Bestselling African American Books, February 2010

1. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
   (Crown, 02/02/10, Hardcover)
   

   Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her slave ancestors, yet her cells – taken without her knowledge – became one of the most important tools in medicine. The first “immortal” human cells grown in culture, they are still alive today, though she has been dead for more than sixty years. If you could pile all HeLa cells ever grown onto a scale, they’d weigh more than 50 million metric tons – as much as a hundred Empire State Buildings. HeLa cells were vital for developing the polio vaccine; uncovered secrets of cancer, viruses, and the atom bomb’s effects; helped lead to important advances like in vitro fertilization, cloning, and gene mapping; and have been bought and sold by the billions. Yet Henrietta Lacks remains virtually unknown, buried in an unmarked grave.Now Rebecca Skloot takes us on an extraordinary journey, from the “colored” ward of Johns Hopkins Hospital in the 1950s to stark white laboratories with freezers full of HeLa cells; from Henrietta’s small, dying hometown of Clover, Virginia – a land of wooden slave quarters, faith healings, and voodoo – to East Baltimore today, where her children and grandchildren live and struggle with the legacy of her cells. Henrietta’s family did not learn of her “immortality” until more than twenty years after her death, when scientists investigating HeLa began using her husband and children in research without informed consent. And though the cells had launched a multimillion-dollar industry that sells human biological materials, her family never saw any of the profits. As Rebecca Skloot so brilliantly shows, the story of the Lacks family – past and present – is inextricably connected to the dark history of experimentation on African Americans, the birth of bioethics, and the legal battles over whether we control the stuff we are made of. Over the decade it took to uncover this story, Rebecca became enmeshed in the lives of the Lacks family – especially Henrietta’s daughter Deborah, who was devastated to learn about her mother’s cells. She was consumed with questions: Had scientists cloned her mother? Did it hurt her when researchers infected her cells with viruses and shot them into space? What happened to her sister, Elsie, who died in a mental institution at the age of fifteen? And if her mother was so important to medicine, why couldn’t her children afford health insurance? Intimate in feeling, astonishing in scope, and impossible to put down, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks captures the beauty and drama of scientific discovery, as well as its human consequences.

    

2. Dirtier Than Ever: A Novel by Vickie M. Stringer
   (Atria, 02/16/10, Hardcover)
   

   Following the phenomenal success of Essence bestsellers Dirty Red and Still Dirty, Vickie M. Stringer takes readers on another bumpy ride in Dirtier Than Ever with Red, Bacon, and Q – the crazy love-hate triangle who makes the series a favorite among urban fiction fans. Q wished that Bacon had killed Red when he had the chance. Red knew that Q’s career as a hustler was over and he was counting on starting a new legit business with the money he had made. He had once believed her when she promised that the money didn’t mean a thing and she would give it all up to be with him.  Bacon returns from prison and suddenly Q is left for dead. With Q out of the picture, Bacon now has Red to himself. His sights are set on being the top hustler with Red by his side. He believes Red has fi nally changed when she reveals the truth about her past. But all comes to a head when the snooping detective, Thomas, suspects Red’s involvement in Q’s getting shot and the murder of Zeke, Q’s best friend. With two murders, a tumultuous love affair, andmoney on her mind, Red must make a decision . . . does she turn over a new leaf or revisit her dirty ways of old?  Gritty, steamy, and intense, Stringer delivers another page-turning caper about a hustler in high heels who is Dirtier Than Ever.

    

3. Big Girls Do Cry by Carl Weber
   (Kensington, 02/01/10, Hardcover)
   

   New York Times bestselling author Carl Weber cranks up the heat in this explosive follow-up to Something on the Side–a novel of friendship, family ties, and the bonds–and betrayals–of love. . . Isis and her sister, Egypt–two of the original curvaceous members of the Big Girls Book Club–have hightailed it out of New York and settled in Richmond, Virginia, where they’ve started a new chapter of the BGBC. The same rules apply here: You must be at least a bodacious size 14 to join. Living in the plush suburbs, Isis has it all–almost. The thirty-seven-year-old plus-size beauty is happily married to Rashid, and they’re living in the lap of luxury. There’s just one thing missing. They want to start a family. Enter Egypt, who’s moved into her sister’s McMansion with dreams of starting over. There’s just one hitch: before her sister married Rashid, he was Egypt’s man for ten years. Egypt thought she was over him, but the close quarters are giving both her and her sister doubts. She’s ready to pack her bags until Isis and Rashid ask her for a serious favor. Egypt knows she shouldn’t get involved, but she can’t say no to her sister–even if the price might be way too high for them all. Egypt isn’t the only one with drama. Rumor has it that Loraine–Isis’s brilliant boss and one of BGBC’s newest members–is in the running to be her sorority’s next national president. But Loraine has more than one secret that will ruin her if they ever see the light of day. Thank goodness only one other person knows them–BGBC’s first male member, Jerome–and what he knows just might destroy him. As friendships and family and past and present collide, these book lovers are about to learn that drama can follow you wherever you go–and that big girls do cry…

