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Upcoming events and things to do in Asheville, NC. Below is a list of events for festivals, concerts, art exhibitions, group meetups and more.

Interested in adding an event to our calendar? Please click the green “Post Your Event” button below.

Wednesday, January 25, 2023
Live Stream | De’Shawn Charles Winslow presents Decent People in conversation with Jonathan Parks-Ramage
Jan 25 @ 6:00 pm
online

This live streamed virtual event is free but registration is required. Please click here to register. The link required to attend will be emailed to registrants prior to the event.

If you decide to attend and to purchase books, we ask that you purchase from Malaprop’s. When you do this you make it possible for us to continue hosting author events and you keep more dollars in our community. You may also support our work by purchasing a gift card or making a donation of any amount below. Thank you!


Decent People
In the still-segregated town of West Mills, North Carolina in 1976, enigmatic siblings Marian, Marva, and Lazarus Harmon are found shot to death in their home. The people of West Mills – on both sides of the canal that serves as the town’s color line – become swept up in gossip and accusations that have them taking a deeper look at their neighbors and loved ones. The crime is the first reported murder in the area in decades, but the white authorities don’t seem to have any interest in solving the case. As the case continues to go unsolved, questions swirl around the town: Why were the Harmons murdered? Was it about drugs, money or a romantic dispute? And most importantly, who killed them?

Ms. Jo Wright has just moved back to West Mills from New York City to retire and marry a childhood sweetheart, Olympus “Lymp” Seymore. When she discovers that the murder victims are Lymp’s half-siblings, and that Lymp is one of West Mills’ leading culprits, she sets out on a transformative mission to prove his innocence. As Jo begins to investigate those who might know the most about the Harmons’ deaths, she starts to discover darker secrets than she’d ever imagined, and a pattern of cover-ups of racism, homophobia, and medical misuse that could upend the reputations of many. With Decent People, Winslow has written another novel with the makings of a classic, crafting a remarkable story that covers difficult themes of shame, race, and money with compassion, insight, and grace, and making the community of West Mills come alive from the first page.

De’Shawn Charles Winslow’s first novel, In West Mills, was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, Lambda Literary Award, Publishing Triangle Award, and Willie Morris Award for Southern Writing. He has been featured as a “Writer to Watch” in The New York Times and one of the “Black Male Writers of Our Time” in T, The New York Times Style Magazine. He was born and raised in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, graduated from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and now lives in Atlanta, GA.

Jonathan Parks-Ramage is a Los Angeles based novelist, screenwriter and journalist. His critically acclaimed debut novel, YES, DADDY, was named as one of the best queer books of 2021 by Entertainment Weekly, NBC News, The Advocate, Bustle, Lambda Literary, Goodreads, and more. The book is currently being adapted for television. His writing has been widely published in such outlets as VICE, Slate, OUT Magazine, W Magazine, Lit Hub, Atlas Obscura, Elle, Electric Literature and more. He is also an alumnus of the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference.

Foodie Book Club
Jan 25 @ 7:00 pm
online

Foodie Book Club

A book club for home cooks, foodies, industry folks, and anyone in-between.  We will be focusing on all sorts of food writing. Somethemes will be (but not limited to): food critics, chef memoirs, wine, food history, and food politics.

The Foodie group meets virtually on the last Wednesday of every month at 7 p.m. (EST), beginning in June 2022.  Please email [email protected] for the Zoom meeting info.

Thursday, January 26, 2023
Vine and Verse: Book for January is ‘Bewilderment’ by Richard Powers
Jan 26 @ 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Citizen Vinyl

The Book for January is ‘Bewilderment’ by Richard Powers
The astrobiologist Theo Byrne searches for life throughout the cosmos while single-handedly raising his unusual nine-year-old, Robin, following the death of his wife. Robin is a warm, kind boy who spends hours painting elaborate pictures of endangered animals. He’s also about to be expelled from third grade for smashing his friend in the face. As his son grows more troubled, Theo hopes to keep him off psychoactive drugs. He learns of an experimental neurofeedback treatment to bolster Robin’s emotional control, one that involves training the boy on the recorded patterns of his mother’s brain…

With its soaring descriptions of the natural world, its tantalizing vision of life beyond, and its account of a father and son’s ferocious love, Bewilderment marks Richard Powers’s most intimate and moving novel. At its heart lies the question: How can we tell our children the truth about this beautiful, imperiled planet?

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/15/books/review-bewilderment-richard-powers.html

Hybrid | Mimi Herman presents The Kudzu Queen in conversation with Heather Newton
Jan 26 @ 6:00 pm
Malaprop's Bookstore and Virtual

This is a hybrid event, meaning there is an option to attend virtually and a limited number of seats are available to attend the event in-store. The event is free but registration is required for both in-person and virtual attendance. 

Please click here to register for the VIRTUAL event. The link required to attend will be emailed to registrants prior to the event.

Please click here to register for the IN-PERSON event. Note the important event details on the RSVP form.

This event includes a book signing. If you would like a signed book but can’t attend in person, use the order comments field when you order below to request a signed copy and tell us to whom the book should be personalized.

If you decide to attend and to purchase books, we ask that you purchase from Malaprop’s. When you do this you make it possible for us to continue hosting author events and you keep more dollars in our community. You may also support our work by purchasing a gift card or making a donation of any amount below. Thank you!


The Kudzu Queen
Fifteen-year-old Mattie Lee Watson dreams of men, not boys. So when James T. Cullowee, the Kudzu King, arrives in Cooper County, North Carolina in 1941 to spread the gospel of kudzu–claiming that it will improve the soil, feed cattle at almost no cost, even cure headaches–Mattie is ready. Mr. Cullowee is determined to sell the entire county on the future of kudzu, and organizes a kudzu festival, complete with a beauty pageant. Mattie is determined to be crowned Kudzu Queen and capture the attentions of the Kudzu King. As she learns more about Cullowee, however, she discovers that he, like the kudzu he promotes, has a dark and predatory side. When she finds she is not the only one threatened, she devises a plan to bring him down. Based on historical facts, The Kudzu Queen unravels a tangle of sexuality, power, race, and kudzu through the voice of an irresistibly delightful (and mostly honest) narrator.

Mimi Herman is the author of The Kudzu QueenLogophilia and A Field Guide to Human Emotions. Her fiction and poetry have appeared in Michigan Quarterly Review, Shenandoah, Crab Orchard Review, The Hollins Critic, Prime Number, and other journals. She has performed her fiction and poetry at Why There are Words, Symphony Space, and Raleigh Memorial Auditorium. Mimi is a member of the AWP Board of Directors, a Warren Wilson MFA alumna, a Kennedy Center Teaching Artist and a Hermitage Artist Retreat Fellow. She co-directs Writeaways writing workshops in France, Italy, Ireland and New Mexico.

