African American Fiction Magic

A Ghanaian journalist based in the US returns to Ghana with a few friends for the holidays in December 2019. That month is meant to be the climax of the Ghanaian government’s year-long "Year of Return" initiative, commemorating 400 years since the first slaves from West Africa arrived in Virginia. "The Year of Return" takes on a whole new meaning when large numbers of ghosts—formerly enslaved Africans who drowned during the Middle Passage—emerge from the Atlantic Ocean, leading to months of global pandemonium, and concluding with a series of vengeful homicides.

Blue’s daughter, Tsitra, is dying a horrific death. Thousands of miles away, Blue feels time slowing and hears voices, followed by an 18-month stillness. More than a century before, Blue’s grandparents, Amanda and Palmer, attend a salon party in New Orleans. It’s a veritable array of who’s-who within pre-Civil War social circles.

After Winna's little sister breaks her glasses, her grandfather gives her an old-timey pair of spectacles that belonged to her great-aunt Estelle. The specs are silver and perfectly circular, with tiny stars on the bridge and earpieces that curl all the way around her ears. Best of all, they're magic. Because when Winna makes a wish beginning with the words "What if"—that is, when she speculates—the spectacles grant it.

Since it was first published in 1964, Whistle for Willie has delighted millions with the story of Peter, who longs to whistle for his dog.

When twelve-year-old Rory applies for a job at a spooky old mansion in his gloomy seaside town, he finds the owner, Lord Foxglove, odd and unpleasant. But he and his mom need the money, so he takes the job anyway. Rory soon finds out that his new boss is not just strange, he’s not even human—and he’s trying to steal the townspeople’s shadows.

Canisia Lubrin's debut fiction is that rare work of art—a brilliant, startlingly original book that combines immense literary and political force. Its structure is deceptively simple: it departs from the infamous real-life “Code Noir,” a set of historical decrees originally passed in 1685 by King Louis XIV of France defining the conditions of slavery in the French colonial empire. The original Code had fifty-nine articles; Code Noir has fifty-nine linked fictions—vivid, unforgettable, multi-layered fragments filled with globe-wise characters who desire to live beyond the ruins of the past.

For Talib Ware, the past is simply what happened yesterday. Talib “Kalim” spent centuries falling in love with the same woman, Hagar. Life after life, crossing continents and dynasties, he and Hagar, despite them changing name and form, have been drawn together. And he remembers it all. Talib has “the memory”. The ability to recall past lives and recognize souls of those he's previously known. It is a gift and a curse. For all the times he and Hagar have been drawn together throughout history, she's found some way to break his heart, tearing them painfully and sometimes fatally ...

A group of women contemplate violence after they’re sent into foreign territory to make husbands of the enemy. A support network of traumatized joggers meets to discuss the bodies they’ve found on their runs. And a town replaces its Confederate monument with a rotating cast of local residents. Slippery but muscular, sly but electric, this stunning debut collection moves from horror to magical realism to satire with total authority. In these stories, characters build and remake their sense of home, be it with one another or within themselves.

Simone "Simmy" James never had it easy. When her father's drug operation, one of the biggest on the East Coast, was dismantled, Simone lost both of her parents to the system - her father to a life sentence, and her mother to a 25-year sentence. Gone were the days of luxury cars, high-end clothes, and jewelry that Simmy had grown used to. Forced to live in overcrowded conditions in her grandmother's house, Simmy has to learn how to make money any way she can, and her cousin Jayla is happy to show her the art of high-end boosting. Things run smoothly for a while, until Jayla is arrested.

Black Girl Magic continues and deepens the work of the first BreakBeat Poets anthology by focusing on some of the most exciting Black women writing today. This anthology breaks up the myth of hip-hop as a boys’ club and asserts the truth that the cypher is a feminine form.

Chicago, 1954. When his father, Montrose, goes missing, 22-year-old army veteran Atticus Turner embarks on a road trip to New England to find him, accompanied by his uncle George - publisher of The Safe Negro Travel Guide - and his childhood friend Letitia. On their journey to the manor of Mr. Braithwhite - heir to the estate that owned one of Atticus’ ancestors - they encounter both mundane terrors of white America and malevolent spirits that seem straight out of the weird tales George devours.

