BOOKSHELF
February Books
Fiction
This Is a Love Story, by Jessica Soffer
For 50 years, Abe and Jane have been coming to Central Park, as starry-eyed young lovers, as frustrated and exhausted parents, as artists watching their careers take flight. They came alone when they needed to get away from each other, and together when they had something important to discuss. The park has been their witness for half a century of love. Until now. Jane is dying, and Abe is recounting their life together as a way of keeping them going: the parts they knew and the parts they didn’t always want to know. Told in various points of view, these voices weave in and out to paint a portrait as complicated and essential as love itself.
Three Days in June, by Anne Tyler
Gail Baines is having a bad day. To start, she loses her job — or quits, depending on whom you ask. Tomorrow her daughter, Debbie, is getting married, and she hasn’t even been invited to the spa day organized by the mother of the groom. Then, Gail’s ex-husband, Max, arrives unannounced on her doorstep, carrying a cat, without a place to stay, and without even a suit. The true crisis lands when Debbie shares with her parents a secret she has just learned about her husband-to-be. It will not only throw the wedding into question but also stir up Gail and Max’s past.
Harlem Rhapsody, by Victoria Christopher Murray
In 1919, a high school teacher from Washington, D.C., arrives in Harlem excited to realize her lifelong dream. Jessie Redmon Fauset has been named the literary editor of The Crisis. The first Black woman to hold this position at a pre-eminent Negro magazine, Jessie is poised to achieve literary greatness. But she holds a secret that jeopardizes it all. W.E.B. Du Bois, the founder of The Crisis, is not only Jessie’s boss, he’s her lover. And neither his wife nor their 14-year age difference can keep the two apart. Amid rumors of their tumultuous affair, Jessie is determined to prove herself. She attacks the challenge of discovering young writers with fervor, finding 16-year-old Countee Cullen, 17-year-old Langston Hughes, and Nella Larsen, who becomes one of her best friends. Under Jessie’s leadership, The Crisis thrives. When her first novel is released to great acclaim, it’s clear that Jessie is at the heart of a renaissance in Black music, theater and the arts. She has shaped a generation of literary legends, but as she strives to preserve her legacy, she’ll discover the high cost of her unparalleled success.
Nonfiction
Fearless and Free, by Josephine Baker
Published in the U.S. for the first time, Fearless and Free is the memoir of the fabulous, rule-breaking, one-of-a-kind Josephine Baker, the iconic dancer, singer, spy and Civil Rights activist. After stealing the spotlight as a teenage Broadway performer during the height of the Harlem Renaissance, Josephine then took Paris by storm, dazzling audiences across the Roaring ’20s. In her famous banana skirt, she enraptured royalty and countless fans — Ernest Hemingway and Pablo Picasso among them. She strolled the streets of Paris with her pet cheetah wearing a diamond collar. With her signature flapper bob and enthralling dance moves, she was one of the most recognizable women in the world. When World War II broke out, Josephine became a decorated spy for the French Résistance. Her celebrity worked as her cover, as she hid spies in her entourage and secret messages in her costumes. She later joined the civil rights movement in the U.S., boycotting segregated concert venues, and speaking at the March on Washington alongside Martin Luther King Jr. First published in France in 1949, her memoir will now finally be published in English. Through her own telling, we come to know a woman who danced to the top of the world and left her unforgettable mark on it.
Children's Books
Ten-Word Tiny Tales of Love,
by Joseph Coelho
Some go on and on expressing their love, but what if you had to condense your adoration into just 10 words? This stunningly illustrated coffee table-worthy picture book is filled with simple 10-word expressions of love to make your heart sing. Includes illustrations from Jon Klassen, Ken Wilson-Max, Sydney Smith and more! (Ages 7-10.)
Akeem Keeps Bees! by Kamal Bell
Knowing, growing, and flowing . . . a read-together title featuring the humans and bees from Sankofa Farms in Durham, North Carolina. The perfect choice for a nature lover, foodie or a young one who might BEE curious about where honey comes from. (Ages 4-7.)
Your Farm; Your Forest; Your Island, (three books)
by Jon Klassen
Who hasn’t dreamed of having an island, a forest, or a farm all your own? Klassen is that rare author who can create a board book that’s poignant for babies and adult readers alike. This tiny trio is a must for any bedtime bookshelf. (Ages 2-4.)
American Wings, by Sherri L. Smith and Elizabeth Wein
In the years between World Wars I and II, auto mechanics Cornelius Coffey and Johnny Robinson, nurse Janet Harmon Bragg, and teacher and social worker Willa Brown created a flying club, flight school and their own airfield south of Chicago. This incredible true story reads like an “I Survived” novel, telling the story of a few brave and daring individuals who followed their dreams, teaching both Black and white students to fly in an era of strict segregation. (Ages 12 and up.)