Heather Newton’s short story collection McMullen Circle (Regal House 2022) was the finalist for the W.S. Porter prize. Her novel The Puppeteer’s Daughters was released by Turner Publishing in July 2022 and has been optioned by Sony Pictures Television. Her novel Under The Mercy Trees (HarperCollins 2011) won the Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award, was chosen by the Women’s National Book Association as a Great Group Reads Selection and named an “Okra Pick” by the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance. A practicing attorney, she teaches creative writing for UNC-Asheville’s Great Smokies Writing Program and is co-founder and Program Manager for the Flatiron Writers Room  writers’ center in Asheville.

Monday, January 30, 2023
Science Fiction Book Club
Jan 30 @ 7:00 pm
Malaprop's Bookstore

Science Fiction Book Club

Join host and former Malaprop’s Bookseller Allison to dive into the wreck of the wily and wonderful world of science fiction, fantasy, weird fiction, speculative fiction, and literary horror with a healthy mix of underappreciated classic and contemporary books. Meets the last Monday of every month at 7pm on Zoom. Also meets the second Monday of every month at 7pm to discuss the film adaptations of the books we read. To learn more or join the club, email [email protected].

Monday, January 30, 2023 – 7:00pm
Monday, February 27, 2023 – 7:00pm
Monday, March 27, 2023 – 7:00pm
Monday, April 24, 2023 – 7:00pm
Join host and Malaprop’s Bookseller Allison to dive into the wreck of the wily and wonderful world of science fiction, fantasy, weird fiction, speculative fiction, and literary horror with a healthy mix of underappreciated classic and contemporary books. Meets the last Monday of every month at 7 pm on Zoom. Also meets on the second Monday of every month at 7 pm to discuss the film adaptations of the books we read.  Click here to see a full schedule of what the club is reading and contact the club host to join. Club attendees get 10% off the book at Malaprop’s!
Tuesday, January 31, 2023
Celebrate Black Legacy Month
Jan 31 all-day
Buncombe County Libraires

Join us throughout February as we celebrate Black Legacy Month with programs and events for all ages! In addition to the programs listed below, we will have special story times and exhibits at most of our libraries.

  • Bright Star Touring Theatre: African Folktales – February 1 at 4pm at the Weaverville Library (for children ages 3 and up)
  • Book Club: Jazz by Toni Morrison – Thursday, February 2 a 3pm at the Weaverville Library
  • Book Club: The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett – Tuesday, February 7 at 6pm
  • Book Club: The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict Tuesday, February 14 at 1pm at the Leicester Library
  • Book Club: Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina by Misty Copeland – February 16 at 2:30pm at the Skyland/South Buncombe Library
  • Book Club: The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett – February 21 at 7pm at the Fairview Library
  • Black Experience Book Club: The Furrows by Namwali Serpell – February 23 at 6:30pm at the Noir Collective, co-sponsored by the East Asheville library

Drop by your local library and check us out. Email or call if you have any questions.

Our librarians have also put together a Black Legacy Month reading list for all ages.

Black Legacy Month Reading List 2023

Books for Adults

Adult Fiction

  • Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
  • On Girlhood: 15 Stories from the Well-Read Black Girl Library edited by Glory Edim
  • What the Fireflies Knew by Kai Harries
  • Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James
  • The Love Songs of W.E.B. Dubois by Honoree Fannone Jeffers
  • How Long ‘Til Black Future Month? by N.K. Jemison
  • Deacon King Kong by James McBride
  • Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
  • Black Bottom Saints by Alice Randall
  • The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb
  • Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead
  • Seven Days in June by Tia Williams
  • Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson

Adult nonfiction

  • Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man by Emmanuel Acho
  • Carefree Black Girls: A Celebration of Black women in Popular Culture by Zeba Blay
  • The 1619 Project edited by Nikole Hannah-Jones
  • Rest is Resistance by Tricia Hersey
  • Wow, No Thank You by Samantha Irby*
  • The Sum of Us by Heather McGhee
  • All That She Carried by Tiya Miles
  • Please Don’t Sit On My Bed In Your Outside Clothes by Phoebe Robinson*
  • You’ll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey by Amber Ruffin*
  • Counting Descent by Clint Smith
  • The Body Is Not an Apology by Sonya Renee Taylor
  • Here For It by R. Eric Thomas*
  • Koshersoul: the faith and food journey of an African American Jew by Michael W. Twitty

*especially good on audio because the authors read their work!

Picture books for families to share

  • My Heart Flies Open by Omileye Achikeobi-Lewis
  • Only the Best: The Exceptional Life and Fashion of Ann Lowe by Kate Messner
  • My N.C. From A to Z by Michelle Lanier
  • Shhh! The Baby’s Asleep by JaNay Brown-Wood
  • Curls by Ruth Forman
  • Fly by Brittany J. Thurman
  • Opal Lee and What it Means to be Free: The True Story of the Grandmother of Juneteenth by Alice Faye Duncan
  • Build a House by Rhiannon Giddens
  • Bright Brown Baby, A Treasury by Andrea Davis Pinkney
  • Born on the Water by Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renee Watson

Chapter books for older kids

  • Isaiah Dunn is My Hero by Kelly J. BaptistBlended by Sharon Draper
  • Ikenga by Nnedi Okorafor
  • Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi
  • Tristan Strong Trilogy (Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky, Tristan Strong Destroys the World, and Tristan Strong Keeps Punching) by Kwame Mbalia
  • From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks
  • Black Boy Joy: 17 Stories Celebrating Black Boyhood edited by Kwame Mbalia
  • Freewater by Amina Luqman-Dawson
  • Operation Sisterhood by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich
  • The Door of No Return by Alexander Kwame

Books for teens

  • Quincredible by Rodney Barnes
  • The Legendborn Cycle (Legendborn and Bloodmarked) by Tracy Deonn
  • All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson
  • You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson
  • Survive the Dome by Kosoko Jackson
  • Revolution in Our Time: The Black Panther’s Promise to the People by Kekla Magoon
  • Ain’t Burned All the Bright by Jason Reynolds
  • Bitter by Akwaeke Emezi
  • On the Come Up by Angie Thomas
  • Okoye to the People by Ibi Zoboi
Hybrid | Peter Turchi presents (Don’t) Stop Me if You’ve Heard This Before, in conversation with Laura Hope-Gill
Jan 31 @ 6:00 pm
Malaprop's Bookstore and Virtual

This is a hybrid event, meaning there is an option to attend virtually and a limited number of seats are available to attend the event in-store. The event is free but registration is required for both in-person and virtual attendance. 

Please click here to register for the VIRTUAL event. The link required to attend will be emailed to registrants prior to the event.

Please click here to register for the IN-PERSON event. Note the important event details on the RSVP form.

This event includes a book signing. If you would like a signed book but can’t attend in person, use the order comments field when you order below to request a signed copy and tell us to whom the book should be personalized.

If you decide to attend and to purchase books, we ask that you purchase from Malaprop’s. When you do this you make it possible for us to continue hosting author events and you keep more dollars in our community. You may also support our work by purchasing a gift card or making a donation of any amount below. Thank you!


In (Don’t) Stop Me If You’ve Heard This Before, Peter Turchi combines personal narrative and close reading of a wide range of stories and novels to reveal how writers create the fiction that matters to us. Building on his much-loved Maps of the Imagination: The Writer as Cartographer, Turchi leads readers and writers to an understanding of how the intricate mechanics of storytelling–including shifts in characters’ authority, the subtle manipulation of images, careful attention to point of view, the strategic release of information, and even digressing from the (apparent) story–can create powerful effects.