2021 Next Generation Indie Book Awards Finalist - Historical Fiction Seeking to pursue his dream in music, and harboring a grave secret, young Gerard Rougeaux leaves his native Montreal for New York City in 1909, embarking on a journey that then takes him to Paris at the height of the Jazz Age. There, years later, Gerard becomes haunted by strange dreams of a boy falling through space, as his story entwines with the family he has left behind-his half-sister Jeannette and her two children, struggling to make their way in New York after the economic crash of 1929. Continuing the family epic ...

When Walt and his family relocate to Blackbird Bay, Walt thinks it’s the most boring place on earth. While his twin sister, Van, likes to spend her time skateboarding, Walt prefers to hide out in his room and work on his beloved map world, Djaruba. But shortly after their arrival, Walt discovers something extraordinary: He has the ability to make maps come to life.

ONE TOUCH CAN CHANGE EVERYTHING. As the subservient wife of an adulterous husband, Lady Eren knows how to hide her real feelings. Only once in her life did she feel like herself: on the night she unearthed a mysterious idol, with the help of her new stepson, Lane. Turns out Lane remembers that night just as clearly… albeit for different reasons. Eren was only twenty when she married his cheating father, and she has haunted his teenage dreams ever since. Now, ten years later, Lane’s been called home to marry… and the still-gorgeous Eren is playing his matchmaker. If that wasn’t ...

Book Two of the Ava'Lonan Herstories (An Illustrated Novel) The world was divided... As were the magics of Light, Air, Water and Earth. Light and Air were the magics of women, and women ruled Ava'Lona, Queens of their Tribes. And all Tribes were ruled by the High Queen. The race was on... To find the Heir to the High Throne before enemies of the Realm of Ava’Lona capture her, to further their own ends. Hunters, on two legs and four, hound not just the Heir, but her rescuers as well. The pace was grueling... No place was safe, no rest was to be had on the bare plains or in the wild jungles...

Born into one of the most powerful covens on the North American continent, Maya Beauvais has a past with a dangerous history that brings chills to even the strongest of Guardians from The Vampire Hunters Academy. A witch with the power to open the gates of Hell itself and a destiny to unleash one of the Fallen is indeed a recipe for a cosmic disaster. But as Fate would have it, even a witch like Maya would be granted a choice: become a harbinger of death and destruction or rewrite her narrative in the archives of destiny and become someone great.

Book Five of the Ava'Lonan Herstories (An Illustrated Novel) The Tides were Turning... But in whose favor, the evil or the Ritious? With undiscovered enemies hidden and plotting against her and her Jur’Av’chi’n grievously wounded, Jeliya must juggle love, family and duty, all with equal devotion. All at odds, the three most important things in her life should have been one and the same, but stubbornly remained three. The Times were Turning... Before their very eyes, despite all that the High Family have suffered and struggled to bring about. Prophecy was becoming reality, and with all...

I've always known something was wrong with me. From the dreams, the nightmares, the headaches... But what I didn't know, was what I was destined to become. And I have no idea which is scarier: not knowing who I am or discovering the power that flows through my veins.

Pick a master and serve. Serve them well and die. Marigold wants to die the right way. She wants a transformative bite from her master. Vampires have it all: the statuesque look, the immortal life, and the power to enchant others. All she has is debt, a distracted boyfriend, and a desire to be more than human. When unwanted holiday gifts are exchanged between two master vampires, Marigold’s wish might come true if she can survive until dawn. A perfectly sized introduction into the new paranormal worlds created by urban fantasy and paranormal romance author Azaaa Davis. Start reading Hiss,...

An Illustrated Science Fantasy Novel THE WORLD WAS DIVIDED... Literally. A wall of light shielded one half of the world of Alona from the threat of the other half, protecting a civilization that was over five thousand years old. THE MAGIC WAS DIVIDED... And made stronger by that division. Within the shield of light, the magics of light and air grew stronger than the magics of water and earth. And women, the wielders of these magics, came into power. Theirs was the Age of Light. THE SHIELD IS DYING... And the threat that has been held at bay for five thousand years looms over the land of ...