,

PageTurners: Releases Chock Full of Riveting Debuts and Badass Female Protagonists

The first release date in August gives us a 6888th Battalion, a Yoruban deity traveling the Underground Railroad and a graphic novel about a Klan riot in 1923.

Shallow Waters, My Kingdom for a Title, Black Girls Must Die Exhausted Image: Atria/Black Privilege Publishing, HarperCollins, Mitchell-Innes & Nash and New Documents

Debuts don’t just mean new, fantastic books—but new fantastic authors to read, too.

Video will return here when scrolled back into view
Trump’s Tariffs Might Stick Around. What Should We Buy Now?
Trump’s Tariffs Might Stick Around. What Should We Buy Now?

Black Girls Must Die Exhausted by Jayne Allen was originally self-published and part of a trilogy that follows Tabitha Walker and her self-ascribed status as the “ideal, modern Black woman”—and how that whole identity changes once a medical diagnosis turns her life on its head. Anita Kopacz explores the Yoruban deity Yemaya, who travels across continents to traverse the Underground Railroad, searching for the man who sacrificed part of his life for hers.

Nadia Owusu’s debut memoir, Aftershocks, is available as a paperback that will keep you engaged in the multiracial, transcontinental story of her early life in search of her true identity. Lastly, Peace Adzo Medie’s story of Afi Tekple and her arranged marriage is utterly engaging and has also been released as a paperback.

Additionally, the true story of the 6888th battalion, the first all-Black, female-led battalion in World War II tells the tale of the first time Grace Steele and Eliza Jones traveled to Europe to fight for their country in Sisters in Arms by Kaia Alderson.

If you’re looking to escape to a new type of world written by new authors, this week’s releases will have you on the edge of your seat and excited to read more.

Aftershocks: A Memoir – Nadia Owusu (Memoir)

Image: Simon & Schuster

Nadia Owusu’s debut memoir, Aftershocks, is now available in paperback and follows a young Nadia as she travels with her father from Europe to Africa and back. Each time she and her family finally get settled into a normal way of life, it is time for them to move again, leaving everything behind and allowing for nothing to be sacred. Following the shocking death of her father, a 13-year-old Nadia learns of a horrible secret about her mother and childhood, throwing her into fits of depression for the rest of her young adult life. Slamming into a new life in New York, feeling “stateless, motherless and uncertain about her future,” Owusu sets out to find herself and forge a new identity.

August 3, 2021, Simon & Schuster 

Black Girls Must Die Exhausted – Jayne Allen (Fiction)

Image: HarperCollins

Black Girls Must Die Exhausted is the first book in a previously self-published trilogy about strength, perseverance, dreams and motherhood. Tabitha Walker is the epitome of the ideal “modern Black woman” with an amazing job, picture-perfect boyfriend, downpayment on a house and a “standing Saturday morning appointment with a reliable hairstylist.” Things are going exactly as planned…until they’re not.

A medical diagnosis rocks her world and in that moment, Tabitha has to make an impossible choice—continue to pursue her career goals, or sacrifice everything for family. With the help of her two best friends and grandmother, Tabitha explores all of the possibilities and is beaten down by her grandmother’s age old saying: Black girls must die exhausted.

September 28, 2021, HarperCollins

Correction - August 5, 2021, 10:05 am ET: This post has been corrected to reflect the official publication date of ‘Black Girls Must Die Exhausted’ to September 28, 2021.

His Only Wife – Peace Adzo Medie (Fiction)

Image: Workman Publishing Company

Smart, pretty and on her way to being successful, a young seamstress in Ghana has been convinced by her mother to marry a man…one she doesn’t know. Afi Tekple has been married off to wealthy businessman Elikem, whose family has chosen Afi to be his wife in hopes she will discourage him from continuing a fraudulent relationship no one approves of. Afi has only agreed to the marriage to give her mother financial security, so she must see it through…or does she?

Peace Adzo Medie’s debut novel His Only Wife is now available in paperback and the witty, beautifully written and the brave story gives us a “relatable heroine who just may break all the rules.”

August 3, 2021, Workman Publishing Company

My Kingdom for a Title – Pope.L (Nonfiction)

My Kingdom for a Title – Pope.L Image: Mitchell-Innes & Nash and New Documents

As a visual artist and educator, Pope.L opened a dialogue about the preconceived notions about contemporary culture. My Kingdom for a Title assembles materials, much of which is being published for the first time in the this book, which shows “some of the same social, formal and performative strategies to his interests in language, system, gender, race and community,” per a press release provided to The Root.

Available for pre-order now, My Kingdom for a Title explores the creative processes “integral to [Pope.L’s practice.” Published as a complement to to two exhibitions that took place this past year, the book will be made available in September 2021.

