PageTurners: It's Getting Hot in Here

It’s so hot outside that the covers of my paperback books have curled back onto themselves in response the ever-present humidity that is blanketing much of the country.

Luckily for us, this week’s releases happen to be hardcovers.

It’s a true joy when a Tuesday (the official/unofficial release day for books) is riddled with fiction masterpieces because it gives me even more reason to get lost in a world that isn’t over 90 degrees.

Not to say that the nonfiction releases this week aren’t spectacular. British-Nigerian chef Zoe Alakija debuts her first cookbook, Afro Vegan: Family Recipes from a British-Nigerian Kitchen that combines the cuisines from Alakija’s kitchen growing up and puts a plant-based and environmentally conscious twist on the recipes. The Beauty in Breaking, a memoir by ER physician Michele Harper explores her time in the field and the patients who taught her how to love herself again.

The long-awaited and absolutely perfectly timed release of Blackout from some of our favorite authors—Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, Nicola Yoon—is a young adult novel that chronicles varying forms of Black teen love in the midst of a citywide blackout caused by the heat in New York. And after 10 years of writing it in his head, Jason Mott gives us one hell of a book. No really. His novel, Hell of a Book, follows an author, a young Black boy living in rural America, and The Kid, the author’s supposed imaginary friend who doesn’t have much of an identity.

Needless to say, we’re all overheating, but not to worry, these books are hot too… hot off the press, that is.

Afro Vegan: Family Recipes from a British-Nigerian Kitchen – Zoe Alakija (Cookbook)

Zoe Alakija’s debut cookbook features almost 50 plant-based recipes that fuse African—specifically Nigerian—and European flavors and techniques from a young chef. Alakija is known for infusing her vibrant and modern techniques into British cooking, blending in the tastes and experience of the Nigerian food of her upbringing. With the rise of plant-based cooking and African cuisine in Britain, Alakija was able to find connections, like the one between the nutty plantain brownies from Nigeria and vegan European flavors. Her easy-to-follow yet complexly flavored recipes not only balance two very different cuisines but ensure that each recipe educates people on how to expand their palates to “broader, more environmentally responsible horizons.”

June 21, 2021, Hoxton Mini Press 

Blackout – Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, Nicola Yoon (Young Adult)

There’s a paradoxical certainty that comes from being in the dark—you never know what to expect, but you know something is out there. An aggressive heatwave barrels its way across New York City, blanketing the city in total darkness, and though all of the lights are out, there’s still a type of electricity flowing through New York. People are much braver in the dark—to reunite with an old friend, continue to fight with a bitter ex, even meet someone new…

Blackout follows interlinked stories of Black teen love in New York in the summer through “charming, hilarious and heartwarming” tales that can light up the world, even in the dark.

June 22, 2021, Quill Tree Books

Hell of a Book – Jason Mott (Fiction)

Jason Mott takes readers on a road trip across the country, timelines and character perspectives in Hell of a Book. As Mott’s main protagonist who sets out to promote his newest novel, the tale also tells the story of Soot, a young Black boy who, up until recently, lived in a rural American town. And then there’s The Kid, who appears to be some form of an imaginary friend (maybe?) who follows the author across his tour—as the author seemingly remains nameless.

As the character’s stories inevitably collide, the magic of the book continues to emerge from a humorous tale about race, love and family into the definition of what it means to be Black in America and the incessant murder that accompanies it.

Mott asks the readers questions such as “Who has been killed? Who is The Kid? Will the author finish his book tour, and what kind of world will he leave behind?” As readers ponder the answers and dive further into the lives of these characters, Mott builds a world that readers are sucked into, leaving them to think, “Wow, that was one Hell of a Book.”

June 29, 2021, Dutton Books

Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen: The Emotional Lives of Black Women – Inger Burnett-Zeigler (Nonfiction)

The “strong Black woman” image/trope is both inspiring and detrimental to Black women everywhere. Clinical psychologist Dr. Inger Burnett-Zeigler praises the strength Black women hold while acknowledging that said strength comes from some form of trauma. Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen explores how the image of a strong Black woman doesn’t “take into account the urgency of Black women’s needs,” and constantly disrupts one’s life. The book shows how trauma can impact mental health and expedite the ability to compartmentalize and push through the pain—often leading to destructive behaviors.

Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen is a guide, roadmap and exploration of self-love and healing for Black women, teaching them “how to prioritize the self and find everyday joys in self-worth.”

June 29, 2021, Amistad

Runner: A Chicago Mystery – Tracy Clark (Mystery)

If there’s one thing “former homicide cop turned private investigator” Cass Raines can’t run from, it’s the bitter chill of Chicago’s winter. In Tracy Clark’s fourth Chicago Mystery installment, Cass is tasked with finding a missing teenage girl—Ramona Titus. She’s run from her foster home and after Cass speaks with her biological mother—a recovering addict—and her foster mother—desperate to find Ramona—Cass begins to empathize with the girl, getting a glimpse into her twisted life. While the police are on the hunt, Cass uses his connections closer to the streets and his “network of savvy allies” to hunt for Ramona.

Holding onto secrets that could put her and everyone else around her in danger, Cass uncovers more and more about Ramona and her past and soon realizes she might not want to be found.

June 29, 2021, Kensington Publishing Corp.

The Beauty in Breaking: A Memoir – Michele Harper (Memoir)

She excelled in a field that was predominately white and male. She married a man she met in Harvard and stayed with him all through medical school. She left medical school, newly single, and in a new city. And now she tells the story of how easy it is—and was—to break. Michele Harper is an emergency room physician, raised in Washington, D.C., and born into a tumultuous family life. Her memoir, The Beauty in Breaking shows her journey towards self-love and healing and chronicles her experiences with different patients and the lessons they taught her.

June 29, 2021, Riverhead Books

This Poison Heart – Kalynn Bayron (Young Adult)

There’s a saying that someone has a “green thumb.” Well, safe to say Briseis has that gift; she can grow plants to their most blooming, beautiful state with just a single touch. Now, Bri has the opportunity to leave Brooklyn for the summer and head to the house her late aunt left Bri in her will where Bri hopes to master her gift. The house, though very enchanting, comes with a specific set of “instructions” and rules pertaining to the old-school apothecary and a garden housing the deadliest plants Bri has ever seen.

But she finds she also has a talent for creating elixirs, and when neighbors come to her with ailments, she’s able to treat them. That is, until she meets Marie, a young woman who Bri befriends who happens to be keeping a very dark secret about the estate and the community, forcing Bri to find a way to harness the ways of the deadliest plant in the world and protect not just her family, but herself.

June 29, 2021, Bloomsbury YA