Allyson Johnson

Mona Lisa Cunningham never thought she'd find romance again. It took everything she had to escape a life of fear and abuse and remake herself as an independent, confident woman. She has a successful career, a new life in Seattle, and a devoted fiancé. But Mona's fresh start is plagued by an overwhelming deception. To keep William safe, Mona refuses to set a wedding date, using every excuse but the truth.

"There is an obesity epidemic in this country and poor black women are particularly stigmatized as "diseased" and a burden on the public health care system. This is only the most recent incarnation of the fear of fat black women, which Sabrina Strings shows took root more than two hundred years ago. Strings weaves together an eye-opening historical narrative ranging from the Renaissance to the current moment, analyzing important works of art, newspaper...

Libby and her friends are put in charge of the science booth at their school fair. There's only one problem: no one is visiting their booth! Does everyone think science is boring? Libby and her friends use teamwork, creativity, and just a bit of chemistry to turn things around and prove that science is for everyone. Perfect for aspiring scientists, story times, classrooms, home-schooling, and fans of Andrea Beaty's Ada Twist, Scientist, this STEM-themed...

When Misa Atkinson confesses to the murder of Steven Bingham, her sister's brother-in-law, for doing the unthinkable to her son, everything is turned upside down. Misa now faces jail time and the loss of her son forever, and his drug lord brother, Frankie Bingham is out for revenge. Camille drops another bomb on Frankie, telling her estranged husband (and his mistress) that she is pregnant with his child. Their friends, Dominique and Toya gather

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Celebrates the pleasures of reading and pays homage to the works and writers the author admires above all others, from Jane Austen to Charles Dickens to Jennifer Egan. In an age defined by hyper-connectivity and constant stimulation, Francine Prose makes a compelling case for the solitary act of reading and the great enjoyment it brings. Inspiring and illuminating, What to Read and Why includes selections culled from Prose's previous essays, reviews,...

"Cassie Logan, first met in Song of the Trees and Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, is a young woman now, searching for her place in the world, a journey that takes her from the Logan family home in Toledo to California and Colorado, then on to law school in Boston, and, ultimately, home to Mississippi to be part of the voter registration drive of the 1960s. She is witness to the now-historic events of the century: the Great Migration north, the relentless...

Four children witness a confrontation between an elderly man and a white storekeeper in rural Mississippi in the 1930s.

The first comprehensive biography ever published about America's favorite living pop icon, Beyonce, from New York Times bestselling biographer J. Randy Taraborrelli.
Beyonce Knowles is a woman who began her career at the age of eight performing in pageant shows and talent contests, honing her craft through her teenage years until, at the age of 16, she had her first number one record with Destiny's Child. That hit-making trio launched...

The Goode-Brown family, led by matriarch and pillar of the community Minnie Mae, is plagued by old secrets and embarrassment over mental illness and illegitimacy. Meanwhile, single mother Francine Clark is haunted by her dead, lightning-struck husband and forced to fight against both the moral judgment of the community and her own rebellious daughter, Mona. The residents of Opulence struggle with vexing relationships to the land, to one another, and...

"Set during Reconstruction-era New Orleans, this new work from the acclaimed author of Between Earth and Sky is a powerful story of human resilience--and of the unlikely bonds that hold fast even in our darkest moments. Effie Jones, a former slave who escaped to the Union side as a child, knows the truth of her words. Taken in by an army surgeon and his wife during the War, she learned to read and write, to tolerate the sight of blood and broken bodies--and...