Rajnii's tongue is ancestral, and his spirit is free. In the tradition of sacred word-warriors, he names the fallen and the martyrs with extraordinary grace and a humbling consciousness that manifest light in all directions. His fiery poems ration out eternal wisdoms that call forth simply a substitution of love for hate and a spiritual reckoning so that we all can breathe. Sing on, dear brother. - Major Jackson (Poetry Editor of Harvard Review)Rajnii Eddins breathes through the written word. A full recital that allows us to see more clearly the dimly lit spaces of the black romantic. For over 2 decades, this poet, father, teacher and son has allowed the spoken word to be a guide and refuge. In his words, there is refuge for which I always felt drawn. When I'm with Rajnii, I often feel strong in his silence and watch him craft truth as he lives such that listening, breathing and writing become synonymous. It's rare that the light of hope shines so brightly these days and when it does we must stand forward and receive the light, lest we in our efforts, grow dim. Rajnii shares the long awaited letter from your dearest friend, your closest sister and the villain who attempts to steal our laughter. If you ride these poems, you will arrive at peace. Thank you Raj for your light. - Theaster Gates (Social Practice Installation Artist)

A stunning visual autobiography of two crazy-talented besties, bestselling and award-winning author Jason Reynolds and painter Jason Griffin, who could never be who they are singularly if they weren’t who they were together. Once upon a time in America, there were two Jasons. Jason Reynolds and Jason Griffin. One a poet. One an artist. One Black. One white. Two voices. One journey in mind: to move to New York, the city of dreams, to make their own dreams come true. Willing to have a life not un-hard, so long as it wasn’t unhappy. Willing to let the city swallow them whole, so long as it gives them their chance. They had each other. “What if painting was a sin, and the poetry became taboo. And no one ever clapped for me again. My question is, would you?” They clapped. Oh, they clapped. And aren’t we glad?

From acclaimed author Dinaw Mengestu, a recipient of the National Book Foundation’s 5 Under 35 award, The New Yorker’s 20 Under 40 award, and a 2012 MacArthur Foundation genius grant, comes an unforgettable love story about a searing affair between an American woman and an African man in 1970s America and an unflinching novel about the fragmentation of lives that straddle countries and histories. All Our Names is the story of two young men who come of age during an African revolution, drawn from the safe confines of the university campus into the intensifying clamor of the streets outside. But as the line between idealism and violence becomes increasingly blurred, the friends are driven apart—one into the deepest peril, as the movement gathers inexorable force, and the other into the safety of exile in the American Midwest. There, pretending to be an exchange student, he falls in love with a social worker and settles into small-town life. Yet this idyll is inescapably darkened by the secrets of his past: the acts he committed and the work he left unfinished. Most of all, he is haunted by the beloved friend he left behind, the charismatic leader who first guided him to revolution and then sacrificed everything to ensure his freedom. Elegiac, blazing with insights about the physical and emotional geographies that circumscribe our lives, All Our Names is a marvel of vision and tonal command. Writing within the grand tradition of Naipul, Greene, and Achebe, Mengestu gives us a political novel that is also a transfixing portrait of love and grace, of self-determination and the names we are given and the names we earn. This eBook edition includes a Reading Group Guide.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A coming-of-age classic about a young girl growing up in Chicago • Acclaimed by critics, beloved by readers of all ages, taught in schools and universities alike, and translated around the world—from the winner of the 2019 PEN/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature. “Cisneros draws on her rich [Latino] heritage...and seduces with precise, spare prose, creat[ing] unforgettable characters we want to lift off the page. She is not only a gifted writer, but an absolutely essential one.” —The New York Times Book Review The House on Mango Street is one of the most cherished novels of the last fifty years. Readers from all walks of life have fallen for the voice of Esperanza Cordero, growing up in Chicago and inventing for herself who and what she will become. “In English my name means hope,” she says. “In Spanish it means too many letters. It means sadness, it means waiting." Told in a series of vignettes—sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes joyous—Cisneros’s masterpiece is a classic story of childhood and self-discovery and one of the greatest neighborhood novels of all time. Like Sinclair Lewis’s Main Street or Toni Morrison’s Sula, it makes a world through people and their voices, and it does so in language that is poetic and direct. This gorgeous coming-of-age novel is a celebration of the power of telling one’s story and of being proud of where you're from.

It’s Your Word Against Mine is a collection of stories by Sylvester Carrington that compares unique cultural words and phrases from his native Barbados with select American terms. Some of these words have a different meaning in his culture, while others are nonexistent when it comes to translation. These simple words migrated with him and he has added those he encountered when he came to live in America. The author’s engaging style of storytelling will grab readers, as he takes them on a cultural journey using a vehicle of simple words to highlight the different aspects of the two cultures he has called home. With amazing skill, he has intricately woven each cultural term and phrase into a narrative that is altogether fascinating, entertaining, educational, and at times, personal and autobiographical. Watch for the highlighted words in italics throughout the book that compare and contrast these two vastly different cultures.

Families are complicated, and they always have been. A Family Like Mine explores the surprising variety of family stories and relationships reflected in the Bible, emphasizing God's grace, reconciliation, and renewal. The book tells the family stories of our spiritual ancestors in ways that resonate with our own family stories. Author Rosalind Hughes weaves accounts of familiar and less well-known biblical characters with stories of family formation, estrangement, adoption, and more. She imaginatively retells biblical stories, inviting the reader to dig deeper into the motivations, disappointments, faith, and fulfillment we hold in common with our biblical ancestors. Story-based and biblically informed, A Family Like Mine combines spiritual autobiography with Bible study to provide a gentle but probing look at the many "mansions" of God's household, where Jesus has prepared a place for all God's children. Reflection questions encourage readers to examine and compare their own family history and spiritual journey with the stories of families found in the Bible.