Using examples from Dickens, Chekhov, and Salinger, and Twain to more contemporary writers including Toni Morrison, Alice Munro, E. L. Doctorow, Jenny Erpenbeck, Adam Johnson, Mohsin Hamid, Jai Chakrabarti, Yoko Ogawa, Richard Powers, Deborah Eisenberg, Olga Tokarczuk, Rachel Cusk, and Colson Whitehead, Turchi offers illuminating insights into the inner workings of fiction as well as practical advice for writers looking to explore their craft from a fresh angle beyond the fundamentals of character and setting, plot, and scene.

While these essays draw from decades of teaching undergraduate and graduate students, they also speak to writers working on their own. In “Out of the Workshop, into the Laboratory,” Turchi discusses how anyone can make the most of discussions of stories or novels in progress, and in “Reading Like a Writer” he provides guidelines for learning from writing you admire. Perhaps best of all, these essays by a writer the Houston Chronicle has called “one of the country’s foremost thinkers on the art of writing” are as entertaining as they are edifying, always reminding us of the power and pleasure of storytelling.

Peter Turchi has written and coedited several books on writing fiction, including Maps of the Imagination: The Writer as Cartographer, A Muse and a Maze: Writing as Puzzle, Mystery, and Magic, A Kite in the Wind: Fiction Writers on Their Craft, and (Don’t) Stop Me if You’ve Heard This Before and Other Essays on Writing Fiction. His stories have appeared in Ploughshares, Story, the Alaska Quarterly Review, Puerto del Sol, and the Colorado Review, among other journals. He has received numerous accolades, including fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. He is a professor of creative writing at the University of Houston.

Romance Book Club
Jan 31 @ 7:00 pm
online w/ Malaprop's Bookstore
The Romance Book Club is a space to celebrate love in literature. Whether it’s set in early 1800s London, a distant planet years into the future, a fantasy world of magic, or our own contemporary universe, we are here for the stories that end with a happily-ever-after (or at least a happily-for-now). Meetings will take place the last Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. via Zoom. Please email Samantha at [email protected] for the link to join.

The club will meet virtually for now. 

Meetings will take place at 7:00 PM ET on the last Tuesday of each month via Zoom. Please visit the Romance Bookclub page for the monthly selection, and email Samantha at [email protected] for the link to join.

Romance Book Club
Jan 31 @ 7:00 pm
zoom

Romance Book Club is a space to celebrate love in literature. Whether it’s set in early 1800s London, a distant planet years into the future, a fantasy world of magic, or our own contemporary universe, we are here for the stories that end with a happily-ever-after (or at least a happily-for-now).

Meetings will take place at 7:00 PM ET on the last Tuesday of each month via Zoom. Please visit the Romance Bookclub page for the monthly selection, and email Samantha at [email protected] for the link to join.

Karaoke with Ganymede
Jan 31 @ 10:00 pm – Feb 1 @ 2:00 am
Asheville Beauty Academy

Ganymede is as beautiful as she is entertaining and as the host of Karaoke night, she WILL sing along with you so come prepared to have a great time and laugh a lot!

No cover 21+

Wednesday, February 1, 2023
Celebrate Black Legacy Month
Feb 1 all-day
Buncombe County Libraires

Join us throughout February as we celebrate Black Legacy Month with programs and events for all ages! In addition to the programs listed below, we will have special story times and exhibits at most of our libraries.

  • Bright Star Touring Theatre: African Folktales – February 1 at 4pm at the Weaverville Library (for children ages 3 and up)
  • Book Club: Jazz by Toni Morrison – Thursday, February 2 a 3pm at the Weaverville Library
  • Book Club: The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett – Tuesday, February 7 at 6pm
  • Book Club: The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict Tuesday, February 14 at 1pm at the Leicester Library
  • Book Club: Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina by Misty Copeland – February 16 at 2:30pm at the Skyland/South Buncombe Library
  • Book Club: The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett – February 21 at 7pm at the Fairview Library
  • Black Experience Book Club: The Furrows by Namwali Serpell – February 23 at 6:30pm at the Noir Collective, co-sponsored by the East Asheville library

Drop by your local library and check us out. Email or call if you have any questions.

Our librarians have also put together a Black Legacy Month reading list for all ages.

Black Legacy Month Reading List 2023

Books for Adults

Adult Fiction

  • Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
  • On Girlhood: 15 Stories from the Well-Read Black Girl Library edited by Glory Edim
  • What the Fireflies Knew by Kai Harries
  • Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James
  • The Love Songs of W.E.B. Dubois by Honoree Fannone Jeffers
  • How Long ‘Til Black Future Month? by N.K. Jemison
  • Deacon King Kong by James McBride
  • Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
  • Black Bottom Saints by Alice Randall
  • The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb
  • Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead
  • Seven Days in June by Tia Williams
  • Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson

Adult nonfiction

  • Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man by Emmanuel Acho
  • Carefree Black Girls: A Celebration of Black women in Popular Culture by Zeba Blay
  • The 1619 Project edited by Nikole Hannah-Jones
  • Rest is Resistance by Tricia Hersey
  • Wow, No Thank You by Samantha Irby*
  • The Sum of Us by Heather McGhee
  • All That She Carried by Tiya Miles
  • Please Don’t Sit On My Bed In Your Outside Clothes by Phoebe Robinson*
  • You’ll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey by Amber Ruffin*
  • Counting Descent by Clint Smith
  • The Body Is Not an Apology by Sonya Renee Taylor
  • Here For It by R. Eric Thomas*
  • Koshersoul: the faith and food journey of an African American Jew by Michael W. Twitty

*especially good on audio because the authors read their work!

Picture books for families to share

  • My Heart Flies Open by Omileye Achikeobi-Lewis
  • Only the Best: The Exceptional Life and Fashion of Ann Lowe by Kate Messner
  • My N.C. From A to Z by Michelle Lanier
  • Shhh! The Baby’s Asleep by JaNay Brown-Wood
  • Curls by Ruth Forman
  • Fly by Brittany J. Thurman
  • Opal Lee and What it Means to be Free: The True Story of the Grandmother of Juneteenth by Alice Faye Duncan
  • Build a House by Rhiannon Giddens
  • Bright Brown Baby, A Treasury by Andrea Davis Pinkney
  • Born on the Water by Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renee Watson

Chapter books for older kids

  • Isaiah Dunn is My Hero by Kelly J. BaptistBlended by Sharon Draper
  • Ikenga by Nnedi Okorafor
  • Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi
  • Tristan Strong Trilogy (Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky, Tristan Strong Destroys the World, and Tristan Strong Keeps Punching) by Kwame Mbalia
  • From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks
  • Black Boy Joy: 17 Stories Celebrating Black Boyhood edited by Kwame Mbalia
  • Freewater by Amina Luqman-Dawson
  • Operation Sisterhood by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich
  • The Door of No Return by Alexander Kwame

Books for teens

  • Quincredible by Rodney Barnes
  • The Legendborn Cycle (Legendborn and Bloodmarked) by Tracy Deonn
  • All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson
  • You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson
  • Survive the Dome by Kosoko Jackson
  • Revolution in Our Time: The Black Panther’s Promise to the People by Kekla Magoon
  • Ain’t Burned All the Bright by Jason Reynolds
  • Bitter by Akwaeke Emezi
  • On the Come Up by Angie Thomas
  • Okoye to the People by Ibi Zoboi
Malaprop’s Book Club
Feb 1 @ 7:00 pm
online w/ Malaprop's Bookstore

The Malaprop’s Book Club, hosted by Jay Jacoby, explores a diverse selection of fiction and nonfiction books determined by member suggestion. Click here to see a full schedule of what the club is reading. Club attendees get 10% off the book at Malaprop’s!

