African Magic

In Jesmyn Ward's first novel since her National Book Award-winning Salvage the Bones, this singular American writer brings the archetypal road novel into rural 21st-century America. An intimate portrait of a family and an epic tale of hope and struggle, Sing, Unburied, Sing journeys through Mississippi's past and present, examining the ugly truths at the heart of the American story and the power - and limitations - of family bonds.

As usual, death will always bring family back together. And with death, there are almost always secrets. Anika and Ebony find themselves on a journey that takes them from mourning to discovering that it’s “their time” with an ensemble of family and friends: a loving, sweet Geechee grandma, frenemies, and a not-so-endearing family. From Ravenwood’s own King of Rap and his wifey the Mouth of the South to a love that will never die, Bloodstone’s Jinx will have you questioning your own existence.

When Hilton was a boy, his grandmother sacrificed her life to save him from drowning. Thirty years later, he begins to suspect that he was never meant to survive that accident, and that dark forces are working to rectify that mistake. When Hilton's wife, the only elected African-American judge in Dade County, Florida, begins to receive racist hate mail from a man she once prosecuted, Hilton becomes obsessed with protecting his family. The demons lurking outside are matched by his internal terrors - macabre nightmares, more intense and disturbing than any he has ever experienced.

It’s not easy being a Remarkable in the Unremarkable world. Some things are cool—like getting a pet hellhound for your twelfth birthday. Others, not so much—like not being trusted to learn magic because you might use it to take revenge on an annoying neighbor. All Nic Blake wants is to be a powerful Manifestor like her dad. But before she has a chance to convince him to teach her the gift, a series of shocking revelations and terrifying events launch Nic and two friends on a hunt for a powerful magic tool she’s never heard of...

Tristan Strong, just back from a victorious but exhausting adventure in Alke, the land of African American folk heroes and African gods, is suffering from PTSD. But there's no rest for the weary when his grandmother is abducted by a mysterious villain out for revenge. Tristan must return to Alke - and reunite with his loud-mouthed sidekick, Gum Baby - in order to rescue Nana and stop the culprit from creating further devastation.

Set in the early 1950s, this latest novel from Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award finalist Gayl Jones follows the witty but perplexing army veteran Buddy Ray Guy as he embodies the fate of Black soldiers who return, not in glory, but into their Jim Crow communities. A cook and tractor repairman, Buddy was known as Budweiser to his army pals because he’s a wise guy. But underneath that surface, he is a true self-educated intellectual and a classic seeker: looking for religion, looking for meaning, looking for love.

“Tengdana – Rise of the High Priestess” is the seventh book in the Orisha series. In a realm where spiritual and political powers collide, a young Princess Tengdana is forced into a royal marriage that defies her fate to become the Orisha High Priestess. When her husband King Egbin dies mysteriously, his brother Olufe seizes the throne. Pregnant with Egbin’s child, Tengdana must survive his obsession in finding her and the unborn heir to the throne, fleeing his tyranny. Seeking sanctuary with the powerful Ominira tribe, Tengdana adapts to their ways and gives birth to a daughter, ...

In this ingenious, sweeping novel, Phillip B. Williams introduces us to an enigmatic woman named Saint, a fearsome conjurer who, in the 1830s, annihilates plantations all over Arkansas to rescue the people enslaved there. She brings those she has freed to a haven of her own creation: a town just north of St. Louis, magically concealed from outsiders, named Ours. It is in this miraculous place that Saint’s grand experiment—a truly secluded community where her people may flourish—takes root.

Jack and Annie are on the playground at recess when they feel the magic tree house calling them. They sneak away and are whisked off on an adventure in South Africa, where a majestic rhino needs saving! There are a swooping helicopter, strict park rangers, and—most terrifying of all—poachers. How do you hide one of the largest land mammals in the flat terrain of the African savanna? Jack and Annie are going to need a little bit of magic for this mission!

The Unspoken One has been banished for many years, his very existence erased. Ameera must find his true name and summon him if she has any hope of saving her kingdom from war, and herself from marriage to a ruthless king. The Kingdom of Nur has been suffering for years under Ameera’s father’s rule. She's bid her time, carefully keeping her secret hidden and waiting to become queen so she can repair what her father has broken. Then an unwanted marriage to the brutal king of Nur’s enemy threatens everything she’s worked towards. With her wedding drawing near and the future of her ...

