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Open for Shipping, Delivery, & Curbside Pickup!
Our physical store is closed, but you can still shop online!
DUE TO THE HIGH VOLUME OF SALES & THE LIMITED NUMBER OF BOOKSELLERS THAT CAN SAFELY BE IN THE STORE WE ARE RUNNING SEVERAL DAYS BEHIND IN PROCESSING ONLINE ORDERS.
This is a wonderful problem to have and we are so thankful for your support. Please see the website for more details.
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“
But what a feeling can come over a man just from seeing the things he believes in and hopes for symbolized in the concrete form of a man. In something that gives a focus to all the other things he knows to be real. Something that makes unseen things manifest and allows him to come to his hopes and dreams through his outer eye and through the touch and feel of his natural hand.”
―
Ralph Ellison,
Juneteenth
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Greetings Friends,
Today, June 19, is Juneteenth, a currently unofficial holiday that
celebrates the
end of slavery in the United States
. In 2020, you could preface almost every single sentence you say or write with "this is different now," but sometimes it's still important to say it. This Juneteenth is different. More and more people are calling for Juneteenth to be an official holiday. At the same time, monuments to racists from Confederate generals to Christopher Columbus are being torn down. At the same time, activists in cities across the country have taken the space created by the waves of protests to grow mutual aid systems and build, explore, and experiment with new (or at least new to us) ways of being together as a community and a society. At the same time, other people and forces are digging in their heels and (often with actual violence) fighting any and all attempts at social change. So this Juneteenth is different.
So this Shelf Stable will be different. Instead of the usual short essays and quirky features, the vast majority of this newsletter will simply present books by African American authors, writing in all genres, for all ages, and about, well, everything, not just issues of race and policing and trauma. Of course, many of the featured books will confront those issues, some directly while others as part of the background of existence, because those issues are unavoidable for African Americans living in our society, but there is always, has always, and will always be more to life than how systems of power define you, so this list will focus on that "more."
We hope you join us for the virtual event tonight. We hope you find a way to keep fighting for justice. We hope you find a great read in this newsletter.
Happy Juneteenth,
Josh
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Join tonight's virtual event!
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Jabari Asim with Porsha Olayiwola,
Stop & Frisk
- June 19th at 7PM
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Please join us for a virtual Juneteenth poetry reading to celebrate the release of Jabari Asim's newest poetry collection,
Stop & Frisk: American Poems
, with Porsha Olayiwola (
i shimmer sometimes, too
), hosted on Crowdcast.
In
Stop and Frisk
, Jabari Asim ruthlessly interrogates entrenched injustice and its insidious echoes. Part rap sheet, part concept album, Asim lays down tracks that add conviction to our collective broken record: What could be more American than pretending truths were self-evident when they seldom were? Drawing defiant inspiration from the news and the Blues, these poems arrest our attention and burn grooves into us. These starkly revelatory poems expose the dark heart of our nation and call for a reckoning—the only way out before everything breaks / into hurt, noise, and ever after.
This event is part of our Be the Change: Community Action series. A portion of Porter Square Books online sales for June 19th will be donated to Black Lives Matter Boston, along with any direct contributions from the audience via Crowdcast's Donate button.
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Antiracism Books: A Place to Start
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One of my new favorite books! An adorable rom com about running for prom queen and falling in love with the competition and whether a fairytale ending is possible for everyone. -Shana
Liz Lighty has always believed she's too black, too poor, too
awkward
to shine in her small, rich, prom-obsessed midwestern town. But it's okay -- Liz has a plan that will get her out of Campbell, Indiana, forever: attend the uber-elite Pennington College, play in their world-famous orchestra, and become a doctor.
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Zombies and flowers and lesbians and mad science. Four great tastes that… it turns out go well together! -Shana
After a cataclysmic plague sweeps across America, survivors come together to form citystate-like communities for safety. Daisy Walker is a Runner for The Compound, a mix of post-apocalyptic postal service and black market salvaging operation. It is a Runner's job to ferry items and people between settlements, and on occasion scavenge through the ruins of the old world. Daisy is the best there is at what she does.
