In celebration of Black History Month, here are seven inspiring and evocative stories about being Black in America.

In 1999, Sister Souljah published her first novel, "The Coldest Winter Ever," considered by some to be the mother of what's been called urban or street fiction and its first classic. Its heroine, Winter Santiaga, the pampered daughter of a Brooklyn drug kingpin, uses her feminine wiles and hustler mentality to survive after her father's empire suddenly comes crashing down. "The Coldest Winter ...

On the afternoon of Jan. 24, two children's authors were lured to a Zoom meeting under false pretenses. David LaRochelle of White Bear Lake and Mike Wohnoutka of Minneapolis had been invited to take part in a panel discussion for the American Library Association. But when they clicked on the Zoom link, there was no panel — instead, they saw seven people beaming at them. "We have good news," ...

Spring is coming ... soon? Here are six new paperbacks to help you get there — four fiction, two memoir, all recommended. "The Girl with the Louding Voice" by Abi Daré (Dutton, $14.99). This debut novel from Nigerian British author Daré was a New York Times bestseller, about a teenage girl in a Nigerian village who is determined to get an education but is pushed into a traditional early ...

Here are six riveting books that cover everything from missing persons to secret assassins to an Alaska mountain rescue.

Here are the bestsellers for the week that ended Saturday, Feb. 27, compiled from data from independent and chain bookstores, book wholesalers and independent distributors nationwide, powered by NPD BookScan © 2021 NPD Group. (Reprinted from Publishers Weekly, published by PWxyz LLC. © 2021, PWxyz LLC.) HARDCOVER FICTION 1. "The Four Winds" by Kristin Hannah (St. Martin’s) Last week: 2 2. "A ...

"The paradox is that you can create quite a lot of emotion, when you have a voice that isn't inclined to express emotion." Kazuo Ishiguro, the Nobel Prize-winning novelist whose works include "The Remains of the Day" and "Never Let Me Go," could be talking about a number of his characters, but in this case he's describing the main character in his new novel, "Klara and the Sun." Klara, the ...

In the near present, a woman whose marriage is crumbling lifts a tiny sky-blue vial from the bank of the Thames River. In 1791, a 12-year-old girl who has helped commit a murder fills that vial with a potion she hopes will change her life. What links them, besides that bit of blue glass, is the subject of "The Lost Apothecary," a debut novel by Sarah Penner, who lives in St. Petersburg. The ...

CHICAGO – Debut author Nancy Johnson wanted to tell human interest stories when she was a broadcast news journalist years ago, but she recalls there were too few opportunities to do that. Now, the Chicago native has all the opportunity she can handle with her first book, “The Kindest Lie.” The novel tells the story of Ruth Tuttle, a Black engineer living in Bronzeville with her husband. The ...