The club meets the first Wednesday of every month at 7:00 PM. The club will meet virtually until further notice. To join the club, please email [email protected]

Thursday, February 2, 2023
Celebrate Black Legacy Month
Feb 2 all-day
Buncombe County Libraires

Join us throughout February as we celebrate Black Legacy Month with programs and events for all ages! In addition to the programs listed below, we will have special story times and exhibits at most of our libraries.

  • Bright Star Touring Theatre: African Folktales – February 1 at 4pm at the Weaverville Library (for children ages 3 and up)
  • Book Club: Jazz by Toni Morrison – Thursday, February 2 a 3pm at the Weaverville Library
  • Book Club: The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett – Tuesday, February 7 at 6pm
  • Book Club: The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict Tuesday, February 14 at 1pm at the Leicester Library
  • Book Club: Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina by Misty Copeland – February 16 at 2:30pm at the Skyland/South Buncombe Library
  • Book Club: The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett – February 21 at 7pm at the Fairview Library
  • Black Experience Book Club: The Furrows by Namwali Serpell – February 23 at 6:30pm at the Noir Collective, co-sponsored by the East Asheville library

Drop by your local library and check us out. Email or call if you have any questions.

Our librarians have also put together a Black Legacy Month reading list for all ages.

Black Legacy Month Reading List 2023

Books for Adults

Adult Fiction

  • Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
  • On Girlhood: 15 Stories from the Well-Read Black Girl Library edited by Glory Edim
  • What the Fireflies Knew by Kai Harries
  • Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James
  • The Love Songs of W.E.B. Dubois by Honoree Fannone Jeffers
  • How Long ‘Til Black Future Month? by N.K. Jemison
  • Deacon King Kong by James McBride
  • Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
  • Black Bottom Saints by Alice Randall
  • The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb
  • Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead
  • Seven Days in June by Tia Williams
  • Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson

Adult nonfiction

  • Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man by Emmanuel Acho
  • Carefree Black Girls: A Celebration of Black women in Popular Culture by Zeba Blay
  • The 1619 Project edited by Nikole Hannah-Jones
  • Rest is Resistance by Tricia Hersey
  • Wow, No Thank You by Samantha Irby*
  • The Sum of Us by Heather McGhee
  • All That She Carried by Tiya Miles
  • Please Don’t Sit On My Bed In Your Outside Clothes by Phoebe Robinson*
  • You’ll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey by Amber Ruffin*
  • Counting Descent by Clint Smith
  • The Body Is Not an Apology by Sonya Renee Taylor
  • Here For It by R. Eric Thomas*
  • Koshersoul: the faith and food journey of an African American Jew by Michael W. Twitty

*especially good on audio because the authors read their work!

Picture books for families to share

  • My Heart Flies Open by Omileye Achikeobi-Lewis
  • Only the Best: The Exceptional Life and Fashion of Ann Lowe by Kate Messner
  • My N.C. From A to Z by Michelle Lanier
  • Shhh! The Baby’s Asleep by JaNay Brown-Wood
  • Curls by Ruth Forman
  • Fly by Brittany J. Thurman
  • Opal Lee and What it Means to be Free: The True Story of the Grandmother of Juneteenth by Alice Faye Duncan
  • Build a House by Rhiannon Giddens
  • Bright Brown Baby, A Treasury by Andrea Davis Pinkney
  • Born on the Water by Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renee Watson

Chapter books for older kids

  • Isaiah Dunn is My Hero by Kelly J. BaptistBlended by Sharon Draper
  • Ikenga by Nnedi Okorafor
  • Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi
  • Tristan Strong Trilogy (Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky, Tristan Strong Destroys the World, and Tristan Strong Keeps Punching) by Kwame Mbalia
  • From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks
  • Black Boy Joy: 17 Stories Celebrating Black Boyhood edited by Kwame Mbalia
  • Freewater by Amina Luqman-Dawson
  • Operation Sisterhood by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich
  • The Door of No Return by Alexander Kwame

Books for teens

  • Quincredible by Rodney Barnes
  • The Legendborn Cycle (Legendborn and Bloodmarked) by Tracy Deonn
  • All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson
  • You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson
  • Survive the Dome by Kosoko Jackson
  • Revolution in Our Time: The Black Panther’s Promise to the People by Kekla Magoon
  • Ain’t Burned All the Bright by Jason Reynolds
  • Bitter by Akwaeke Emezi
  • On the Come Up by Angie Thomas
  • Okoye to the People by Ibi Zoboi
Arboretum Reads: Rest is Resistance: A Manifesto by Tricia Hersey
Feb 2 @ 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm
The North Carolina Arboretum

Connect to the liberating power of rest, daydreaming, and naps as a foundation for healing and justice. Tricia Hersey, aka The Nap Bishop, asks what it would be like to live in a well-rested world. Hersey casts an illuminating light on our troubled relationship with rest and how to imagine and dream our way to a future where rest is exalted and our worth does not reside in how much we produce. Informed by her deep experience in theology, activism, and performance art, Rest Is Resistance is a call to action, a battle cry, a field guide, and a manifesto for all of us who are sleep-deprived, searching for justice, and longing to be liberated from the oppressive grip of Grind Culture.

Crime and Politics Book Club
Feb 2 @ 4:00 pm
Malaprop's Bookstore

Crime and Politics Book Club

Crime and Politics is a book club for people who want to explore the overlap between true crime and public affairs. We will explore scandals, malfeasance, murder, corruption, and cover-ups. We will alternate months, beginning with a work of true crime, then a book on politics or public affairs. Crime, from the most personal to the global, is the theme. We meet the first Thursday of the month at 4 p.m. Contact [email protected].

Join host and Malaprop’s Bookseller Patricia Furnish to discuss a range of books across true crime and public affairs. The club meets in Asheville and offsite, usually at a restaurant, on the first Thursday of the month at 4 p.m. Please email [email protected] for info and instructions to attend. See the list of upcoming dates above and click here to learn more about the club, view important news, and find the pick for this month!

Live Stream | Jeffrey Dale Lofton presents Red Clay Suzie in conversation with Neema Avashia
Feb 2 @ 6:00 pm
online w/ Malaprop's Bookstore
Thursday, February 2, 2023 – 6:00pm

 

This virtual event is free but registration is required. Click here to register. The link required to attend will be emailed to registrants prior to the event.

