Afros and Dragons and the Birth of a Legend

Afros and Dragons and the Birth of a Legend
Author: M. Anthony Phillips
Publisher: m. anthony phillips
Total Pages: 89
Release: 2008-04
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 143272309X

Two students at rival martial arts schools fall in love with each other and race against time to stop both schools from an all-out brawl in this story set in the 1970s.

Legendborn

Legendborn
Author: Tracy Deonn
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 544
Release: 2020-09-15
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 153444162X

An Instant New York Times Bestseller! Winner of the Coretta Scott King - John Steptoe for New Talent Author Award Filled with mystery and an intriguingly rich magic system, Tracy Deonn’s YA contemporary fantasy reinvents the King Arthur legend and “braids together Southern folk traditions and Black Girl Magic into a searing modern tale of grief, power, and self-discovery” (Dhonielle Clayton, New York Times bestselling author of The Belles). After her mother dies in an accident, sixteen-year-old Bree Matthews wants nothing to do with her family memories or childhood home. A residential program for bright high schoolers at UNC–Chapel Hill seems like the perfect escape—until Bree witnesses a magical attack her very first night on campus. A flying demon feeding on human energies. A secret society of so called “Legendborn” students that hunt the creatures down. And a mysterious teenage mage who calls himself a “Merlin” and who attempts—and fails—to wipe Bree’s memory of everything she saw. The mage’s failure unlocks Bree’s own unique magic and a buried memory with a hidden connection: the night her mother died, another Merlin was at the hospital. Now that Bree knows there’s more to her mother’s death than what’s on the police report, she’ll do whatever it takes to find out the truth, even if that means infiltrating the Legendborn as one of their initiates. She recruits Nick, a self-exiled Legendborn with his own grudge against the group, and their reluctant partnership pulls them deeper into the society’s secrets—and closer to each other. But when the Legendborn reveal themselves as the descendants of King Arthur’s knights and explain that a magical war is coming, Bree has to decide how far she’ll go for the truth and whether she should use her magic to take the society down—or join the fight.

Black Leopard, Red Wolf

Black Leopard, Red Wolf
Author: Marlon James
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 640
Release: 2019-02-05
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0735220190

One of TIME’s 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time Winner of the L.A. Times Ray Bradbury Prize Finalist for the 2019 National Book Award The New York Times Bestseller Named a Best Book of 2019 by The Wall Street Journal, TIME, NPR, GQ, Vogue, and The Washington Post "A fantasy world as well-realized as anything Tolkien made." --Neil Gaiman "Gripping, action-packed....The literary equivalent of a Marvel Comics universe." --Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times The epic novel from the Man Booker Prize-winning author of A Brief History of Seven Killings In the stunning first novel in Marlon James's Dark Star trilogy, myth, fantasy, and history come together to explore what happens when a mercenary is hired to find a missing child. Tracker is known far and wide for his skills as a hunter: "He has a nose," people say. Engaged to track down a mysterious boy who disappeared three years earlier, Tracker breaks his own rule of always working alone when he finds himself part of a group that comes together to search for the boy. The band is a hodgepodge, full of unusual characters with secrets of their own, including a shape-shifting man-animal known as Leopard. As Tracker follows the boy's scent--from one ancient city to another; into dense forests and across deep rivers--he and the band are set upon by creatures intent on destroying them. As he struggles to survive, Tracker starts to wonder: Who, really, is this boy? Why has he been missing for so long? Why do so many people want to keep Tracker from finding him? And perhaps the most important questions of all: Who is telling the truth, and who is lying? Drawing from African history and mythology and his own rich imagination, Marlon James has written a novel unlike anything that's come before it: a saga of breathtaking adventure that's also an ambitious, involving read. Defying categorization and full of unforgettable characters, Black Leopard, Red Wolf is both surprising and profound as it explores the fundamentals of truth, the limits of power, and our need to understand them both.

The Bushido Way/a Sam Phillips Mystery

The Bushido Way/a Sam Phillips Mystery
Author: M. Anthony Phillips
Publisher: BookRix
Total Pages: 285
Release: 2020-06-29
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 3748748035

M. Anthony Phillips presents the debut of his hot new Private Detective series. Vietnam veteran Sam Phillips follows in the footsteps of his father into the world of private investigations. It’s the end of the Vietnam War in 1976 during the Fall of Siagon and a battle-worn Sam has just taken over his father’s company after his death. With his office above a seedy bar off Hollywood and Vine, Sam and his new assistant Constance Turner go weeks before they land their first case. With the help of his troubled friend Armstrong Jones—fresh out of prison for nearly killing two men, they are paid by an old friend Michelle Yamada of protecting her little brother Ken, a Yakuza gang member being hunted by a rival gang, the Yokohama Black Rebels who killed their father—a crime boss. Chasing Ken is the notorious boss Hiroshi Ito, a sadistic killer like no other who has killed nearly all the Yakuza bosses in Little Tokyo. In the meantime Sam finds out he’s the father of a five-year-old Amerasian kid from Vietnam—dropped off at his doorstep in the middle of the afternoon. In protecting Ken, people close to Sam are getting killed off, including detective friends who are trying to capture Hiroshi for murder. When things start to not add up about Ken, Sam and Armstrong begin to wonder if they’re being played the fool. With the body count adding up and Hiroshi getting closer to his target, Sam and Armstrong must go on the offensive before it’s too late.

