The Summer We Got Free

At one time a wild young girl and a brilliant artist, Ava Delaney changes dramatically after a violent event that rocks her entire family. Once loved and respected in their community and in their church, they are ostracized by their neighbors, led by their church leader, and a seventeen-year feud between the Delaneys and the church ensues. Ava and her family are displaced from the community even as they continue to live within it, trapped inside their creaky, shadowy old house. When a mysterious woman arrives unexpectedly for a visit, her presence stirs up the past and ghosts and other restless things begin to emerge. And something is reignited in Ava: the indifferent woman she has become begins to give way to the wild girl, and the passionate artist, she used to be. But not without a struggle that threatens her well-being and, ultimately, her life. Winner of the 2013 Lambda Literary Award for Debut Fiction.

African American literature has changed in startling ways since the end of the Black Arts Era. The last five decades have generated new paradigms of racial formation and novel patterns of cultural production, circulation, and reception. This volume takes up the challenge of mapping the varied and changing field of contemporary African American writing. Balancing the demands of historical and political context with attention to aesthetic innovation, it considers the history, practice, and future directions of the field. Examining various historical forces shaping the creation of innovative genres, the turn to the afterlife of slavery, the pull toward protest, and the impact of new and expanded geographies and methods, this Companion provides an invaluable point of reference for readers seeking rigorous and cutting-edge analyses of contemporary African American literature.

GOOD MORNING AMERICA BUZZ PICK • A woman who’s used to going solo discovers that there’s one relationship she can’t run away from in this “hilarious, electric” (The New York Times) novel, a probing examination of the complexities of family, queerness, race, and community LAMBDA LITERARY AWARD WINNER• ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The Boston Globe, Autostraddle, Shondaland • “A new kind of love story, the best kind.”—Ashley C. Ford, New York Times bestselling author of Somebody’s Daughter When she was twenty-six and broke, Skye didn’t think twice before selling her eggs and happily pocketing the cash. Now approaching forty, Skye still moves through life entirely—and unrepentantly—on her own terms, living out of a suitcase and avoiding all manner of serious relationships. Maybe her junior high classmates weren’t wrong when they voted her “Most Likely to Be Single” instead of “Most Ride-or-Die Homie,” but at least she’s always been free to do as she pleases. Then a twelve-year-old girl tracks Skye down during one of her brief visits to her hometown of Philadelphia and informs Skye that she’s “her egg.” Skye’s life is thrown into sharp relief and she decides that it might be time to actually try to have a meaningful relationship with another human being. Spoiler alert: It’s not easy. Things get even more complicated when Skye realizes that the woman she tried and failed to pick up the other day is the girl’s aunt, and now it’s awkward. All the while, her brother is trying to get in touch, her mother is being bewilderingly kind, and the West Philly pool halls and hoagie shops of her youth have been replaced by hipster cafés. With its endearingly prickly narrator and a cast of characters willing to both challenge her and catch her when she falls, this novel is a clever, moving portrait of a woman and the relationships she thought she could live without.

Survival, horses, wild life, farm life and farm humor. This book is a look at the adventures and stories of a city girl becoming a country girl and many of the lessons she and her husband learn along the way. It is filled with stories of the animals they love, the wild life they find and the challenges that just happen on a daily basis. From the eagle they saved, the cat that adopts them, the funny things that horses do, saving a cow in birth, the agony of trying to save a horse that colics and the countless things that have to be fixed as they live in the country. This is a story of retirement as they learn, adapt and overcome obstacles in their transition to country life.

As the fight for transgender rights has grown and made incredible strides, so too has a new generation of activists and celebrities stepped forward into the spotlight to promote awareness, sensitivity, and respect for their community. The articles in this book share the stories of dozens of the figures who have been key in the evolving push for greater trans visibility and acceptance. Featuring the lives and words of such prominent figures as Laverne Cox, Jennifer Finley Boylan, and Caitlyn Jenner, these pieces highlight the ways in which prominent individuals living incredibly public lives are changing the conversation around the transgender community and the rights and respect its members deserve.

Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

Alanna Christine always emerges smelling like a rose—or, at least, she sculpts the pile of crap she’s in to look like a rose. She likens herself to a phoenix, constantly burning up and rising from the ashes in this memoir that combines aspects of “Cinderella” with “The Little Engine that Could.” From being adopted and feeling out of place to contemplating suicide and going through a divorce, she’s conquered obstacles with grace and humor. With hard-fought wisdom, she’s forged ahead regardless of the stumbling blocks thrown in her path. Perhaps the biggest challenge has been living with multiple sclerosis, which has taught her that asking for help doesn’t indicate weakness—it indicates strength. She’s also learned that we truly don’t miss anything until it’s gone. In candid fashion, she looks back on her personal trials and tribulations, victories and defeats, and miracles she’s witnessed on the way. While she’s scared of what the future might hold, she’s already discovered strength she never knew she had. Get ready to be inspired by the important life lessons in How I Got a Horse Out of a Toilet.

This book is compiled of a collection of stories that I wrote during the course of my lifetime. Once in awhile I would try my hand at poetry. These poems are towards the end of the book. I wish to share these stories and poems with you, the reader, so you can learn how I lived my life.