African-American Voices (February 2008)
Recent titles by and about African-Americans.

All or Nothing
Allen, Preston L. | Akashic Books, © 2007 | FIC A
An ordinary man attempts to confront his gambling addiction but remains on the verge of losing it all.
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The Bond: Three Young Men Learn to Forgive and Reconnect with Their Fathers
Davis, Sampson | Riverhead Books, © 2007 | 306.8742 D
In this follow-up to The Pact, three African-American men reflect on their experiences of growing up without fathers and their individual paths to reconciliation and forgiveness.
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Brother, I'm Dying
Danticat, Edwidge | Knopf, © 2007 | B Danticat
In this potent family memoir, Danticat tells how her father and uncle left Haiti with the hope of finding a better life in the United States.
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Casanegra: A Tennyson Hardwick Story
Underwood, Blair | Atria Books, © 2007 | FIC U
The glamorous and gritty world of an actor turned escort becomes deadly when he is forced to hunt down a killer in an effort to clear his name.
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Cion: A Novel
Mda, Zakes | Picador, © 2007 | FIC M
This dark, lyrical story centers upon Toloki, a professional mourner, who discovers past stories of enslavement through the collective process of quilting.
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Dreams of Africa in Alabama: The Slave Ship Clotilda and the Story of the Last Africans Brought to America
Diouf, Sylviane A. | Oxford University Press, © 2007 | 306.362 D
This well-researched book tells the epic story of how African captives on the last slave ship to America survived the Civil War and founded their own settlement.
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Duende: Poems
Smith, Tracy K. | Graywolf Press, © 2007 | 811 Smith
This soulful volume of 30 poems considers the intersections of identity, history, politics, and displacement.
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Forever a Hustler's Wife
Turner, Nikki | One World/Ballantine Books, © 2007 | FIC T
Yarni, a high-profile lawyer finds her faith tested when she fights to keep her husband out of jail.
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The Girl with the Golden Shoes
Channer, Colin | Akashic Books, © 2007 | FIC C
Set on a fictional Caribbean island, a young woman embarks on a quest to obtain a better way of life.
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Grace after Midnight: A Memoir
Pearson, Felicia | Grand Central Publishing, © 2007 | B Pearson
Actress Pearson unflinchingly recounts her real-life experiences on the menacing streets of Baltimore.
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The King of Colored Town
Wimberley, Darryl | Toby Press, © 2007 | FIC W
This heartfelt story explores school integration in the 1960s Florida as seen through the eyes of a musically gifted African-American teen.
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Know What I Mean?: Reflections on Hip Hop
Dyson, Michael Eric | Basic Civitas Books, © 2007 | 784 D
Scholar Dyson adeptly examines the impact of hip-hop on the African-American community and the global stage.
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Like Trees, Walking
Howard, Ravi | Amistad, © 2007 | FIC H
Set in 1981 Mobile, Alabama, this stirring debut novel tells the story of two brothers who find their lives changed by the death of their childhood friend.
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Man Gone Down
Thomas, Michael | Black Cat, © 2007 | FIC T
In this rhapsodic novel, a 35-year old African-American man living in Brooklyn struggles to support his family while tracing his painful childhood years.
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Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present
Washington, Harriet A. | Doubleday, © 2007 | 174.28 W
Myriad examples of shocking abuses committed in the name of science are adeptly examined by journalist and bioethicist Washington.
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New England White
Carter, Stephen L. | Knopf, © 2007 | FIC C
In a New England college town, the murder of an African-American faculty member stirs up unresolved tensions.
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Oscar Micheaux: the Great and Only: The Life of America's First Black Filmmaker
McGilligan, Patrick | HarperCollins, © 2007 | B Micheaux M
This illuminating biography depicts the little-known history of the early 20th-century homesteader, author, and maverick.
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The Pirate's Daughter
Cezair-Thompson, Margaret | Unbridled Books, © 2007 | FIC C
Set against the backdrop of the struggle for Jamaican independence in the 1960s and 1970s, this beautifully crafted novel tells the stories of two women who lose their innocence while searching for love.
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Quantum Lyrics: Poems
Jordan, A. Van | W. W. Norton & Co., © 2007 | 811 Jordan
Themes of science, music, history, and love are eloquently intertwined while giving voice to both the famous and the ordinary.
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Quiet Strength: The Principles, Practices, and Priorities of a Winning Life
Dungy, Tony | Tyndale House Publishers, © 2007 | B Dungy
Resounding with themes of faith, perseverance and humility, this inspirational biography reflects on the life of the first African-American football coach to win the Super Bowl.
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Ralph Ellison: A Biography
Rampersad, Arnold | Knopf, © 2007 | B Ellison R
This critical biography considers Ellison’s life, work, and influence while detailing his personal and artistic struggles.
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Red River
Tademy, Lalita | Grand Central Publishing, © 2007 | FIC T
Set in Colfax, Louisiana, this compelling historical novel traces the legacy of freed slaves who engaged in a deadly fight to exercise their freedom.
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Someone Knows My Name: A Novel
Hill, Lawrence | W. W. Norton & Co., © 2007 | FIC H
In this captivating historical novel, an African woman recounts her experience as a slave and as an agent for freedom.
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Them: A Novel
McCall, Nathan | Atria Books, © 2007 | FIC M
Issues of race, class, and gentrification are examined in this humorously contemplative novel.
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We Gotta Have It: Twenty Years of Seeing Black at the Movies, 1986-2006
Iverem, Esther | Thunder's Mouth Press, © 2007 | 791.4309 I
This vibrant collection of reviews, interviews, and essays insightfully chronicles the development of the contemporary African-American film industry.
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Compiled by Tracy Crawford and Miriam Tuliao, Office of Adult and Information Services and Sharon Jarvis, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.