Isabella - The Jade Warrior

Isabella - The Jade Warrior
Author: M. Anthony Phillips
Publisher: Lulu.com
Total Pages: 304
Release: 2014
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9781927914007

An ancient Jade Amulet, a beautiful American girl with Asian ancestries, and a Celestrial dragon go on an exotic adventure to the Far East to find the dragon's lost mate before another team gets there first. Join Isabella Treehorn, her brother Kaelyn, Uncle Titus, and the crazy Witch Grace with the dragon Tianlong as they race against time to find Ling Ling, Tianlong's mate in the frozen regions of Mongolia and the Himalayas. Isabella is a simple girl of twelve with mixed heritage and who has trouble fitting in her school. Her mother on her death bed gives Isabella a family heirloom, a Jade stone amulet with unbelievable powers of Chi and telepathy. But with that fortune the necklace also brings death to every other generation of the Treehorn women dating back to her ancestors in the Ming Dynasty period. Ancient Demons the Lords of Death put a curse on the first princess for her wicked ways and have killed off most of the princess's descendents.

The New Moon's Arms

The New Moon's Arms
Author: Nalo Hopkinson
Publisher: Grand Central Pub
Total Pages: 196
Release: 2007-02-23
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0446576913

"A mainstream magical realism novel set in the Caribbean on the fictional island of Dolorosse. It tells the story of a 50-something grandmother whose mother disappeared when she was a teenager and whose father has just passed away as she begins menopause.

Rosa Parks

Rosa Parks
Author: Lisbeth Kaiser
Publisher: Frances Lincoln Children's Books
Total Pages: 32
Release: 2017-09-07
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 1786031744

New in the Little People, Big Dreams series, discover the incredible life of Rosa Parks, ' The Mother of the Freedom Movement', in this inspiring story. In this true story of an inspiring civil rights activist, Rosa Parks grew up during segregation in Alabama, but she was taught to respect herself and stand up for her rights. In 1955, Rosa refused to give up her seat to a white man on a segregated bus, sparking the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Her decision had a huge impact on civil rights, eventually leading to the end of segregation on public transport. With stylish and quirky illustrations and extra facts at the back, this empowering series celebrates the important life stories of wonderful women of the world. From designers and artists to scientists, all of them went on to achieve incredible things, yet all of them began life as a little child with a dream. These books make the lives of these role models accessible for children, providing a powerful message to inspire the next generation of outstanding people who will change the world!

Moon Witch, Spider King

Moon Witch, Spider King
Author: Marlon James
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 718
Release: 2022-02-15
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0735220220

“Masterfully flips the first installment on its head... James makes the mythic tantalizingly real.’” —Esquire "Even more brilliant than the first.” —Buzzfeed An Instant New York Times Bestseller and NPR Best Book of 2022 pick From Marlon James, author of the bestselling National Book Award finalist Black Leopard, Red Wolf, the second book in the Dark Star trilogy. In Black Leopard, Red Wolf, Sogolon the Moon Witch proved a worthy adversary to Tracker as they clashed across a mythical African landscape in search of a mysterious boy who disappeared. In Moon Witch, Spider King, Sogolon takes center stage and gives her own account of what happened to the boy, and how she plotted and fought, triumphed and failed as she looked for him. It’s also the story of a century-long feud—seen through the eyes of a 177-year-old witch—that Sogolon had with the Aesi, chancellor to the king. It is said that Aesi works so closely with the king that together they are like the eight limbs of one spider. Aesi’s power is considerable—and deadly. It takes brains and courage to challenge him, which Sogolon does for reasons of her own. Both a brilliant narrative device—seeing the story told in Black Leopard, Red Wolf from the perspective of an adversary and a woman—as well as a fascinating battle between different versions of empire, Moon Witch, Spider King delves into Sogolon’s world as she fights to tell her own story. Part adventure tale, part chronicle of an indomitable woman who bows to no man, it is a fascinating novel that explores power, personality, and the places where they overlap.

Reading Race

Reading Race
Author: Norman K Denzin
Publisher: SAGE
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2002-03-29
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9780803975453

In this insightful book, one of America's leading commentators on culture and society turns his gaze upon cinematic race relations, examining the relationship between film, race and culture. Acute, richly illustrated and timely, the book deepens our understanding of the politics of race and the symbolic complexity of segregation and discrimination.

Soul on Bikes

Soul on Bikes
Author: Tobie Levingston
Publisher: Motorbooks International
Total Pages: 288
Release: 2013-11-15
Genre: Transportation
ISBN: 076034535X

"The history of the East Bay Dragons Motorcycle Club, an all-black, all-Harley, all-chopper group of motorcyclists in Oakland, California. Written by the club's founder and president, it presents an often-untold portion of African-American history"-Provided by publisher.