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A charming children’s book about the fears a trans boy has when his mom becomes pregnant. By a trans man and a Black woman. -Shana
When Aidan was born, everyone thought he was a girl. His parents gave him a pretty name, his room looked like a girl's room, and he wore clothes that other girls liked wearing. After he realized he was a trans boy, Aidan and his parents fixed the parts of life that didn't fit anymore, and he settled happily into his new life. Then Mom and Dad announce that they're going to have another baby, and Aidan wants to do everything he can to make things right for his new sibling from the beginning--from choosing the perfect name to creating a beautiful room to picking out the cutest onesie. But what does making things right actually mean? And what happens if he messes up? With a little help, Aidan comes to understand that mistakes can be fixed with honesty and communication, and that he already knows the most important thing about being a big brother: how to love with his whole self.
When Aidan Became a Brother
is a heartwarming book that will resonate with transgender children, reassure any child concerned about becoming an older sibling, and celebrate the many transitions a family can experience.
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Three weird and beautiful science fiction novels with a main character who wields math like magic and may need to single-handedly prevent a war. -Shana
Collected for the first time in an omnibus edition, the Hugo- and Nebula-award-winning Binti trilogy, the story of one extraordinary girl's journey from her home to distant Oomza University.
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Tony Stark is cool enough, but Riri Williams, the young genius who made her own armor and took over when he was dead, is WAY cooler. -Shana
Riri Williams, the armored hero called Ironheart who took the comics world by storm, takes center stage! When a group of world leaders is held hostage by one of Spider-Man's old foes, Riri must step up her game. But she's thrown for a loop when an old acquaintance from back in Chicago re-enters her life! Now, Ironheart is caught between her need for independence and her obligations at M.I.T. - and when an old friend is kidnapped, she needs to make some tough decisions! Luckily, Riri has a will of steel, a heart of iron...and a brand-new A.I. system on her side! CHAMPIONS artist Kevin Libranda joins award-winning poet Eve L. Ewing, as Ironheart steps boldly out of Tony Stark's shadow to forge her own future!
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The first time I read
For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide (When the Rainbow is Enuf)
was as a child, when my mother handed it to me. It changed me so much: the way I looked at others, the way I expressed myself, the way I thought about poetry and words and movement and how all of these are inextricably linked with emotion, desire, pain, and connection. Every so often I find my foot tapping a beat and I know I need to dance again with these women, and every time they welcome me back. -Leila
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Did you watch Into the Spider-Verse? You should. But you should also read Jason Reynolds’ take on Miles Morales, the second Spider-Man. -Shana
Miles Morales is just your average teenager. Dinner every Sunday with his parents, chilling out playing old-school video games with his best friend, Ganke, crushing on brainy, beautiful poet Alicia. He's even got a scholarship spot at the prestigious Brooklyn Visions Academy. Oh yeah, and he's Spider Man.
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Everything N K Jemisin writes is fantastic, and this is no exception. It’s a weird, wonderful celebration of the diverse and beautiful conglomerate that makes up New York. -Shana
In Manhattan, a young grad student gets off the train and realizes he doesn't remember who he is, where he's from, or even his own name. But he can sense the beating heart of the city, see its history, and feel its power. In the Bronx, a Lenape gallery director discovers strange graffiti scattered throughout the city, so beautiful and powerful it's as if the paint is literally calling to her. In Brooklyn, a politician and mother finds she can hear the songs of her city, pulsing to the beat of her Louboutin heels. And they're not the only ones.
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When Mama Joy, adoptive mother of four (now-grown) boys, dies, the brothers have to decide if they should keep open her Harlem knitting shop. Jesse, known heartbreaker, wants to keep it open, so he teams up with part-time shop employee Kerry—and they quickly realize that there's more between them than a mutual love of knitting. -April
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Saying that this electric, slim memoir details the author’s experience growing up Black and gay in the South is technically true, but it’s also much more beyond that. With searing honesty and the deft prose of a poet, Jones tells his story like a friend confiding in you, intimate and real. There’s an incredible balance of strength and vulnerability in these pages, and if you’re like me, you’ll feel the immediate urge to pick up your own pen. -Leila
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Transporting and vivid, this is a tale of adventure, magic, self-acceptance, and friendship that will stay with you. Set in a world where technology is built from plants and flower petals are currency, thirteen-year-old Zahrah just wants to be normal, but her dadalocks - vines that grow in her hair and grant her powers she wishes she could ignore - mark her as different. When her best friend Dari goes missing, Zahrah must enter a mysterious forest and embrace her abilities to save him. From the author of the Binti trilogy and writer of Marvel’s Black Panther comics! -Leila
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One afternoon, in a town in southeastern Nigeria, a mother opens her front door to discover her son’s body, wrapped in colorful fabric, at her feet. What follows is the tumultuous, heart-wrenching story of one family’s struggle to understand a child whose spirit is both gentle and mysterious. Raised by a distant father and an understanding but overprotective mother, Vivek suffers disorienting blackouts, moments of disconnection between self and surroundings. As adolescence gives way to adulthood, Vivek finds solace in friendships with the warm, boisterous daughters of the Nigerwives, foreign-born women married to Nigerian men. But Vivek’s closest bond is with Osita, the worldly, high-spirited cousin whose teasing confidence masks a guarded private life. As their relationship deepens—and Osita struggles to understand Vivek’s escalating crisis—the mystery gives way to a heart-stopping act of violence in a moment of exhilarating freedom.