    

4. Brainwashed: Challenging the Myth of Black Inferiority by Tom Burrell
   (Smiley Books, 02/01/10, Paperback)
   

   “Black people are not dark-skinned white people, ” says advertising visionary Tom Burrell. In fact, they are much more. They are survivors of the Middle Passage and centuries of humiliation and deprivation, who have excelled against the odds, constantly making a way out of “No way! ” At this pivotal point in history, the idea of black inferiority should have had a “Going-Out-of-Business Sale. ” After all, Barack Obama has reached America’s Promised Land. Yet, as Brainwashed: Challenging the Myth of Black Inferiority testifies, too many in black America are still wandering in the wilderness. In this powerful examination of “the greatest propaganda campaign of all time ” –the masterful marketing of black inferiority, aka the BI Complex –Burrell poses ten disturbing questions that will make black people look in the mirror and ask why, nearly 150 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, so many blacks still think and act like slaves. Burrell’s acute awareness of the power of words and images to shift, shape, and change the collective consciousness has led him to connect the contemporary and historical dots that have brought us to this crossroads. Brainwashed is not a reprimand –it is a call to action. It demands that we question our self-defeating attitudes and behaviors. Racism is not the issue; how we respond to media distortions and programmed self-hatred is the issue. It’s time to reverse the BI campaign with a globally based initiative that harnesses the power of new media and the wisdom of intergenerational coalitions. Provocative and powerful, Brainwashed dares to expose the wounds so that we, at last, can heal.

    

5. Be Careful What You Pray For by Kimberla Lawson Roby
   (William Morrow, 02/01/10, Hardcover)
   

   New York Times bestselling author Kimberla Lawson Roby returns with this delightful sequel to The Best of Everything, in which the infamous Reverend Curtis Black’s beautiful daughter, Alicia, is all grown up –and headed for trouble of her own Her first marriage didn’t work out, but that isn’t going to stop Alicia Black, the privileged daughter of the charismatic Reverend Curtis Black, from getting what she wants. One month after her wedding to her second husband, she can’t believe her good fortune. God has heeded her prayers, blessing her with Pastor JT Valentine, a handsome, dynamic man of the cloth with his own large congregation, just like her father. Unfortunately, Alicia doesn’t understand just how much like Curtis her new husband truly is. She doesn’t know that JT has been sneaking around town with other women –or that he only married her to get close to her father’s money and fame. But while Alicia is blinded by love, her dad certainly isn’t. He warned his little girl that JT simply can’t be trusted. After all, it takes one to know one, and who better to see into the darkness of a sinner’s heart than Curtis? It will take a miracle to save the day. But God acts in mysterious ways, and soon a host of lies, longtime secrets, and acts of betrayal comes to light, and Alicia must face some very crucial and life-changing decisions. This time, she’s got to be careful what she prays for. . . .

    

6. Little Black Girl Lost 5 by Keith Lee Johnson
   (Urban Books, 02/01/10, Paperback)
   

    

7. Reverend Feelgood by Lutishia Lovely
   (Dafina, 02/01/10, Paperback)
   

   In Lutishia Lovely’s wickedly sexy new novel, an energetic young pastor works overtime to keep the ladies in his congregation deliciously satisfied. . .Nathaniel “Nate” Thicke is a preaching prodigy. At only twenty-eight years old, he’s the senior pastor of The Gospel Truth Church. In addition to carrying on the preaching tradition begun by his great-grandfather, Nate is also just plain carrying on, wherever the spirit–and the flesh–lead him. And when it leads him to three women from the same family, bickering and backstabbing follow…Content with having his pick of the flock, Nate is surprised to discover he’s fallen head-over-heels in love, and decides to become a one-woman man. But the other ladies aren’t about to give him up so easily. They’re prepared to do whatever it takes to get their man back–even if it means adding a few more shocking sins to their list…Praise for Lutishia Lovely and A Preacher’s Passion”The scintillating brew of sex, faith and sharp humor will have Lovely’s fans breathless for more.”–Publishers Weekly”Lutishia Lovely brought Passion to church and set it on fire!!!”–Pat G’Orge-Walker, Essence- bestselling author”Filled with drama, consequences, double-standards and plenty of life lessons to go around.”–Naleighna Kai, author of She Touched My Soul

    

8. Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down by Andrea Pinkney
   (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 02/03/10, Hardcover)
   

   It was February 1, 1960.They didn’t need menus. Their order was simple.A doughnut and coffee, with cream on the side.This picture book is a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the momentous Woolworth’s lunch counter sit-in, when four college students staged a peaceful protest that became a defining moment in the struggle for racial equality and the growing civil rights movement. Andrea Davis Pinkney uses poetic, powerful prose to tell the story of these four young men, who followed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s words of peaceful protest and dared to sit at the “whites only” Woolworth’s lunch counter. Brian Pinkney embraces a new artistic style, creating expressive paintings filled with emotion that mirror the hope, strength, and determination that fueled the dreams of not only these four young men, but also countless others.