If you decide to attend and to purchase books, we ask that you purchase from Malaprop’s. When you do this you make it possible for us to continue hosting author events and you keep more dollars in our community. You may also support our work by purchasing a gift card or making a donation of any amount below. Thank you!


A novel inspired by true events. The coming-of-age story of Philbet, a gay, physically-misshapen boy in rural Georgia, who battles bullying, ignorance, and disdain as he makes his way in life as an outsider–before finding acceptance in unlikely places. Fueled by tomato sandwiches and green milkshakes, and obsessed with cars, Philbet struggles with life and love as a gay boy in rural Georgia. He’s happiest when helping Grandaddy dig potatoes from the vegetable garden that connects their houses. But Philbet’s world is shattered and his resilience shaken by events that crush his innocence and sense of security; expose his misshapen chest skillfully hidden behind shirts Mama makes at home; and convince him that he’s not fit to be loved by Knox, the older boy he idolizes to distraction. Over time, Philbet finds refuge in unexpected places and inner strength in unexpected ways, leading to a resolution in the form of a letter from beyond the grave.

Jeffrey Dale Lofton hails from Warm Springs, Georgia, best known as the home of Roosevelt’s Little White House. He calls the nation’s capital home now and has for over three decades. During those early years he spent many a night trodding the boards of the DC’s theaters and performing arts centers, including the Kennedy Center, Signature Theatre, Woolly Mammoth, and Studio Theatre. He even scored a few television screen appearances, including a residuals-rich Super Bowl halftime commercial, which his accountant wisecracked “is the finest work of your career.” Ultimately he stepped away from acting, much to his parents’ relief, to pursue other, more traditional work, including providing communications counsel to landscape architects and helping war veterans tell their stories to add richness and nuance to historical accounts. At the same time, he focused on pursuing post-graduate work, ultimately being awarded Master’s degrees in both Public Administration and Library and Information Science. Today, he is a senior advisor at the Library of Congress, surrounded by books and people who love books—in short, paradise. Red Clay Suzie is his first work of fiction, written through his personal lens growing up an outsider—he is gay and was born with a physical deformity—figuring out life and love in a conservative family and community in the Deep South.

Neema Avashia was born and raised in southern West Virginia to parents who immigrated to the United States. She has been a middle school teacher in the Boston Public Schools since 2003. Her essays have appeared in the Bitter Southerner, Catapult, Kenyon Review Online, and elsewhere.

Slice of Life Comedy Open Mic + Feature Comedy at Pulp Lounge
Feb 2 @ 8:00 pm
Pulp Lounge

2.2. 23 The Orange Peel’s Comedy Basement PULP
What: Stand up Comedy at The Orange Peel’s Pulp Lounge
When: Thursday 2.2.2023. 8p-11p, doors at 7:30p
Where: The Orange Peel’s Comedy Basement, Pulp Lounge103 Hilliard Ave, Downtown Asheville
Tickets: $14 (available at door or The Orange Peel website)
Cocktails available while you laugh the night away to some of the area’s best Stand Up Comics in a ridiculously fun adult environment!! .
Open mic comics signup at door get 3-5m. [Free entry for performing comics, free snacks at comics table]
Stand up comedy featuring Roman Fraden. Hosted by Cody Hughes
FB Event: https://fb.me/e/5QB8e3jo7
For more info about this show contact Michele Scheve, [email protected]
Roman Fraden: Romanis a Los Angeles-based comedian and a regular performer at classic Hollywood venues including The Comedy Store, The Laugh Factory, and The Hollywood Improv. He has trained with Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB) Theatre, performed in various ensemble casts in film and on stage, and has opened for Mark Normand, Margaret Cho, and Patton Oswald. His one man show ‘Back In The Closet’ made it’s world premiere at Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2018. He currently is living in Asheville while still performing everywhere.
Host Cody Hughes: Cody is a comedian who cut his teeth in Chicago and Atlanta. He is now based out of West North Carolina and tours the Southeast. He has opened for Lewis Black, John Oliver and Maria Bamford among others and hosts the regular Slice of Life Comedy shows at The Orange Peel’s Pulp Lounge.
About Pulp: The speakeasy inspired hideaway offers a cozy space for show-goers to relax and enjoy a beverage during the concert. Boasting over 200 different Bourbons and Whiskeys, alongside a myriad of other spirits, it is a must-visit for cocktail lovers and Bourbon sippers alike. Pulp will also open various other nights to feature local artists and “Slice of Life” open-mic comedy nights. To stay informed with the happenings at Pulp, visit the Orange Peel’s website, and follow @pulp_avl on Instagram.
About Slice of Life Comedy: Slice of Life Comedy is owned and run by long standing Ashevillian Michele Scheve. Michele was the Founder and Publisher of the hit satire newspaper “The Asheville Disclaimer” in 2002 (till 2015). She also Hosts one of 103.3 Asheville FM’ longest running and most popular shows, “Slumber Party AVL”, which began in 2011. In addition to these established platforms, Michele also Co-Founded and Co-Owns Buzz Radio Asheville, which features only local music and comedy 24/7. Slice of Life Comedy began as a partnership, between Michele and comedian Kelly Rowe, doing live shows at Pulp Lounge in 2010, highlighting local up-and-coming comics through Open Mic events. From there, Slice of Life Comedy began booking feature shows, After-Party shows for national headline acts and collaboration with more and more venues and producers in the scene. Today, Slice of Life Comedy is the Premiere Partner for shows at some of Asheville’s most well-known and beloved venues.

Friday, February 3, 2023
Celebrate Black Legacy Month
Feb 3 all-day
Buncombe County Libraires

Join us throughout February as we celebrate Black Legacy Month with programs and events for all ages! In addition to the programs listed below, we will have special story times and exhibits at most of our libraries.

  • Bright Star Touring Theatre: African Folktales – February 1 at 4pm at the Weaverville Library (for children ages 3 and up)
  • Book Club: Jazz by Toni Morrison – Thursday, February 2 a 3pm at the Weaverville Library
  • Book Club: The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett – Tuesday, February 7 at 6pm
  • Book Club: The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict Tuesday, February 14 at 1pm at the Leicester Library
  • Book Club: Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina by Misty Copeland – February 16 at 2:30pm at the Skyland/South Buncombe Library
  • Book Club: The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett – February 21 at 7pm at the Fairview Library
  • Black Experience Book Club: The Furrows by Namwali Serpell – February 23 at 6:30pm at the Noir Collective, co-sponsored by the East Asheville library

Drop by your local library and check us out. Email or call if you have any questions.

Our librarians have also put together a Black Legacy Month reading list for all ages.