Available for preorder.
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Tarisai has always longed for the warmth of a family. She was raised in isolation by a mysterious, often absent mother known only as The Lady. The Lady sends her to the capital of the global empire of Aritsar to compete with other children to be chosen as one of the Crown Prince’s Council of 11. If she’s picked, she’ll be joined with the other Council members through the Ray, a bond deeper than blood. That closeness is irresistible to Tarisai, who has always wanted to belong somewhere. But The Lady has other ideas, including a magical wish that Tarisai is compelled to obey: Kill the Crown Prince once she gains his trust. Tarisai won’t stand by and become someone’s pawn—but is she strong enough to choose a different path for herself? With extraordinary world-building and breathtaking prose,
Raybearer
is the story of loyalty, fate, and the lengths we’re willing to go for the ones we love.
Available for preorder.
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Sixteen-year-old Sophia would much rather marry Erin, her childhood best friend, than parade in front of suitors. At the ball, Sophia makes the desperate decision to flee, and finds herself hiding in Cinderella's mausoleum. There, she meets Constance, the last known descendant of Cinderella and her step sisters. Together they vow to bring down the king once and for all--and in the process, they learn that there's more to Cinderella's story than they ever knew . . .
This fresh take on a classic story will make readers question the tales they've been told, and root for girls to break down the constructs of the world around them.
Available for preorder.
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Nic Stone's sophomore novel captures the messiness of first love, friendship, figuring out your sexuality, and everything else that comes with being a teenager. Great depiction of bisexuality and a thoughtful and well-developed story and characters (and possibly the most nuanced love triangle I've ever read). -April
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Much like me, the last thing Norris wanted was to move across the country, leaving his friends (and his hockey team) behind to go to high school in Texas. It's hot, it's sticky, and it might as well be another planet. Guess he better find a way to make the best of it...or escape. This book charmed me, in spite of my resistance to go back to the land where football and church are the same thing. -Caleb
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"A beautifully measured novel of life and line."
—
The New York Times Book Review
"With a bolt of lightning on my kicks . . . The court is SIZZLING. My sweat is DRIZZLING. Stop all that quivering. ’Cuz tonight I’m delivering," raps twelve-year-old Josh Bell. Thanks to their dad, he and his twin brother, Jordan, are kings on the court. But Josh has more than basketball in his blood—he's got mad beats, too, which help him find his rhythm when it’s all on the line.
As their winning season unfolds, things begin to change. When Jordan meets a girl, the twins’ bond unravels.Told in dynamic verse, this fast and furious middle grade novel that started it all absolutely bounces with rhythm and bursts with heart.
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Heavily autobiographical and infused with magical realism,
Black Girl Unlimited
fearlessly explores the intersections of poverty, sexual violence, depression, racism, and sexism—all through the arc of a transcendent coming-of-age story for fans of Renee Watson's
Piecing Me Together
and Ibi Zoboi's
American Street
.
Echo Brown is a wizard from the East Side, where apartments are small and parents suffer addictions to the white rocks. Yet there is magic . . . everywhere. New portals begin to open when Echo transfers to the rich school on the West Side, and an insightful teacher becomes a pivotal mentor.
Each day, Echo travels between two worlds, leaving her brothers, her friends, and a piece of herself behind on the East Side. There are dangers to leaving behind the place that made you. Echo soon realizes there is pain flowing through everyone around her, and a black veil of depression threatens to undo everything she’s worked for.
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The first in a gripping fantasy duology inspired by West African folklore in which a grieving crown princess and a desperate refugee find themselves on a collision course to murder each other despite their growing attraction—from debut author Roseanne A. Brown. This New York Times bestseller is perfect for fans of Tomi Adeyemi, Renée Ahdieh, and Sabaa Tahir.
