ex-Wife (Jan., paper $14.99) by Candice Dow. Falling in love with realtor Cameron is perfect for Ayana–until a woman calls in to her radio show claiming that he’s her husband.
The Man in 3B (Jan., $24.99) by Carl Weber. Desirable new tenant Darryl Graham values his privacy–so when he’s murdered, his neighbors become the prime suspects.
The Perfect Marriage (Jan., $19.99) by Kimberla Lawson Roby. Denise and Derrek Shaw are the perfect American couple–with secret, dangerous addictions to drugs.
The Rich Girls' Club (Mar., $19.99) by HoneyB. After convincing Brooks Kennedy to run for governor of California, Morgan hatches a campaign strategy involving sexually blackmailing each opponent.
Sister Mine (Mar., $23.99) by Nalo Hopkinson. When her father goes missing, Makeda will have to find her own power if she's to have a hope of saving him.
GRAYWOLF PRESS
Percival Everett by Virgil Russell (Feb., paper $15) by Percival Everett offers a clever meditation on the nature of narrative and the power of imagination.
HARLEQUIN KIMANI
Merry Sexy Christmas (Nov., paper $6.99) by Beverly Jenkins, Kayla Perrin, and Maureen Smith. Brand-new collection of holiday stories written by three of the genre’s authors.
My Only Christmas Wish (Nov., paper $6.99) by J. M. Jeffries. All Darcy Bennett wants for Christmas is to retain control of her family’s department store–until stubborn and sexy Eli Austin tries to edge her out without a fight.
Any Way You Want It (Dec., paper $6.99) by Maureen Smith. Elite escort agency owner Zandra is not immune to fantasies—especially when it comes to her childhood friend, gorgeous former Navy SEAL Remington Brand.
A Little Holiday Temptation (Dec., paper $6.99) by Janice Sims. With the magic of the holiday season around them, will Erik be able to show Ana that he’s the only one for her?
Bachelor Unclaimed (Feb., paper $6.99) by Brenda Jackson. Former mayoral candidate Ainsley St. James accepts a job covering a breaking story, only to discover that the island’s most desirable recluse is the love she has yet to forget!
Decadent Dreams (Mar., paper $6.99) by A.C. Arthur. Malik has longed after talented baker Belinda for years, and now she’s coming on to him—or is she?
HARPER
The Cutting Season (Sept., $25.99) by Attica Locke intertwines a tale of two murders separated by over a century with themes of race, class and justice in contemporary America.
HARPERONE
Beyond the Possible: 50 Years of Creating Radical Change in a Community Called Glide (Feb., $25.99) by Cecil Williams and Janice Mirikitani offers a lesson in universal love, unconditional acceptance, and the power of change.
HARVARD UNIV. PRESS / BELKNAP PRESS
River of Dark Dreams: Slavery and Empire in the Cotton Kingdom (Feb., $35) looks at the slave economy of the lower Mississippi Valley slavery through its ambition, economy, and international reach.
HUMAN KINETICS
Dave Bing: A Life of Challenge (Nov., paper $17.95) by Drew Sharp chronicles the story of a figure whose will to succeed, refusal to make excuses for setbacks, and efforts to contribute to society set him apart.
INTERLINK
A Bit of Difference (Dec., $25) by Sefi Atta. A Nigerian expatriate in London navigates the differences between forgotten images of Africa and the realities of contemporary Nigerian life.
IT BOOKS
Purpose: An Immigrant’s Story (Sept, $26.99) by Wyclef Jean offers a personal account of poverty, immigration, religion, father/son relationships, celebrity, and philanthropy.
ALICE JAMES BOOKS
Black Crow Dress (Dec., paper $15.95) by Roxane Beth Johnson delivers a haunting collection of poems about emancipation of slaves in their myriad voices as well as a meditation on the self.
KNOPF
The Twelve Tribes of Hattie (Dec., $24.95) by Ayana Mathis tells the story of the children of the Great Migration through the trials of one unforgettable family.
Sugar in the Blood: A Family's Story of Slavery and Empire (Jan., $27.95) by Andrea Stuart looks at the interdependence of sugar, slavery, and colonial settlement through the prism of the author's own family history.