Pre-order available now, Mitchell-Innes & Nash and New Documents

Shallow Waters: A Novel – Anita Kopacz (Fiction)

Image: Atria/Black Privilege Publishing

Yemaya is an Orïsha—a deity in Yoruban religion—who is reimagined and cast into 19th century America in Anita Kopacz’s debut lyric novel, Shallow Waters. Yemaya is on a journey that leads her in search of Obatala—the man who sacrificed his freedom for hers. With this journey, she is forced on a path to become the all-powerful woman she was destined to be. Yemaya’s journey takes readers from her “native Africa and on to the ‘New World.’” Finally understanding her own power, Yemaya travels the Underground Railroad in search of Obatala while crossing paths with historical icons who shaped our culture and lives into what they are today.

August 3, 2021, Atria/Black Privilege Publishing 

Sisters in Arms: A Novel of the Daring Black Women Who Served During World War II – Kaia Alderson (Fiction)

Image: HarperCollins

The 6888th Postal Battalion (the Six Triple Eight), was an experiment designed to fail. Grace Steele and Eliza Jones have little in common save their occupation—they are the first Black women allowed to serve in the United States Army in World War II. While they were able to navigate the racism and sexism that existed within the barracks, learning to cope with the segregation in the field is even harder. Pushing through and persevering, the Six Triple Eight are finally able to make it overseas to England and then France, hoping beyond hope they are able to do what they can for the country they love—no matter the cost.

Sisters in Arms is a true story based on the 6888th postal battalion and the groundbreaking—though silenced—stories of the first and only all-Black, entirely women operated U.S. battalion to be deployed and operated overseas during World War II.

August 3, 2021, HarperCollins

The Day The Klan Came to Town – Bill Campbell (Fiction/Graphic Novel)

Image: PM Press

The year is 1923, and in the name of “white supremacy,” the Ku Klux Klan’s membership has amassed over a million. They are no longer targeting just Black people, but Catholic and Jewish people, as well. In the early ‘20s, Pennsylvania jumped onto the “Americanism” bandwagon and the Grand Dragon of the state “decided to display the Klan’s newfound power in a show of force.”

The Day The Klan Came to Town tells the story of “Karnegie Day”—a riot where the newest members of the Klan were initiated by rolling up to an “unassuming borough of Catholics and Jews” to “teach them a lesson,”—as a graphic novel.

August 3, 2021, PM Press

When the Reckoning Comes: A Novel – LaTanya McQueen (Fiction)

Image: Harper Perennial

Mira fled her small, segregated hometown, Kipsen, almost a decade ago, attempting to get away from the past and avoid a tumultuous future. But with every hour she drives, the more the distance grows between her and her best friend Celine and her secret love, Jesse.

When Mira goes back for Celine’s wedding, she, Jesse and Celine are forced to relive their history while staying on an old plantation turned fancy hotel and vacation resort. Desperate to rekindle her friendships, Mira embarks on a journey that could end in triumph…or tragedy.

August 3, 2021, Harper Perennial

Straight From The Root

Sign up for our free daily newsletter.

Latest from The Root

Steve Harvey's Gorgeous $15 Million Once Owned by Tyler Perry

Steve Harvey’s Gorgeous $15 Million Once Owned by Tyler Perry

With a 70,000 gallon infinity pool to a home theater and wine cellar, Steve Harvey's mansion is one of the most expensive properties in Atlanta, Ga ...
The Best, Black TV Shows, Movies to Stream on AppleTV+

The Best, Black TV Shows, Movies to Stream on AppleTV+

From Brian Tyree Henry getting down and dirty to David Oyelowo searching for a fresh start: we've got what you need to watch! ...

How Tina Knowles Schooled Folks Hating on Beyoncé For Singing the National Anthem on Tour

How Tina Knowles Schooled Folks Hating on Beyoncé For Singing the National Anthem on Tour

Clips of Beyonce performing the song has gone viral, prompting folks to question why she'd choose to sing it in the first place. But Miss Tina has had enough! ...
What's Happening to Diddy's Fortune? Here's What We Know

What’s Happening to Diddy’s Fortune? Here’s What We Know

He was once on the way to billionaire status. Now, Diddy's net worth and his reputation has taken a drop ...
Gary Coleman's Ex-Wife Finally Takes Lie Detector Test About His Death, and the Results Are Spooky

Gary Coleman’s Ex-Wife Finally Takes Lie Detector Test About His Death, and the Results Are Spooky

Coleman married Shannon Price in 2007 and divorced one year later. Two years after that, he suffered a fatal fall and Price was the only witness ...
How Tyler Perry's Name Was Dropped in Yet Another Sexual Misconduct Claim By One of His Actors

How Tyler Perry’s Name Was Dropped in Yet Another Sexual Misconduct Claim By One of His Actors

Braxton Wells accused the studios' senior vice president of scripted programming of grooming and rape...but that's not all ...
Here's Why Y'all Need to Stop Calling Beyoncé 'Old'

Here’s Why Y’all Need to Stop Calling Beyoncé ‘Old’

Beyoncé is many things. But too old to perform is not one of them....especially in a musical market with many aging men ...
Is NeNe Leakes Plotting the Ultimate 'Real Housewives of Atlanta' Comeback? Here's the Pipin' Hot Tea...

