Synopsis:
Bingo Love is a story of a same-sex romance that spans over 60 years. A chance meeting at church bingo in 1963 brings Hazel Johnson and Mari McCray together. Through their formative years, these two women develop feelings for each other and finally profess their love for one another.
Forced apart by their families and society, Hazel and Mari both married young men and had families. Decades later, now in their mid 60âs, Hazel and Mari are reunited again at a bingo hall. Realizing their love for each other is still alive, what these grandmothers do next takes absolute strength and courage.
Forced apart by their families and society, Hazel and Mari both married young men and had families. Decades later, now in their mid 60âs, Hazel and Mari are reunited again at a bingo hall. Realizing their love for each other is still alive, what these grandmothers do next takes absolute strength and courage.
Synopsis:
The first time the Nightmares came, it nearly cost Alice her life. Now she’s trained to battle monstrous creatures in the dark dream realm known as Wonderland with magic weapons and hardcore fighting skills. Yet even warriors have a curfew.
Life in real-world Atlanta isn’t always so simple, as Alice juggles an overprotective mom, a high-maintenance best friend, and a slipping GPA. Keeping the Nightmares at bay is turning into a full-time job. But when Alice’s handsome and mysterious mentor is poisoned, she has to find the antidote by venturing deeper into Wonderland than sheâs ever gone before. And she’ll need to use everything she’s learned in both worlds to keep from losing her head . . . literally.
Life in real-world Atlanta isn’t always so simple, as Alice juggles an overprotective mom, a high-maintenance best friend, and a slipping GPA. Keeping the Nightmares at bay is turning into a full-time job. But when Alice’s handsome and mysterious mentor is poisoned, she has to find the antidote by venturing deeper into Wonderland than sheâs ever gone before. And she’ll need to use everything she’s learned in both worlds to keep from losing her head . . . literally.
Synopsis:
Ryann Bird dreams of traveling across the stars. But a career in space isnât an option for a girl who lives in a trailer park on the wrong side of town. So Ryann becomes her circumstances and settles for acting out and skipping school to hang out with her delinquent friends.
One day she meets Alexandria: a furious loner who spurns Ryannâs offer of friendship. After a horrific accident leaves Alexandria with a broken arm, the two misfits are brought together despite themselvesâand Ryann learns her secret: Alexandriaâs mother is an astronaut who volunteered for a one-way trip to the edge of the solar system.
Every night without fail, Alexandria waits to catch radio signals from her mother. And its up to Ryann to lift her onto the roof day after day until the silence between them grows into friendship, and eventually something more . . .
In K. Ancrumâs signature poetic style, this slow-burn romance will have you savoring every page.
One day she meets Alexandria: a furious loner who spurns Ryannâs offer of friendship. After a horrific accident leaves Alexandria with a broken arm, the two misfits are brought together despite themselvesâand Ryann learns her secret: Alexandriaâs mother is an astronaut who volunteered for a one-way trip to the edge of the solar system.
Every night without fail, Alexandria waits to catch radio signals from her mother. And its up to Ryann to lift her onto the roof day after day until the silence between them grows into friendship, and eventually something more . . .
In K. Ancrumâs signature poetic style, this slow-burn romance will have you savoring every page.
Synopsis:
Told in two distinct and irresistible voices, Junauda Petrusâs bold and lyrical debut is the story of two black girls from very different backgrounds finding love and happiness in a world that seems determined to deny them both.
Trinidad. Sixteen-year-old Audre is despondent, having just found out sheâs going to be sent to live in America with her father because her strictly religious mother caught her with her secret girlfriend, the pastorâs daughter. Audreâs grandmother Queenie (a former dancer who drives a white convertible Cadillac and who has a few secrets of her own) tries to reassure her granddaughter that she wonât lose her roots, not even in some place called Minneapolis. âAmerica have dey spirits too, believe me,â she tells Audre.
Minneapolis. Sixteen-year-old Mabel is lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling and trying to figure out why she feels the way she feelsâabout her ex Terrell, about her girl Jada and that moment they had in the woods, and about the vague feeling of illness thatâs plagued her all summer. Mabelâs reverie is cut short when her father announces that his best friend and his just-arrived-from-Trinidad daughter are coming for dinner.
Mabel quickly falls hard for Audre and is determined to take care of her as she tries to navigate an American high school. But their romance takes a turn when test results reveal exactly why Mabel has been feeling low-key sick all summer and suddenly itâs Audre who is caring for Mabel as she faces a deeply uncertain future.
Junauda Petrusâs debut brilliantly captures the distinctly lush and lyrical voices of Mabel and Audre as they conjure a love that is stronger than hatred, prison, and death and as vast as the blackness between the stars.
Trinidad. Sixteen-year-old Audre is despondent, having just found out sheâs going to be sent to live in America with her father because her strictly religious mother caught her with her secret girlfriend, the pastorâs daughter. Audreâs grandmother Queenie (a former dancer who drives a white convertible Cadillac and who has a few secrets of her own) tries to reassure her granddaughter that she wonât lose her roots, not even in some place called Minneapolis. âAmerica have dey spirits too, believe me,â she tells Audre.