The Supremes At Earl’s All You Can Eat (Mar., $24.95) by Edward Kelsey Moore. A debut novel about three best girlfriends, their favorite hangout--the first black-owned business in downtown Plainview, Indiana--and their life together growing up during Civil Rights to the present.
NORTON
Angles of Ascent: A Norton Anthology of Contemporary African American Poetry (Feb., paper $24.95) demonstrates a wide range of styles and forms from more than seventy renowned poets.
The Collected Poems of Ai (Feb., $35) gathers all eight of the multiracial poet’s books into one volume of unflinching portrayals of those who dwell in society’s margins.
OXFORD UNIV. PRESS
Articulate While Black: Barack Obama, Language, and Race in the U.S. (Oct., $24.95) by H. Samy Alim and Geneva Smitherman addresses language and racial politics in the U.S. through an insightful examination of President Obama's language use–and America's response to it.
The Last Segregated Hour: The Memphis Kneel-Ins and the Campaign for Southern Church Desegregation (Nov., $29.95) by Stephen R. Haynes explains the little-studied tactic for bringing attention to segregationist policies in Southern churches.
Acting White? Rethinking Race in Post-Racial America (Feb., $29.95) by Devon W. Carbado and Mitu Gulati argues that racial judgments are often based not just on skin color, but on how a person conforms to behavior stereotypically associated with a certain race.
African American National Biography (full 2nd edition) (Feb., $1,295) edited by Henry Louis Gates and Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham expands the original eight volumes to twelve, and presents history through a mosaic of the lives of nearly 5,000 individuals.
Black Citymakers: How The Philadelphia Negro Changed Urban America (Mar., $35) by Marcus Black revisits the Black Seventh Ward, documenting its socioeconomic, cultural, and political history.
ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD
African American Families Today: Myths and Realities (Oct., $36) by Angela J. Hattery and Earl Smith draws on the latest research to debunk many common myths about black families in America.
Disposable Heroes: The Betrayal of African American Veterans (Oct., $36) by Benjamin Fleury-Steiner makes a case for ending the enduring unemployment, deficient health care, and substandard housing that continue to plague many urban African American communities.
The Moment: Barack Obama, Jeremiah Wright, and the Firestorm at Trinity United Church of Christ (Oct., $40) by Carl Grant and Shelby J. Grant illustrates the thorny intersections of religion, race, politics, and the media in the United States.
Paul Robeson: A Life of Activism and Art (Feb., $38) by Lindsey R. Swindall argues that while Robeson leaned toward Socialism, a Pan-African perspective is fundamental to understanding his life as an artist and political advocate.
RUSSELL SAGE FOUNDATION PUBLICATIONS
Documenting Desegregation: Racial and Gender Segregation in Private-Sector Employment Since the Civil Rights Act (Sept., paper $45) by Kevin Stainback and Donald Tomaskovic-Devey uses data from more than six million workplaces collected by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) since 1966 to explore the ways legislation can affect employer behavior and produce change.
SCARECROW PRESS
Robeson: An American Ballad (Oct., $50) by Arnold H. Lubasch details the highs and lows of Robeson’s life and career and offers several personal anecdotes.
Blacks in Blackface: A Sourcebook on Early Black Musical Shows: 2nd Edition (Nov., $250) by Henry T. Sampson features significantly revised, expanded, and new material to update the original, published in 1980.
SKYHORSE
The Man Called Brown Condor: The Forgotten History of an African American Fighter Pilot (Feb., $24.95) by Thomas E. Simmons uses decades of first-person research to recall John Charles Robinson, who grew up in segregationist Mississippi and became the commander of the Imperial Ethiopian Air Force during the Italo-Ethiopian War of 1935.
SMITHSONIAN BOOKS
African Textiles Today (Oct., $45) by Chris Spring illustrates how African history is read, told, and recorded in cloth, and discusses the impact of African designs across the world.
SPIEGEL & GRAU
Living and Dying in Brick City: An E.R. Doctor Returns Home (Feb., $25) by Sampson Davis. A personal look at the healthcare crisis facing inner-city communities, from an emergency room physician who grew up in the neighborhood he is now serving.