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You didn’t know you needed a Civil War era zombie book—but you do. In
Dread Nation
, Justina Ireland draws a compelling, tense, page turner that both makes your heart pound in suspense and makes you think about race with its nuanced writing. In short, it is genius, and you need to read it. (Even if you don't like zombie books.) -April
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Born in 1964, the last year of the Boomers or the first year of Generation X, depending upon who's counting, Kim McLarin came of age as part of the first real "Brown vs. Board" generation, and that experience, of America first embracing and then rejecting a real and meaningful beloved racial community, has shaped everything in her life.
Searing in its emotional honesty,
Womanish
is an essay collection that explores what it means to be a black woman in today's turbulent times. Writing with candor, wit and vulnerability on topics including dating after divorce, depression, parenting older children, the Obama's, and the often fraught relations between white and black women, McLarin unveils herself at the crossroads of being black, female and middle-aged, and, ultimately, American. Powerful and timely,
Womanish
draws upon a lifetime of experiences to paint a portrait of a black woman trying to come to terms with the world around her, and of a society trying to come to terms with black women.
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WINNER of the NATIONAL BOOK AWARD and A
NEW YORK TIMES
TOP 10 BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
A finalist for the Kirkus Prize, Andrew Carnegie Medal, Aspen Words Literary Prize, and a
New York Times
bestseller, this majestic, stirring, and widely praised novel from two-time National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward, the story of a family on a journey through rural Mississippi, is a “tour de force” (
O, The Oprah Magazine
) and a timeless work of fiction that is destined to become a classic.
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Between grad school and multiple jobs, Naledi Smith doesn’t have time for fairy tales…or patience for the constant e-mails claiming she’s betrothed to an African prince. Sure. Right. Delete! As a former foster kid, she’s learned that the only things she can depend on are herself and the scientific method, and a silly e-mail won’t convince her otherwise.
Prince Thabiso is the sole heir to the throne of Thesolo, shouldering the hopes of his parents and his people. At the top of their list? His marriage. Ever dutiful, he tracks down his missing betrothed. When Naledi mistakes the prince for a pauper, Thabiso can’t resist the chance to experience life—and love—without the burden of his crown.
The chemistry between them is instant and irresistible, and flirty friendship quickly evolves into passionate nights. But when the truth is revealed, can a princess in theory become a princess ever after?
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For fans of Nicola Yoon and Nina LaCour comes a striking novel about difficult choices from acclaimed author Brandy Colbert.
Since she was seven years old, Yvonne has had her trusted violin to keep her company, especially in those lonely days after her mother walked out on their family. But with graduation just around the corner, she is forced to face the hard truth that she just might not be good enough to attend a conservatory after high school.
Full of doubt about her future, and increasingly frustrated by her strained relationship with her successful but emotionally closed-off father, Yvonne meets a street musician and fellow violinist who understands her struggle. He's mysterious, charming, and different from Warren, the familiar and reliable boy who has her heart. But when Yvonne becomes unexpectedly pregnant, she has to make the most difficult decision yet about her future.
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In distinctive and illuminating prose that is attentive to the rhythms of language and landscapes, she weaves together human stories of migration, silence, and displacement, as epic as the continent they survey, with uplifted mountains, braided streams, and eroded canyons. Gifted with this manifold vision, and graced by a scientific and lyrical diligence, she delves through fragmented histories -- natural, personal, cultural -- to find shadowy outlines of other stories of place in America.
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Beautifully written and deeply researched,
Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments
examines the revolution of black intimate life that unfolded in Philadelphia and New York at the beginning of the twentieth century. In wrestling with the question of what a free life is, many young black women created forms of intimacy and kinship indifferent to the dictates of respectability and outside the bounds of law. They cleaved to and cast off lovers, exchanged sex to subsist, and revised the meaning of marriage. Longing and desire fueled their experiments in how to live. They refused to labor like slaves or to accept degrading conditions of work. Here, for the first time, these women are credited with shaping a cultural movement that transformed the urban landscape. Through a melding of history and literary imagination,
Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments
recovers these women’s radical aspirations and insurgent desires.
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Meet the Flyy Girls. The group of girls who seem like they can get away with anything. Veteran author Ashley Woodfolk pens a gorgeous and dynamic series of four Harlem highschoolers, each facing a crossroads of friendship, family, and love.
Lux Lawson is on a spree. Ever since her dad left, she's been kicked out of every school that would take her, and this is her last chance: Harlem's Augusta Savage School of the Arts. If this doesn't work, Lux is off to military school, no questions asked. That means no more acting out, no more fights, and
definitely
no boyfriends. Focus on her photography, and make nice friends. That's the deal.