Minneapolis. Sixteen-year-old Mabel is lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling and trying to figure out why she feels the way she feelsâabout her ex Terrell, about her girl Jada and that moment they had in the woods, and about the vague feeling of illness thatâs plagued her all summer. Mabelâs reverie is cut short when her father announces that his best friend and his just-arrived-from-Trinidad daughter are coming for dinner.
Mabel quickly falls hard for Audre and is determined to take care of her as she tries to navigate an American high school. But their romance takes a turn when test results reveal exactly why Mabel has been feeling low-key sick all summer and suddenly itâs Audre who is caring for Mabel as she faces a deeply uncertain future.
Junauda Petrusâs debut brilliantly captures the distinctly lush and lyrical voices of Mabel and Audre as they conjure a love that is stronger than hatred, prison, and death and as vast as the blackness between the stars.
OTHER BOOKS I WANT TOÂ READ DURING MONTH:
Synopsis:
Tight: Lately, Bryan’s been feeling it in all kinds of ways . . .
Bryan knows what’s tight for him–reading comics, drawing superheroes, and hanging out with no drama. But drama is every day where he’s from, and that gets him tight, wound up.
And now Bryan’s friend Mike pressures him with ideas of fun that are crazy risky. At first, it’s a rush following Mike, hopping turnstiles, subway surfing, and getting into all kinds of trouble. But Bryan never really feels right acting so wrong, and drama really isn’t him. So which way will he go, especially when his dad tells him it’s better to be hard and feared than liked?
But if there’s one thing Bryan’s gotten from his comic heroes, it’s that he has power–to stand up for what he feels . . .
Torrey Maldonado delivers a fast-paced, insightful, dynamic story capturing urban community life. Readers will connect with Bryan’s journey as he navigates a tough world with a heartfelt desire for a different life.
Bryan knows what’s tight for him–reading comics, drawing superheroes, and hanging out with no drama. But drama is every day where he’s from, and that gets him tight, wound up.
And now Bryan’s friend Mike pressures him with ideas of fun that are crazy risky. At first, it’s a rush following Mike, hopping turnstiles, subway surfing, and getting into all kinds of trouble. But Bryan never really feels right acting so wrong, and drama really isn’t him. So which way will he go, especially when his dad tells him it’s better to be hard and feared than liked?
But if there’s one thing Bryan’s gotten from his comic heroes, it’s that he has power–to stand up for what he feels . . .
Torrey Maldonado delivers a fast-paced, insightful, dynamic story capturing urban community life. Readers will connect with Bryan’s journey as he navigates a tough world with a heartfelt desire for a different life.
Synopsis:
When best friends Tai and Mila are reunited after a summer apart, their friendship threatens to combust from the pressure of secrets, middle school, and the looming dance auditions for a new talented-and-gifted program.
Fans of RenĂ©e Watsonâs Piecing Me Together will love this memorable story about a complex friendship between two very different African American girlsâand the importance of speaking up.
Jamila Phillips and Tai Johnson have been inseparable since they were toddlers, having grown up across the street from each other in Pirates Cove, a low-income housing project. As summer comes to an end, Tai canât wait for Mila to return from spending a month with her aunt in the suburbs. But both girls are grappling with secrets, and when Mila returns sheâs more focused on her upcoming dance auditions than hanging out with Tai.
Paula Chase explores complex issues that affect many young teens, and So Done offers a powerful message about speaking up. Full of ballet, basketball, family, and daily life in Pirates Cove, this memorable novel is for fans of Ali Benjaminâs The Thing About Jellyfish and Jason Reynoldsâs Ghost.
Fans of RenĂ©e Watsonâs Piecing Me Together will love this memorable story about a complex friendship between two very different African American girlsâand the importance of speaking up.
Jamila Phillips and Tai Johnson have been inseparable since they were toddlers, having grown up across the street from each other in Pirates Cove, a low-income housing project. As summer comes to an end, Tai canât wait for Mila to return from spending a month with her aunt in the suburbs. But both girls are grappling with secrets, and when Mila returns sheâs more focused on her upcoming dance auditions than hanging out with Tai.
Paula Chase explores complex issues that affect many young teens, and So Done offers a powerful message about speaking up. Full of ballet, basketball, family, and daily life in Pirates Cove, this memorable novel is for fans of Ali Benjaminâs The Thing About Jellyfish and Jason Reynoldsâs Ghost.
Synopsis:
The only thing more beautiful than BeyoncĂ© is God, and God is a black woman sipping rosĂ© and drawing a lavender bath, texting her mom, belly-laughing in the therapistâs office, feeling unloved, being on display, daring to survive. Morgan Parker stands at the intersections of vulnerability and performance, of desire and disgust, of tragedy and excellence. Unrelentingly feminist, tender, ruthless, and sequined, these poems are an altar to the complexities of black American womanhood in an age of non-indictments and deja vu, and a time of wars over bodies and power. These poems celebrate and mourn. They are a chorus chanting: Youâre gonna give us the love we need.
 Rated 3 Stars — link to review 
  Rated 4 Stars — link to review 
  Rated 4 Stars — link to review 
 Rated 4 Stars — link to review 
 Rated 4 Stars — link to review 