ST. MARTIN’S PRESS
Drop Dead, Gorgeous (Mar., $24.99) by J.D. Mason. Jordan made a huge mistake when he put his hands on Desdimona, thinking that he could get away with it. But he made an even bigger mistake by not making sure that she was dead.
ST. MARTIN’S GRIFFIN
Project Chick II: What’s Done in the Dark (Mar., $14.99 paper) by Nikki Turner. When Tressa’s twin sons discover that the man who raised them had a hand in killing their father, nothing can stop them from plotting revenge.
TEMPLE UNIV. PRESS
Black Regions of the Imagination: African American Writers between Nation and the World (Oct., paper $28.95) by Eve Dunbar examines how Zora Neale Hurston, Richard Wright, James Baldwin, and Chester Himes were all pressured by critics and publishers to enlighten mainstream (white) audiences about race and African American culture.
Fire on the Prairie: Harold Washington, Chicago Politics, and the Roots of the Obama Presidency (Nov., $32.95 paper) by Gary Rivlin. Revised edition examines how Washington's success inspired a young community organizer named Barack Obama to turn to the electoral arena as a vehicle for change.
On Intellectual Activism (Nov., paper $25.95) by Patricia Hill Collins examines both the role of the intellectual in public life and how well questions of contemporary social issues are communicated to the public at large.
Speaking of Race and Class: The Student Experience at an Elite College (Nov., paper $29.95) by Elizabeth Aries studies 55 Amherst students–both affluent and lower-income, both white and black–in their freshmen and senior years to determine what each group learned about issues of race and class.
A City Within a City: The Black Freedom Struggle in Grand Rapids, Michigan (Dec., paper $29.95) by Todd E. Robinson examines the civil rights movement in the North by concentrating on the struggles for equality in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
No More Invisible Man: Race and Gender in Men’s Work (Dec., $25.95 paper) by Adia Harvey Wingfield charts the ways that gender, race, and class collectively shape black professional men's work experiences.
Envisioning Emancipation: Black Americans and the End of Slavery (Jan., $35) by Deborah Willis and Barbara Krauthamer amasses nearly 150 photographs from the antebellum days of the 1850s through the New Deal era of the 1930s, to display the impact of emancipation on African Americans born before and after the Emancipation Proclamation.
Kongo Graphic Writing and Other Narratives of the Sign (Feb., $75) by Bárbaro Martínez-Ruiz overviews the social, religious, and historical contexts in which the Kongo system of graphic writing of the Bakongo people in Central Africa developed and spread to the Caribbean.
My Culture, My Color, My Self: Heritage, Resilience, and Community in the Lives of Young Adults (Feb., paper $24.95) by Toby S. Jenkins uses interviews with young adults plus critical essays to show how people of color use their culture as both a politic of social survival and a tool for social change.
Pimping Fictions: African American Crime Literature and the Untold Story of Black Pulp Publishing (Feb., paper $24.95) by Justin Gifford provides a hard-boiled investigation of hundreds of pulpy paperbacks written by Chester Himes, Donald Goines, and Iceberg Slim (aka Robert Beck), among many others.
We Shall Be Free! Black Communist Protests in Seven Voices (Mar., $54.50) by Walter T. Howard recognizes the intellectual contributions found in the protest writings of seven historically significant black Communists—B.D. Amis, Harry Haywood, James W. Ford, Benjamin J. Davis, Jr., Louise Thompson Patterson, William Patterson, and Claudia Jones.
TOUCHSTONE
Real Wifeys: Hustle Hard (Jan., paper $14.99) by Meesha Mink. The final novel in the Real Wifeys trilogy follows Suga Alvarez as she confronts the demons of her past and gets pulled into a dangerous criminal lifestyle.
TRANSACTION PUBLISHERS
Contours of African American Politics, Volume 1: Race and Representation in American Politics (Oct.); Volume 2: Black Politics and the Dynamics of Social Change (Oct.); and Volume 3: Into the Future: The Demise of African American Politics? (Mar., paper $39.95 each) edited by Georgia A. Persons chronicles scholarship on African-American politics as it appeared in the National Political Science Review (NPSR).