Black Legacy Month Reading List 2023

Books for Adults

Adult Fiction

  • Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
  • On Girlhood: 15 Stories from the Well-Read Black Girl Library edited by Glory Edim
  • What the Fireflies Knew by Kai Harries
  • Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James
  • The Love Songs of W.E.B. Dubois by Honoree Fannone Jeffers
  • How Long ‘Til Black Future Month? by N.K. Jemison
  • Deacon King Kong by James McBride
  • Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
  • Black Bottom Saints by Alice Randall
  • The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb
  • Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead
  • Seven Days in June by Tia Williams
  • Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson

Adult nonfiction

  • Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man by Emmanuel Acho
  • Carefree Black Girls: A Celebration of Black women in Popular Culture by Zeba Blay
  • The 1619 Project edited by Nikole Hannah-Jones
  • Rest is Resistance by Tricia Hersey
  • Wow, No Thank You by Samantha Irby*
  • The Sum of Us by Heather McGhee
  • All That She Carried by Tiya Miles
  • Please Don’t Sit On My Bed In Your Outside Clothes by Phoebe Robinson*
  • You’ll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey by Amber Ruffin*
  • Counting Descent by Clint Smith
  • The Body Is Not an Apology by Sonya Renee Taylor
  • Here For It by R. Eric Thomas*
  • Koshersoul: the faith and food journey of an African American Jew by Michael W. Twitty

*especially good on audio because the authors read their work!

Picture books for families to share

  • My Heart Flies Open by Omileye Achikeobi-Lewis
  • Only the Best: The Exceptional Life and Fashion of Ann Lowe by Kate Messner
  • My N.C. From A to Z by Michelle Lanier
  • Shhh! The Baby’s Asleep by JaNay Brown-Wood
  • Curls by Ruth Forman
  • Fly by Brittany J. Thurman
  • Opal Lee and What it Means to be Free: The True Story of the Grandmother of Juneteenth by Alice Faye Duncan
  • Build a House by Rhiannon Giddens
  • Bright Brown Baby, A Treasury by Andrea Davis Pinkney
  • Born on the Water by Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renee Watson

Chapter books for older kids

  • Isaiah Dunn is My Hero by Kelly J. BaptistBlended by Sharon Draper
  • Ikenga by Nnedi Okorafor
  • Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi
  • Tristan Strong Trilogy (Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky, Tristan Strong Destroys the World, and Tristan Strong Keeps Punching) by Kwame Mbalia
  • From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks
  • Black Boy Joy: 17 Stories Celebrating Black Boyhood edited by Kwame Mbalia
  • Freewater by Amina Luqman-Dawson
  • Operation Sisterhood by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich
  • The Door of No Return by Alexander Kwame

Books for teens

  • Quincredible by Rodney Barnes
  • The Legendborn Cycle (Legendborn and Bloodmarked) by Tracy Deonn
  • All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson
  • You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson
  • Survive the Dome by Kosoko Jackson
  • Revolution in Our Time: The Black Panther’s Promise to the People by Kekla Magoon
  • Ain’t Burned All the Bright by Jason Reynolds
  • Bitter by Akwaeke Emezi
  • On the Come Up by Angie Thomas
  • Okoye to the People by Ibi Zoboi
Friends of the South Buncombe Library Book Sale
Feb 3 @ 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
South Buncombe Library

The Friends of the South Buncombe Library are pleased to announce their first live, in-person book sale of 2023!  We will have thousands of books in fiction and non-fiction at bargain prices, in every genre and for every age group.

Prices have changed since our last sale, but are still a bargain: most adult hardbacks are $2.00 and paperbacks are $1.00.  Children’s items are still just $1.00 & 50¢!  And all movies and music are $1.00.

Proceeds benefit your library in so many ways: purchasing library supplies and equipment, newspapers, and large print books; providing children’s programs; and improving the grounds.

Sale Hours: 10am-4pm Friday and Saturday, with 10am-12pm on Friday reserved for Friends of the Library members.  Not a member?  We’re happy to sign you up at the door; the minimum donation is just $10.00.

AV material and children’s book bag sale on the last hour of business Saturday, if supplies allow!

Saturday, February 4, 2023
Celebrate Black Legacy Month
Feb 4 all-day
Buncombe County Libraires

Join us throughout February as we celebrate Black Legacy Month with programs and events for all ages! In addition to the programs listed below, we will have special story times and exhibits at most of our libraries.

  • Bright Star Touring Theatre: African Folktales – February 1 at 4pm at the Weaverville Library (for children ages 3 and up)
  • Book Club: Jazz by Toni Morrison – Thursday, February 2 a 3pm at the Weaverville Library
  • Book Club: The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett – Tuesday, February 7 at 6pm
  • Book Club: The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict Tuesday, February 14 at 1pm at the Leicester Library
  • Book Club: Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina by Misty Copeland – February 16 at 2:30pm at the Skyland/South Buncombe Library
  • Book Club: The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett – February 21 at 7pm at the Fairview Library
  • Black Experience Book Club: The Furrows by Namwali Serpell – February 23 at 6:30pm at the Noir Collective, co-sponsored by the East Asheville library

Drop by your local library and check us out. Email or call if you have any questions.

Our librarians have also put together a Black Legacy Month reading list for all ages.

Black Legacy Month Reading List 2023

Books for Adults

Adult Fiction

  • Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
  • On Girlhood: 15 Stories from the Well-Read Black Girl Library edited by Glory Edim
  • What the Fireflies Knew by Kai Harries
  • Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James
  • The Love Songs of W.E.B. Dubois by Honoree Fannone Jeffers
  • How Long ‘Til Black Future Month? by N.K. Jemison
  • Deacon King Kong by James McBride
  • Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
  • Black Bottom Saints by Alice Randall
  • The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb
  • Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead
  • Seven Days in June by Tia Williams
  • Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson

Adult nonfiction

  • Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man by Emmanuel Acho
  • Carefree Black Girls: A Celebration of Black women in Popular Culture by Zeba Blay
  • The 1619 Project edited by Nikole Hannah-Jones
  • Rest is Resistance by Tricia Hersey
  • Wow, No Thank You by Samantha Irby*
  • The Sum of Us by Heather McGhee
  • All That She Carried by Tiya Miles
  • Please Don’t Sit On My Bed In Your Outside Clothes by Phoebe Robinson*
  • You’ll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey by Amber Ruffin*
  • Counting Descent by Clint Smith
  • The Body Is Not an Apology by Sonya Renee Taylor
  • Here For It by R. Eric Thomas*
  • Koshersoul: the faith and food journey of an African American Jew by Michael W. Twitty

*especially good on audio because the authors read their work!

