Nominated for a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, Ajami is a bold crime drama set on the margins of an Arab ghetto. Working with a cast of non-actors in the real streets of Ajami itself, the film deftly meshes characters and conflicts with unsentimental compassion, uncompromising realism, and harrowing violence.

''It's the penthouse or the morgue.''

This is the philosophy adopted by Keshawn Wilson, a.k.a. ''K-Dawg,'' self-proclaimed lord of the streets. Keshawn is the youngest of five kids and one of only two that doesn't belong to his mother's husband. As a little boy he feels the distance between he and his stepfather, and life becomes increasingly difficult for him as the years pass. His childhood and young adult years are spent in a home for

...

In this "impressive debut" from award-winning speculative fiction author Nalo Hopkinson, a young woman must solve the tragic mystery surrounding her family and bargain with the gods to save her city and herself. (The Washington Post)
The rich and privileged have fled the city, barricaded it behind roadblocks, and left it to crumble. The inner city has had to rediscover old ways — farming, barter, herb lore. But now the monied need...

In her most stunning, riveting, unstoppable novel yet, bestselling and critically acclaimed author Tracy Brown delivers the not-to-be-missed sequel to Snapped.

Misa has confessed to the murder of drug lord Steven Bingham, her sister's brother-in-law, and everything is turned upside down. Misa faces jail time and the loss of her son forever, Frankie is out for revenge, and Camille has just dropped another bomb on Frankie, telling her estranged

...

Johnny Williams is a house painter who moonlights as a poet, struggling to support his cancer-ridden wife Mattie. But times are tough, and the poverty-troubled streets are even tougher.

After a black drug dealer goes to jail in Brooklyn, his ruthless 17-year-old daughter takes over his empire. A look at the mores and manners of the black underclass, this one with money. First novel by a hip-hop artist, author of No Disrespect.

The stunning sequel to The Coldest Winter Ever. Sharp-tongued, quick-witted Porsche worships her sister Winter. Cut from the same cloth as her father, Ricky Santiaga, Porsche is also a natural-born hustler. Passionate and loyal to the extreme, she refuses to accept her new life in group homes, foster care, and juvenile detention after her family is torn apart. Unselfish, she pushes to get back everything that ever belonged to her wealthy, loving family....