Jaquan Smiley, a successful, young, bachelor, just bumped into the gorgeous Chandra James inside Wal-Mart. He has a successful business, fine cars, a beautiful home, and young, attractive women vying for his attention...but he's missing one thing—that special someone to share in his life. The lovely, 40-something Chandra James is now living in Jackson, Mississippi, with her mother, trying to get her life back on track after escaping a volatile relationship with her ex-boyfriend in Memphis. She's not looking for a relationship--especially not one with a younger man. But Jaquan's kindness and persistence nearly sweeps her off her feet. Despite their age difference, can Chandra be Da One Jaquan has been looking for all of his life? Or will Jaquan’s overbearing, alcoholic, gold-digging mother succeed in coming between them? Moreover, will Chandra’s ex-lover, Michael, who has vowed to kill her once he's released from prison, destroy everything? In order to have a chance at true happiness and find love in each other’s arms, they must overcome all of the pitfalls and obstacles that come to test their relationship. This exciting, new novel by Claude Gooch is definitely a page-turner that will have you sitting on the edge of your seat! Read and find out if Jaquan has found Da One...

Poetry. This new edition includes interruptions that focus on dismantling rape culture. "By turns violent, political, romantic, incestual, cerebral, bodily, and personal, this second full-length from Tamayo (RED MISSED ACHES) bears the formal markings of the hypermodern in its deployment of digital, pop, and intertextual elements. Written after her first trip back to her native Colombia in 25 years, the book is indebted to Rihanna, Barthes, and Aim� C�saire, whose texts she mines voraciously. Those influences, as well as the spectres of Alfred Molina and the author's father, haunt the page, intermixed with screen captures, cheap internet advertising, deliberate misspellings, and pun-ridden Spanglish."--Publishers Weekly

"See, I don’t know, I was like a part of our whatchamacallit, group, but in a way, I wasn’t. Like the guy at the ball game who doesn’t cheer. I’m just the guy Rudy or Regan calls up. The more the merrier, you know? It really wouldn’t make that much of a difference if I showed up or not. Really. I’ve never been real good with talking or conversation. I mean, all the guys joke around and laugh while I sit back and smile every now and then. It’s like I’m watching a movie. Just watching everything going on around me. I’m not like the other guys. I can’t come out with neat things to say that will make everybody laugh at the drop of a hat. I mean, I can go the whole night sometimes without saying a damn word." —from "The Sand Island Drive-In Anthem" In Good Company is a celebration of life in Hawai‘i, beyond Waikiki and Diamond Head. Its characters work sixteen-hour-shifts at airport drive-ins, play pool with cursed hitmen, wrestle their high school sweethearts in Chinatown bars. From Manoa to Waianae to the author’s hometown of Kalihi, men and women seek love, dignity, and a place to belong. At the heart of In Good Company are the mysterious—and often wonderful—things that can happen to the human spirit when one life intersects with another. Collected here for the first time are eight of Cedric Yamanaka’s best short stories.

VOLUME TWO SOMETIMES IN LOVE, THE ONLY WAY YOU CAN FACE THE FUTURE IS TO LET GO OF THE PAST. From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Julie Ann Walker comes an epic story about sacrifice, friendship, and the awe-inspiring power of love. Maggie: Ten years ago, Cash Armstrong stole my heart. Then he promptly joined the army—dragging my best friend with him—and left me crying on the front porch in a red sequined prom dress. Now he's back. They're both back. Cash, the one who still has my heart. And Luc, the one who saved my life. Cash: How do you know if you’re at the end of the beginning or the beginning of the end? That's what I've been trying to figure out since a traumatic brain injury made me "unfit to serve." I'm back in New Orleans, and picking up the shattered pieces of my past means I must confront where my life's journey began... and where it all might end. Luc: Long ago, Maggie May was mine. Not mine in the way you might think. She was mine because she was my only friend. Then Cash came along and we became brothers by something stronger than blood. We became brothers by choice. When tragedy struck, I was forced to make a decision that changed all our lives. I thought, after ten years, it was safe to come back home. I was wrong...

One of the few books of its kind, Acting Up and Getting Down brings together seven African American literary voices that all have a connection to the Lone Star state. Covering Texas themes and universal ones, this collection showcases often-overlooked literary talents to bring to life inspiring facets of black theatre history. Capturing the intensity of racial violence in Texas, from the Battle of San Jacinto to a World War I–era riot at a Houston training ground, Celeste Bedford Walker's Camp Logan and Ted Shine's Ancestors provide fascinating narratives through the lens of history. Thomas Meloncon's Johnny B. Goode and George Hawkins's Br'er Rabbit explore the cultural legacies of blues music and folktales. Three unflinching dramas (Sterling Houston's Driving Wheel, Eugene Lee's Killingsworth, and Elizabeth Brown-Guillory's When the Ancestors Call) examine homosexuality, a death in the family, and child abuse, bringing to light the private tensions of intersections between the individual and the community. Supplemented by a chronology of black literary milestones as well as a playwrights' canon, Acting Up and Getting Down puts the spotlight on creative achievements that have for too long been excluded from Texas letters. The resulting anthology not only provides new insight into a regional experience but also completes the American story as told onstage.