Power of the Mayor: David Dinkins: 1990-1993 (Nov., $39.95) by Chris McNickle argues that David Dinkins received less credit than he is due because of his failure to guide the city to racial harmony.
UNIV. OF CALIFORNIA PRESS
The Black Revolution on Campus (Sept., $34.95) by Martha Biondi combines research and interviews from participants to tell the story of how students turned the slogan “black power” into a social movement.
Black Against Empire: The History and Politics of the Black Panther Party (Jan., $34.95) by Joshua Bloom and Waldo E. Martin, Jr. analyzes the history and politics of the Black Panthers.
UNIV. OF NORTH CAROLINA PRESS
The Fire of Freedom: Abraham Galloway and the Slaves' Civil War (Sept., $30) by David S. Cecelski illuminates the life of Abraham H. Galloway (1837-70), who rose out of bondage to become one of the first black men elected to the North Carolina legislature.
The Making of Black Detroit in the Age of Henry Ford (Sept., $45) by Beth Tompkins Bates demonstrates how by World War II Henry Ford and his company had helped kindle the civil rights movement in Detroit without intending to do so.
Doctoring Freedom: The Politics of African American Medical Care in Slavery and Emancipation (Oct., $37.50) by Gretchen Long recalls African Americans who fought for access to both medical care and medical education.
Fifty Years in Chains: Or, the Life of an American Slave (Dec., $30) by Charles Ball. A reprint of an 1859 narrative in which Ball describes his experiences as a slave.
Harriet, the Moses of Her People (Dec., paper $15) by Sarah Hopkins Bradford. A reprint of an 1886 edition of the biography of Harriet Tubman.
The Life of Toussaint L'Ouverture, the Negro Patriot of Hayti, Comprising an Account of the Struggle for Liberty in the Island, and a Sketch of Its History to the Present Period (Dec., paper $30) by John Relly Beard. A reprint of the book first published in London in 1853 on the fiftieth anniversary of L'Ouverture's death.
The Strange Career of Porgy and Bess: Race, Culture, and America’s Most Famous Opera (Dec., $39.95) by Ellen Noonan examines the opera's long history of invention and reinvention.
From the Bullet to the Ballot: The Illinois Chapter of the Black Panther Party and Racial Coalition Politics in Chicago (Feb., $34.95) by Jakobi Williams demonstrates that the city's Black Power movement was both a response to and an extension of the city's civil rights movement.
Power to the Poor: Black-Brown Coalition and the Fight for Economic Justice, 1960-1974 (Feb., $35) by Gordon K. Mantler challenges readers to rethink the multiracial history of the civil rights movement and the difficulty of sustaining political coalitions.
Dispossession: Discrimination Against African American Farmers in the Age of Civil Rights (Mar., $34.95) by Pete Daniel chronicles black farmers' fierce struggles to remain on the land in the face of discrimination by bureaucrats in the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
YALE UNIV. PRESS
American Lynching (Oct., $35) by Ashradf H.A. Rushdy shows how lynching in American has endured, evolved, and changed in meaning over the course of three centuries.
Carrie Mae Weems: Three Decades of Photography and Video (Oct., $50) edited by Kathryn E. Delmez traces the artist’s commitment to addressing issues of social justice through her artwork.
Black Ranching Frontiers: African Cattle Herders of the Atlantic World, 1500-1900 (Nov., $45) by Andrew Sluyter demonstrates that Africans played significant creative roles in establishing open-range cattle ranching in the Americas.
From Peace to Freedom: Quaker Rhetoric and the Birth of American Antislavery, 1657 – 1761 (Nov., $35) by Brycchan Carey shows how the Quakers became the first organization to take a stand against the slave trade.
Eslanda (Jan., $35) by Barbara Ransby refocuses attention on Eslanda Cardozo Goode Robeson, anthropologist, journalist, feminist, antiracist activist, largely hidden behind the large shadow cast by her famous husband Paul Robeson.
ZONDERVAN
Grace, Gold, and Glory: My Leap of Faith: The Gabrielle Douglas Story (Dec., $24.99) by Gabrielle Douglas. The gold-winning U.S. gymnast and Olympic All-Around champion tells her personal story of faith, perseverance, and determination.