Is NeNe Leakes Plotting the Ultimate ‘Real Housewives of Atlanta’ Comeback? Here’s the Pipin’ Hot Tea…

The veteran peach-holder spoke about returning to the Atlanta reality show after leaving in 2020 ...
L.A. Mayor Karen Bass Went Up Against 90 Homeland Security Soldiers, Here's What Happened Next

L.A. Mayor Karen Bass Went Up Against 90 Homeland Security Soldiers, Here’s What Happened Next

As soon as footage of National Guard troops got back to Mayor Bass, she went down there to personally handle the situation ...
DeMarco Morgan Is Leaving 'GMA3,' and Here's Why We Should've Seen it Coming

DeMarco Morgan Is Leaving ‘GMA3,’ and Here’s Why We Should’ve Seen it Coming

While his departure may be upsetting to some fans, there may have been hints that his time on the show was winding down ...
Confederate Group Takes This Drastic Action to Shut Down a Georgia Park's Planned Slavery Exhibit

Confederate Group Takes This Drastic Action to Shut Down a Georgia Park’s Planned Slavery Exhibit

Stone Mountain Park is home of the biggest Confederate monument in America, and one group wants to keep it that way forever ...
Kidnapper Grabs Young Black Boy Before This Brazen Act of Courage Happened— And it Was All Caught on Video

Kidnapper Grabs Young Black Boy Before This Brazen Act of Courage Happened— And it Was All Caught on Video

Rah'Shem Gantt was enjoying a Coney Island outing with his family until things took a frightening turn ...
The Late Ananda Lewis' Son's Father, Who Shares a Special Connection to Will Smith, Just Shared a Touching Tribute

The Late Ananda Lewis’ Son’s Father, Who Shares a Special Connection to Will Smith, Just Shared a Touching Tribute

Harry Lewis, the father of Ananda Lewis' 14-year-old son Langston, called Lewis "the most attentive and loving mother" on Instagram ...
Tina Knowles Gives Halle Bailey Relationship Advice With Just This One Word

Tina Knowles Gives Halle Bailey Relationship Advice With Just This One Word

It's been said that the best way to get over someone is with someone else. And in case you haven't been paying attention, it looks like Halle Bailey is doing just that. Last week, we told you that photographers caught the singer-actress getting up close and personal with producer Scott ...
Hakeem Jeffries Goes Viral For Allegedly Photoshopping This Instagram Photo, But Did He Really...?

Hakeem Jeffries Goes Viral For Allegedly Photoshopping This Instagram Photo, But Did He Really…?

The House Minority Leader made headlines again following an epic speech against Trump's Big Beautiful Bill ...
OutKast's Big Boi Mourns The Death of His Uncle "Moonie" In Tragic Shooting

OutKast’s Big Boi Mourns The Death of His Uncle “Moonie” In Tragic Shooting

In a statement with WSB-TV, Big Boi shared how the death has affected his family: ...
All About Mel B's Stunning Lookalike Little Sister

All About Mel B’s Stunning Lookalike Little Sister

While there were a handful of famous faces in attendance, the main face that's slowly becoming the talk of the town is Mel B's little sister, Danielle Brown. And you've got to see why! ...
Tupac Associate Young Noble's Death Illuminates Alarming Fact About Suicide Rates Among Black Men

Tupac Associate Young Noble’s Death Illuminates Alarming Fact About Suicide Rates Among Black Men

On July 4, 2025, emcee Young Noble-- member of Outlawz and Tupac affiliate-- died of an apparent suicide ...
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's Recent Dissent Proves She's Unafraid to Challenge Her Colleagues—Unlike Clarence Thomas

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Recent Dissent Proves She’s Unafraid to Challenge Her Colleagues—Unlike Clarence Thomas

Compared to Thomas, Jackson is a breath of fresh air. As one of the youngest members on the court, she often uses her platform to connect with all Americans ...
After Three Open-Heart Surgeries, This Black Father Discovered an Unusual Cure

After Three Open-Heart Surgeries, This Black Father Discovered an Unusual Cure

Donnie Seals, Sr. and his son, Eric share a transformational trip in a PBS documentary they hope will help other Black people ...