Tells the story of easy-going social worker Zachary and ambitious reporter Korie as they try to reconcile passion with their differing backgrounds and approaches to life.

Phineas Poole is notorious for making bad decisions. Blindly accepting the position as pastor of a small, unknown church in rural New Hampshire isnt the worst choice he could make. Yet he and Sister Mary Ignatius, an overbearing, foulmouthed, glue-sniffing nun, choose to risk everything when they secretly open their rectory to shelter abused children. Their trouble begins when they take in Zachary Black, an antisocial misfit with no conscience and a burning hatred for those around him. Assuming the boys malevolence to be a cry for help, the priest focuses all his attention and efforts on Black, who has neither the desire to be helped, nor the intention to be reformed. Ultimately, this situation puts the lives of those whom Phineas loves in peril and forces him to reveal the sins of a dark past.

The many facets of black family life have not always been fully visible in American literature. Black families have often been portrayed as chaotic, fractured, and emotionally devastated, and historians and sociologists are just beginning to acknowledge the resilience and strength of African American families through centuries of hardship. In Mending the World, a host of beloved writers celebrate the richness of black family life, revealing how deep, complicated, and joyous modern kinship can be. From James McBride's tender recollection of the man who claimed eight stepchildren as his own to Toi Derricotte's moving portrait of a pregnant teenager who decides to keep her child; from Debra Dickerson's lament over the shooting that crippled her nephew to Charles Johnson's whimsical look at a married couple's mid-life crisis; from Shay Youngblood's moving fictional evocation of a lost mother to poet Kendel Hippolyte's poignant telling of a father's unexpected legacy, this inspiring volume presents-through fiction, memoir, and poetry-a multi-layered and optimistic portrait of today's black America. Mending the World features fiction, personal memoir, and poetry by new writers (some publishing here for the first time) and established members of the canon.

In this memoir of adolescence in Kingston, Jamaica, the daughter of a sprawling family raised in relative privilege explores the secret sense of exile that fuels her dreams of a new life in a foreign place. Along the way she falls in love with a lonely girl who lives at the orphanage up the street from her school; finds her calling in a grandparent’s imperious command; wrestles with the emotions that attend the drinking of her father, a good and moral man with a weakness for the bottle; and decides to give up her virginity to a boy she meets after school. Rosemarie Robotham’s coming-of-age tale takes us inside middle-class life in Jamaica at a time when an exciting new political movement is sweeping the island and everything seems fraught with danger, yet thrillingly possible.

A passionate ode to an American mecca, Beloved Harlem is a literary look into the vibrant African-American haven, edited by one of its celebrated native sons. William H. Banks, Jr., combines the classics with the contemporary as he showcases some of the best essays, short stories, and novel excerpts inspired by the diversity of Harlem life, from the early twentieth century to the new millennium. The days and nights of black Manhattan come alive in the words of historically famous writers like W.E.B. Dubois, Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes, Dorothy West, Ossie Davis, and Toni Morrison, along with the works of brilliant newcomers to the neighborhood, including Brian Keith Jackson’s witty examination of identity politics in The Queen of Harlem and Rosemarie Robatham’s “Dreaming in Harlem,” a moving tale about a woman at the edge of society who finds sanctuary with a stranger. From renaissance through tough times to revitalization, this triumphant homage gives Harlem the historical perspective it so rightly deserves. Beloved Harlem is a welcome addition to the libraries of readers who are either already in love with Harlem or ready to take the fall.

At age 34, Amelia Savage, America's sweetheart Olympic and triathlon champion, suddenly becomes ill. Her cardiologist reveals that she needs a heart transplant caused by a toxic chemical in her blood stream. It's traced to her husband, John Hart, and she is damn angry. With less then three months to live she discovers that John would be a suitable donor. As revenge, she plots to kill him for his heart and the clock is ticking.