Picture books for families to share

  • My Heart Flies Open by Omileye Achikeobi-Lewis
  • Only the Best: The Exceptional Life and Fashion of Ann Lowe by Kate Messner
  • My N.C. From A to Z by Michelle Lanier
  • Shhh! The Baby’s Asleep by JaNay Brown-Wood
  • Curls by Ruth Forman
  • Fly by Brittany J. Thurman
  • Opal Lee and What it Means to be Free: The True Story of the Grandmother of Juneteenth by Alice Faye Duncan
  • Build a House by Rhiannon Giddens
  • Bright Brown Baby, A Treasury by Andrea Davis Pinkney
  • Born on the Water by Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renee Watson

Chapter books for older kids

  • Isaiah Dunn is My Hero by Kelly J. BaptistBlended by Sharon Draper
  • Ikenga by Nnedi Okorafor
  • Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi
  • Tristan Strong Trilogy (Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky, Tristan Strong Destroys the World, and Tristan Strong Keeps Punching) by Kwame Mbalia
  • From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks
  • Black Boy Joy: 17 Stories Celebrating Black Boyhood edited by Kwame Mbalia
  • Freewater by Amina Luqman-Dawson
  • Operation Sisterhood by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich
  • The Door of No Return by Alexander Kwame

Books for teens

  • Quincredible by Rodney Barnes
  • The Legendborn Cycle (Legendborn and Bloodmarked) by Tracy Deonn
  • All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson
  • You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson
  • Survive the Dome by Kosoko Jackson
  • Revolution in Our Time: The Black Panther’s Promise to the People by Kekla Magoon
  • Ain’t Burned All the Bright by Jason Reynolds
  • Bitter by Akwaeke Emezi
  • On the Come Up by Angie Thomas
  • Okoye to the People by Ibi Zoboi
Friends of the South Buncombe Library Book Sale
Feb 4 @ 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
South Buncombe Library

The Friends of the South Buncombe Library are pleased to announce their first live, in-person book sale of 2023!  We will have thousands of books in fiction and non-fiction at bargain prices, in every genre and for every age group.

Prices have changed since our last sale, but are still a bargain: most adult hardbacks are $2.00 and paperbacks are $1.00.  Children’s items are still just $1.00 & 50¢!  And all movies and music are $1.00.

Proceeds benefit your library in so many ways: purchasing library supplies and equipment, newspapers, and large print books; providing children’s programs; and improving the grounds.

Sale Hours: 10am-4pm Friday and Saturday, with 10am-12pm on Friday reserved for Friends of the Library members.  Not a member?  We’re happy to sign you up at the door; the minimum donation is just $10.00.

AV material and children’s book bag sale on the last hour of business Saturday, if supplies allow!

Sunday, February 5, 2023
Hybrid | Poetrio: Glenis Redmond, Molly Rice, Niina Pollari
Feb 5 @ 4:30 pm
Malaprop's Bookstore and Virtual

This is a hybrid event, meaning there is an option to attend virtually and a limited number of seats are available to attend the event in-store.

The event is free but registration is required for both in-person and virtual attendance. 

Please click here to register for the VIRTUAL event. The link required to attend will be emailed to registrants prior to the event.

Please click here to register for the IN-PERSON event. Note the important event details on the RSVP form.

This event includes a book signing. If you would like a signed book but can’t attend in person, use the order comments field when you order below to request a signed copy and tell us to whom the book should be personalized.

If you decide to attend and to purchase books, we ask that you purchase from Malaprop’s. When you do this you make it possible for us to continue hosting author events and you keep more dollars in our community. You may also support our work by purchasing a gift card or making a donation of any amount below. Thank you!


Glenis Redmond is the First Poet Laureate of Greenville, South Carolina. She is a Kennedy Center Teaching Artist, and a Cave Canem alumni. The Listening Skin (Four Way Books) is her sixth poetry book. She is presently working on a seventh collection, Port Cities: Portals of the Second (Domestic) Middle Passage. She received the highest arts award in South Carolina—the Governor’s Award—and was inducted into the South Carolina Academy of Authors. Redmond received her MFA in Poetry from Warren Wilson College. For more, visit http://www.glenisredmond.com

In The Listening Skin, Glenis Redmond returns to the ancestors and the deep knowing that comes from being ever ready to receive the wisdom they give us. She plants us again in the South Carolinian soil and reaches across decades and continents back to the motherland for historical context, for truth, and for healing. She does not flinch from racism nor the complexities of what it means to carry trauma inside the Black body. These poems are beautifully rendered but don’t shrink. I am grateful for the depth and breadth of the music and the keen use of the line in this collection, but mostly I’m taken by the way Glenis holds us up to the light. In her sure hands we shine!

Molly Rice has held several residencies teaching poetry, storytelling, theatre, film, and English as a Second Language in hundreds of schools, colleges, and organizations in North Carolina, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Russia, and Hungary. She has taught for seventeen years at St. Stephens High School where she is director of the Tractor Shed Theatre. She’s published in magazines including Fortnight Magazine, The Stinging Fly, and Iodine Poetry Journal. She resides with her husband and son in Hickory, North Carolina. For more, visit https://www.mollyrice.com

In Molly Rice’s Forever Eighty-Eights, there are “no crystal stairs” in her southern mill hill childhood. Yet, the poet pushes onward following an urgent pulse, while unflinchingly calling forth ghosts, wounds, and secrets of the past. She bids them to come out of their hiding places, while she battles both hardships and heartbreaks. In this work, Molly reckons, but she also fathoms beauty and pays homage by uplifting people, places, and moments deeply rooted in North Carolina. With her forging she creates a throughway—each poem a stair to “reach landings and turn corners.”

Slice of Life Comedy Open Mic + Feature Comedy at Asheville Pizza
Feb 5 @ 6:30 pm
Asheville Pizza & Brewing Co

What: Asheville’s Premier Standup Feature & Open Mic comedy
When: Sunday, February 5, 6:30pm (Come early to get your food and drinks!)
Where: Asheville Pizza & Brewing Co., Theater 2
675 Merrimon Avenue in North Asheville (onsite parking)
Tickets: $14
Comedy open mic. [signup at the door to get 3-5m. Free entry for performing comics, free pizza at comics table]
Hosted by Morgan Bost featuring Allison Shelnut, Jess Cooley and Larry Griffin
FB: https://fb.me/e/3Yb5s4IfD

Monday, February 6, 2023
Celebrate Black Legacy Month
Feb 6 all-day
Buncombe County Libraires

Join us throughout February as we celebrate Black Legacy Month with programs and events for all ages! In addition to the programs listed below, we will have special story times and exhibits at most of our libraries.

  • Bright Star Touring Theatre: African Folktales – February 1 at 4pm at the Weaverville Library (for children ages 3 and up)
  • Book Club: Jazz by Toni Morrison – Thursday, February 2 a 3pm at the Weaverville Library
  • Book Club: The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett – Tuesday, February 7 at 6pm
  • Book Club: The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict Tuesday, February 14 at 1pm at the Leicester Library
  • Book Club: Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina by Misty Copeland – February 16 at 2:30pm at the Skyland/South Buncombe Library
  • Book Club: The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett – February 21 at 7pm at the Fairview Library
  • Black Experience Book Club: The Furrows by Namwali Serpell – February 23 at 6:30pm at the Noir Collective, co-sponsored by the East Asheville library

Drop by your local library and check us out. Email or call if you have any questions.

Our librarians have also put together a Black Legacy Month reading list for all ages.