    

9. Hood Richest: (Triple Crown Publications Presents) by Michelle Monay
   (Triple Crown Publications, 02/15/10, Paperback)
   

    

10. A Girl From Flint by Treasure Hernandez
    (Urban Books, 02/01/10, Paperback)
    

     

11. Dope Sick by Walter Dean Myers
    (Amistad, 02/01/10, Paperback)
    

    A drug deal goes south and a cop has been shot. Lil J’s on the run. And he’s starting to get dope sick. He’d do anything to change the last twenty-four hours, and when he stumbles into an abandoned building, it actually might be possible. . . . Elements of magical realism intensify this harrowing story about drug use, violence, perceptions of reality, and second chances.

     

12. No Other Lover Will Do by Cheris Hodges
    (Dafina, 02/01/10, Paperback)
    

     

13. Don’t Bring Home a White Boy: And Other Notions that Keep Black Women From Dating Out by Karyn Langhorne Folan
    (Karen Hunter, 02/02/10, Hardcover)
    

    IN AN AGE WHEN AMERICA HAS EMBRACED a mixed-race president and a strong, independent black woman as first lady…when black women are on the move and more empowered than ever before…there remains one hot-button topic that stirs up cultural resistance and intensity of emotion like no other: interracial relationships — or, specifically, when black women date or marry white men.What is it about the black female/white male dynamic that sparks such controversy and depth of feeling? What keeps many single black women from exploring relationships outside of their race at a time when the pool of eligible black men is at an all-time low?”Don’t bring home a white boy” is the cultural message stamped deep into every black daughter, an enduring twenty-first-century taboo with origins dating back to the Civil War era, the turbulent Civil Rights decades, and beyond. Now at last there is an honest, eye-opening examination of this societal phenomenon that will resonate with women everywhere and give voice to all sides of the debate. Karyn Langhorne Folan, herself a black woman happily married to a white man, brings together historical, statistical, psychological, and personal perspectives in a groundbreaking book that boldly debunks the “notions” that can keep interracial dating off the table for many women, including:After slavery, I could never date a white man…My family would never accept him — and his would never accept me…White men don’t find black women attractive unless they look like Halle…Our biracial children would have no sense of identity…It means I’m a sellout, or fi lled with self-hate…We’d just be too different…Filled with real-life anecdotes from, and interviews with, men and women of both races and informed by Folan’s thorough and expansive research, Don’t Bring Home a White Boy is both an invaluable contribution to the topic of interracial dating and a timely handbook to help women look beyond skin color in the quest to have all they deserve and desire in a life partner.

     

14. My Times in Black and White: Race and Power at the New York Times by Gerald M. Boyd
    (Lawrence Hill Books, 02/01/10, Hardcover)
    

    “An inspiring and riveting tale. ” –Patrik Henry Bass, Senior Editor, Essence  After a career of many firsts, journalist Gerald Boyd became the first black managing editor of the New York Times. But the dream ended abruptly with Boyd’s forced resignation in the wake of scandal over Jayson Blair, a reporter who had plagiarized and fabricated news stories.  A rare inside view of power and behind-the-scenes politics at the nation’s premier newspaper, My Times in Black and White is the inspirational tale of a man who rose from urban poverty to the top of his field, struggling against whitedominated media, tearing down racial barriers, and all the while documenting the most extraordinary events of the latter twentieth century.

     

15. Where There’s Smoke 2 by Terra Little
    (Urban Books, 02/01/10, Paperback)
    

     

16. Jesus, Jobs, and Justice: African American Women and Religion by Bettye Collier-Thomas
    (Knopf, 02/02/10, Hardcover)
    