Jacqueline Woodson's first middle-grade novel since National Book Award winner Brown Girl Dreaming celebrates the healing that can occur when a group of students share their stories. It all starts when six kids have to meet for a weekly chat—by themselves, with no adults to listen in. There, in the room they soon dub the ARTT Room (short for "A Room to Talk"), they discover it's safe to talk about what's bothering them—everything from Esteban's father's deportation and Haley's father's incarceration to Amari's fears of racial profiling and Ashton's adjustment to his changing family fortunes.

After battling the impossible, Zélie and Amari have finally succeeded in bringing magic back to the land of Orïsha. But the ritual was more powerful than they could’ve imagined, reigniting the powers of not only the maji, but of nobles with magic ancestry, too. Now, Zélie struggles to unite the maji in an Orïsha where the enemy is just as powerful as they are. But when the monarchy and military unite to keep control of Orïsha, Zélie must fight to secure Amari's right to the throne and protect the new maji from the monarchy's wrath.

Best-selling author Rick Riordan presents Kwame Mbalia's epic fantasy, a middle grade American Gods set in a richly-imagined world populated with African American folk heroes and West African gods. Tristan is dreading the month he's going to spend on his grandparents' farm in Alabama, where he's being sent to heal from a tragedy. But on his first night there, he accidentally ripps open a chasm into the MidPass, a volatile place with a burning sea, haunted bone ships, and iron monsters that are hunting the inhabitants of this world.

Hoodoo has been a powerful force of protection, community, and enlightenment for African Americans. However, misinformation and Hollywood sensationalism have made it difficult to learn about the truth of this practice. In Reclaiming The Power of Hoodoo, you’ll learn the rich and colorful history of hoodoo and how to start your own practice. There is magic in the world, and all you have to do is claim it.

IN A HOUSE OF LIES, TRUST WISELY. Book 2 in the prize poly Sleeping Lotus series.... The country of Soma is on the brink of war… and its newly-minted spy, Raena Barren, must stop it. Only a week has passed since she earned the ranking of Rose, but already, she has a high-profile client. An ambassador from another kingdom has requested her company, and if Raena can convince him to ally his country to hers, then she can avert a four-to-one war. But being the escort of a vigorous man like Ossyne True is not easy. Fearing her own inexperience, Raena seeks guidance from Mikail Haze--a fellow ...

In this anthology, everybody is Black. Filled with epic battles, complicated families, soft kisses, and sharpened blades, Magic in the Melanin is an adult fantasy anthology that showcases Black authors who write magical stories of all kinds.

In the early 1900s an important ship sinks into the Caribbean Sea, just as the Virgin Islands are transferred from Danish to American rule. Orphaned by the sunk vessel are two sisters and their half-brother, now faced with an uncertain identity and future. Each of them is unusually beautiful, and each is in possession of a particular magic that will either sink or save them. Chronicling three generations of an island family from 1916 to the 1970s, Land of Love and Drowning is a novel of love and magic.

Conjure, also known as Hoodoo or Rootwork, is an old, powerful, and increasingly popular system of North American folk magic. Conjure's roots derive primarily from West and Central African spiritual traditions, but it has also been influenced by Christianity, Jewish mysticism, and Native American practices. Hoodoo Sen Moise has been studying this tradition and working with Conjure for over 35 years. Here, he explores Conjure's history, principles, fundamentals, and ethics, while simultaneously providing a practical how-to guide....

Ropa dropped out of school to become a ghostalker - and they sure do love to talk. Now she speaks to Edinburgh’s dead, carrying messages to those they left behind. A girl’s gotta earn a living, and it seems harmless enough. Until, that is, the dead whisper that someone’s bewitching children - leaving them husks, empty of joy and strength. It’s on Ropa’s patch, so she feels honor-bound to investigate. But what she learns will rock her world.

From Vanessa Brantley-Newton, the author of Grandma's Purse, comes a collection of poetry filled with engaging mini-stories about girls of all kinds: girls who feel happy, sad, scared, powerful; girls who love their bodies and girls who don't; country girls, city girls; girls who love their mother and girls who wish they had a father. This book invites listeners to find themselves and each other within.