Enter the Flyy Girls, three students who have it all together. The type of girls Lux needs to be friends with to stay out of trouble. And after charming her way into the group, Lux feels she's on the right track. But every group has their secrets, including Lux. And when the past starts catching up with her, can she keep her place as a Flyy Girl?
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What do you hear when you hear a house settle? Why do you dream when you move to a new apartment? What is your sense of direction?
Houses of Ravicka
is something like Escher noir written by Charlie Chaplin and edited by Gertrude Stein. Gladman is a genius, one of our greatest contemporary experimental writers &
Houses
is a breathtaking exploration of what it means to live in and with cities. -Josh
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Gladman is one of our most exciting and innovative writers, stretching the boundaries of every genre and style she attempts.
Calamities
is a collection of short essays about everything from navigating the trivialities of daily life to the very nature of narrative and writing. -Josh
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“The newest release from Percival Everett provides ample proof that he is one of the most underrated writers in American literature.
So Much Blue
jumps among three different points in protagonist Kevin Pace's life that have shaped his artistry as a painter and his misgivings as a man. These vignettes are sardonic, shocking, and sexy. Like life, Everett's latest doesn't give you an easy tie-it-up-in-a-nice-bow revelation - instead, it leaves you thinking about these characters days after you've closed the book, mulling over their futures as well as yours.”
— Dante Bostic, Greenlight Bookstore, Brooklyn, NY
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From the Pulitzer-Prize winning author of
The Underground Railroad
: a tender, hilarious, and supremely original novel about coming-of-age in the 80s.
Benji Cooper is one of the few black students at an elite prep school in Manhattan. But every summer, Benji escapes to the Hamptons, to Sag Harbor, where a small community of African American professionals have built a world of their own.
The summer of ’85 won’t be without its usual trials and tribulations, of course. There will be complicated new handshakes to fumble through and state-of-the-art profanity to master. Benji will be tested by contests big and small, by his misshapen haircut (which seems to have a will of its own), by the New Coke Tragedy, and by his secret Lite FM addiction. But maybe, just maybe, this summer might be one for the ages.
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In
Dhalgren,
perhaps one of the most profound and bestselling science fiction novels of all time, Samuel R. Delany has produced a novel "to stand with the best American fiction of the 1970s" (Jonathan Lethem).
Bellona is a city at the dead center of the United States. Something has happened there…. The population has fled. Madmen and criminals wander the streets. Strange portents appear in the cloud-covered sky. And into this disaster zone comes a young man–poet, lover, and adventurer–known only as the Kid. Tackling questions of race, gender, and sexuality,
Dhalgren
is a literary marvel and groundbreaking work of American magical realism.
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Wanda Coleman, a poet laureate of anger and honesty, lived resistance and shouted rebellion, has always been the poet America needed, though sometimes it seemed like she was the only one who knew that. With this new book of poems selected and introduced by Terrance Hayes, perhaps America will finally know it too. -Josh
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Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky
by Kwame Mbalia, narrated by Amir Abdullah
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 Strong is a book about memory & storytelling, a clever reimagining of African & black American mythology, & a fun, fast-paced ride! Boxer Tristan feels he's failed his best friend & let down his family. When he accidentally punches a hole to another world, he'll have to rediscover his strength as he fights alongside legends like John Henry, Brer Rabbit, & Anansi. Tristan's voice is tough, tender, & hilarious; his story will appeal to adventure lovers of all ages."
--
Kate, about the hardcover version
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We want to hear from you!
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These were just a few books by Black authors we've been recently loving, but there are so many others we wish we could highlight. What would you add to our list? Respond to this email to let us know, and you may see your recommendation featured in a future issue of
Shelf Stable!
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Support Cafe Zing Baristas!
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Although Cafe Zing is its own business separate from ours, we really don't see it that way: Zing workers are part of the Porter Square Books family. They keep us well supplied - very well supplied - with caffeine, kindness, and some great tunes. Sometimes they give us staff picks; sometimes we give them exact change because we've bought the same, perfect, comforting, delicious beverage twice a day five days a week for how long, now?
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See you next time here at Shelf Stable!
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Did you miss an installment, or want to share with a friend? The Shelf Stable Archive has all our past issues!
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And don't forget to subscribe to our Events Newsletter for the full line up of events coming up, and our Kids Newsletter for
all the latest on events, new books, reviews, and more for young and young-at-heart readers.
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617-491-2220
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