    “The Negroes must have Jesus, Jobs, and Justice, ” declared Nannie Helen Burroughs, a nationally known figure among black and white leaders and an architect of the Woman’s Convention of the National Baptist Convention. Burroughs made this statement about the black women’s agenda in 1958, as she anticipated the collapse of Jim Crow segregation and pondered the fate of African Americans. Following more than half a century of organizing and struggling against racism in American society, sexism in the National Baptist Convention, and the racism and paternalism of white women and the Southern Baptist Convention, Burroughs knew that black Americans would need more than religion to survive and to advance socially, economically, and politically. Jesus, jobs, and justice are the threads that weave through two hundred years of black women’s experiences in America.Bettye Collier-Thomas’s groundbreaking book gives us a remarkable account of the religious faith, social and political activism, and extraordinary resilience of black women during the centuries of American growth and change. It shows the beginnings of organized religion in slave communities and how the Bible was a source of inspiration; the enslaved saw in their condition a parallel to the suffering and persecution that Jesus had endured.The author makes clear that while religion has been a guiding force in the lives of most African Americans, for black women it has been essential. As co-creators of churches, women were a central factor in their development. Jesus, Jobs, and Justice explores the ways in which women had to cope with sexism in black churches, as well as racism in mostly white denominations, in their efforts to create missionary societies and form women’s conventions. It also reveals the hidden story of how issues of sex and sexuality have sometimes created tension and divisions within institutions.Black church women created national organizations such as the National Association of Colored Women, the National League of Colored Republican Women, and the National Council of Negro Women. They worked in the interracial movement, in white-led Christian groups such as the YWCA and Church Women United, and in male-dominated organizations such as the NAACP and National Urban League to demand civil rights, equal employment, and educational opportunities, and to protest lynching, segregation, and discrimination. And black women missionaries sacrificed their lives in service to their African sisters whose destiny they believed was tied to theirs.Jesus, Jobs, and Justice restores black women to their rightful place in American and black history and demonstrates their faith in themselves, their race, and their God.

     

17. Drama High: Culture Clash by L. Divine
    (Dafina, 02/01/10, Paperback)
    

    Ever since she discovered a love for drag racing, it’s full speed ahead for Jayd Jackson. . .Fed up with the way her school’s handling Cultural Awareness Day, Jayd and her crew decide to form the first African Student Union. Now some notorious haters are out for blood. But that’s not the only multicultural activity Jayd’s got cooking. On the boy front, Jayd discovers she loves being behind the wheel of her friends’ hot rods, but she can’t deny her attraction for Emilio, the new Latino sophomore at South Bay High. Emilio seems to be crushin’ hard on Jayd too. And now that Jayd may be South Bay’s last virgin, she wonders if it’s time to take things to the next level.But her magical grandmother thinks Jayd’s already moving too fast–and if she doesn’t slow down, she’s sure to get burned. . .

     

18. Love Out of Order (Indigo Love Spectrum) by Nicole Green
    (Genesis Press, 02/01/10, Paperback)
    

     

19. The Denzel Principle: Why Black Women Can’t Find Good Black Men by jimi izrael
    (St. Martin’s Press, 02/16/10, Hardcover)
    

    Sisters decry the shortage of good men and say there is no way she is settling for less than a good Black man. Not just a good one, but the BEST one: Denzel Washington. She, of course, has no idea what that means, what she wants or what a good Black man truly looks like. –from The Denzel PrincipleThe Denzel Principle is the belief that the perfect man –in the form of Denzel Washington –actually exists off screen and that all Black women can snag a Denzel of their very own.So what does your very own Denzel look like? Well, he’s rich but earthy, handsome but not pretty, doting but not docile, tough but vulnerable, political but not radical, passionate but not hysterical, ambitious but not overbearing, well-read but not nerdy, manly but not macho, gentle but not feminine, Black but not militant, sexy but not solicitous, flirtatious but particular…and all that on cue and in proper measure.Award winning reporter and cultural critic, jimi izrael offers to set the record straight — from a regular guy’s point of view. The Denzel Principle is straight talk on everything from “Ways Women Can Break the Hold of the Dizzle,” “Ways to Attract Mr. Right,” to “Ten Reasons to Love Ordinary Black Men” and so much more.

     

20. Liberating Black Theology: The Bible and the Black Experience in America by Anthony B. Bradley
    (Crossway Books, 02/28/10, Paperback)
    

    An African-American theologian presents this timely critique of the “victimology” theme within black liberation theology and its long-standing spiritual and social implications. When the beliefs of Barack Obama’s former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, assumed the spotlight during the 2008 presidential campaign, the influence of black liberation theology became hotly debated not just within theological circles but across cultural lines. How many of today’s African-American congregations-and how many Americans in general-have been shaped by its view of blacks as perpetual victims of white oppression? In this interdisciplinary, biblical critique of the black experience in America, Anthony Bradley introduces audiences to black liberation theology and its spiritual and social impact. He starts with James Cone’s proposition that the “victim” mind-set is inherent within black consciousness. Bradley then explores how such biblical misinterpretation has historically hindered black churches in addressing the diverse issues of their communities and prevented adherents from experiencing the freedoms of the gospel. Yet Liberating Black Theology does more than consider the ramifications of this belief system; it suggests an alternate approach to the black experience that can truly liberate all Christ-followers.