Here we have in Aint No Place Safe, a complicated coming-of-age story about the struggles of a young man by the name of Raheem Porter as he grows up in the Badlands section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. How does a young black male navigate his way safely into adulthood with so much violence and drug use sitting right outside his front door? Even with extreme God-given talent both athletically as well as academically, the chance and opportunity to excel in life can be seen as simply just a dream. Our protagonist, Raheem, is an extremely talented basketball player (who is well sought after by most division 1 schools) just as his twin-like sixteen-year-old cousin, Kareem, was. In the opening scene, Kareem is tragically shot and killed for a pair of expensive basketball sneakers while a helpless Raheem looks on. Although this traumatic event is life altering, somehow with the help of a loving grandmother (Mother Porter a.k.a. Nana) and the support of a few caring teachers, a strong-willed Raheem perseveres. Raheems basketball talents very quickly blossom along with his size and height. He becomes something to marvel at. Instead of this creating a narcissist, it somehow humbles the young man. He subconsciously understands that his talents are a blessing and is to be used for the betterment of his familys future.

In this powerful and compelling memoir, Kim Reid shares the extraordinary story of growing up in the shadow of a serial killer who terrorised Atlanta, murdering 29 black children from 1979-81. Kim's mother was the first female African-American detective assigned to the investigation, and as she became more preoccupied with finding the killer, a 13-year-old Kim felt her life unravelling around her. An unforgettable story of innocence lost, and of a heartbreaking and controversial case that captivated the world.

A major collection of short stories by one of America’s most important writers—informed by the knowledge the wounds racism leaves in both its victims and its perpetrators. • “If Van Gogh was our 19th-century artist-saint, James Baldwin is our 20th-century one.” —Michael Ondaatje, Booker Prize-winner of The English Patient In this modern classic, "there's no way not to suffer. But you try all kinds of ways to keep from drowning in it." The men and women in these eight short fictions grasp this truth on an elemental level, and their stories detail the ingenious and often desperate ways in which they try to keep their head above water. It may be the heroin that a down-and-out jazz pianist uses to face the terror of pouring his life into an inanimate instrument. It may be the brittle piety of a father who can never forgive his son for his illegitimacy. Or it may be the screen of bigotry that a redneck deputy has raised to blunt the awful childhood memory of the day his parents took him to watch a black man being murdered by a gleeful mob. By turns haunting, heartbreaking, and horrifying, Going to Meet the Man is a major work by one of our most important writers.

Joyce Carol Oates has performed a full review of her acclaimed 1992 anthology, The Oxford Book of American Short Stories, and in this second edition embraces those authors who have come to define turn-of-the-century American literature. Jhumpa Lahiri, Junot Diaz, Richard Ford, and David Foster Wallace are just a few of the authors whose stories are now represented. Each story is accompanied by a brief introduction, and there is also a fascinating introductory essay by Joyce Carol Oates that explains why these stories form the foundation of the American literary canon, and the trends and innovations that have taken place in the last twenty years.

An extraordinary novel about a strong-willed woman who disguises herself as a man in order to fight beside her husband in the Civil War. Rosetta doesn't want her new husband, Jeremiah, to enlist, but he joins up, hoping to make enough money that they'll be able to afford their own farm someday. When Jeremiah leaves, Rosetta decides her true place is by his side, no matter what that means, and follows him into war. Rich with historical details and inspired by the many women who fought in the Civil War while disguised as men, I Shall Be Near To You is a courageous adventure, a woman's search for meaning and individuality, and a poignant story of enduring love.

"One Sunday, nine-year-old Jess Hall watches in horror as his autistic brother is smothered during a healing service in the mountains of North Carolina. The unimaginable violence that follows must be untangled by a local sheriff with his own tragic past." --Publisher description.