Black Legacy Month Reading List 2023

Books for Adults

Adult Fiction

  • Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
  • On Girlhood: 15 Stories from the Well-Read Black Girl Library edited by Glory Edim
  • What the Fireflies Knew by Kai Harries
  • Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James
  • The Love Songs of W.E.B. Dubois by Honoree Fannone Jeffers
  • How Long ‘Til Black Future Month? by N.K. Jemison
  • Deacon King Kong by James McBride
  • Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
  • Black Bottom Saints by Alice Randall
  • The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb
  • Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead
  • Seven Days in June by Tia Williams
  • Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson

Adult nonfiction

  • Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man by Emmanuel Acho
  • Carefree Black Girls: A Celebration of Black women in Popular Culture by Zeba Blay
  • The 1619 Project edited by Nikole Hannah-Jones
  • Rest is Resistance by Tricia Hersey
  • Wow, No Thank You by Samantha Irby*
  • The Sum of Us by Heather McGhee
  • All That She Carried by Tiya Miles
  • Please Don’t Sit On My Bed In Your Outside Clothes by Phoebe Robinson*
  • You’ll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey by Amber Ruffin*
  • Counting Descent by Clint Smith
  • The Body Is Not an Apology by Sonya Renee Taylor
  • Here For It by R. Eric Thomas*
  • Koshersoul: the faith and food journey of an African American Jew by Michael W. Twitty

*especially good on audio because the authors read their work!

Picture books for families to share

  • My Heart Flies Open by Omileye Achikeobi-Lewis
  • Only the Best: The Exceptional Life and Fashion of Ann Lowe by Kate Messner
  • My N.C. From A to Z by Michelle Lanier
  • Shhh! The Baby’s Asleep by JaNay Brown-Wood
  • Curls by Ruth Forman
  • Fly by Brittany J. Thurman
  • Opal Lee and What it Means to be Free: The True Story of the Grandmother of Juneteenth by Alice Faye Duncan
  • Build a House by Rhiannon Giddens
  • Bright Brown Baby, A Treasury by Andrea Davis Pinkney
  • Born on the Water by Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renee Watson

Chapter books for older kids

  • Isaiah Dunn is My Hero by Kelly J. BaptistBlended by Sharon Draper
  • Ikenga by Nnedi Okorafor
  • Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi
  • Tristan Strong Trilogy (Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky, Tristan Strong Destroys the World, and Tristan Strong Keeps Punching) by Kwame Mbalia
  • From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks
  • Black Boy Joy: 17 Stories Celebrating Black Boyhood edited by Kwame Mbalia
  • Freewater by Amina Luqman-Dawson
  • Operation Sisterhood by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich
  • The Door of No Return by Alexander Kwame

Books for teens

  • Quincredible by Rodney Barnes
  • The Legendborn Cycle (Legendborn and Bloodmarked) by Tracy Deonn
  • All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson
  • You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson
  • Survive the Dome by Kosoko Jackson
  • Revolution in Our Time: The Black Panther’s Promise to the People by Kekla Magoon
  • Ain’t Burned All the Bright by Jason Reynolds
  • Bitter by Akwaeke Emezi
  • On the Come Up by Angie Thomas
  • Okoye to the People by Ibi Zoboi
Tuesday, February 7, 2023
Celebrate Black Legacy Month
Feb 7 all-day
Buncombe County Libraires

Join us throughout February as we celebrate Black Legacy Month with programs and events for all ages! In addition to the programs listed below, we will have special story times and exhibits at most of our libraries.

  • Bright Star Touring Theatre: African Folktales – February 1 at 4pm at the Weaverville Library (for children ages 3 and up)
  • Book Club: Jazz by Toni Morrison – Thursday, February 2 a 3pm at the Weaverville Library
  • Book Club: The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett – Tuesday, February 7 at 6pm
  • Book Club: The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict Tuesday, February 14 at 1pm at the Leicester Library
  • Book Club: Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina by Misty Copeland – February 16 at 2:30pm at the Skyland/South Buncombe Library
  • Book Club: The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett – February 21 at 7pm at the Fairview Library
  • Black Experience Book Club: The Furrows by Namwali Serpell – February 23 at 6:30pm at the Noir Collective, co-sponsored by the East Asheville library

Drop by your local library and check us out. Email or call if you have any questions.

Our librarians have also put together a Black Legacy Month reading list for all ages.

Black Legacy Month Reading List 2023

Books for Adults

Adult Fiction

  • Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
  • On Girlhood: 15 Stories from the Well-Read Black Girl Library edited by Glory Edim
  • What the Fireflies Knew by Kai Harries
  • Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James
  • The Love Songs of W.E.B. Dubois by Honoree Fannone Jeffers
  • How Long ‘Til Black Future Month? by N.K. Jemison
  • Deacon King Kong by James McBride
  • Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
  • Black Bottom Saints by Alice Randall
  • The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb
  • Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead
  • Seven Days in June by Tia Williams
  • Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson

Adult nonfiction

  • Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man by Emmanuel Acho
  • Carefree Black Girls: A Celebration of Black women in Popular Culture by Zeba Blay
  • The 1619 Project edited by Nikole Hannah-Jones
  • Rest is Resistance by Tricia Hersey
  • Wow, No Thank You by Samantha Irby*
  • The Sum of Us by Heather McGhee
  • All That She Carried by Tiya Miles
  • Please Don’t Sit On My Bed In Your Outside Clothes by Phoebe Robinson*
  • You’ll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey by Amber Ruffin*
  • Counting Descent by Clint Smith
  • The Body Is Not an Apology by Sonya Renee Taylor
  • Here For It by R. Eric Thomas*
  • Koshersoul: the faith and food journey of an African American Jew by Michael W. Twitty

*especially good on audio because the authors read their work!

Picture books for families to share

  • My Heart Flies Open by Omileye Achikeobi-Lewis
  • Only the Best: The Exceptional Life and Fashion of Ann Lowe by Kate Messner
  • My N.C. From A to Z by Michelle Lanier
  • Shhh! The Baby’s Asleep by JaNay Brown-Wood
  • Curls by Ruth Forman
  • Fly by Brittany J. Thurman
  • Opal Lee and What it Means to be Free: The True Story of the Grandmother of Juneteenth by Alice Faye Duncan
  • Build a House by Rhiannon Giddens
  • Bright Brown Baby, A Treasury by Andrea Davis Pinkney
  • Born on the Water by Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renee Watson

Chapter books for older kids

  • Isaiah Dunn is My Hero by Kelly J. BaptistBlended by Sharon Draper
  • Ikenga by Nnedi Okorafor
  • Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi
  • Tristan Strong Trilogy (Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky, Tristan Strong Destroys the World, and Tristan Strong Keeps Punching) by Kwame Mbalia
  • From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks
  • Black Boy Joy: 17 Stories Celebrating Black Boyhood edited by Kwame Mbalia
  • Freewater by Amina Luqman-Dawson
  • Operation Sisterhood by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich
  • The Door of No Return by Alexander Kwame

Books for teens

  • Quincredible by Rodney Barnes
  • The Legendborn Cycle (Legendborn and Bloodmarked) by Tracy Deonn
  • All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson
  • You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson
  • Survive the Dome by Kosoko Jackson
  • Revolution in Our Time: The Black Panther’s Promise to the People by Kekla Magoon
  • Ain’t Burned All the Bright by Jason Reynolds
  • Bitter by Akwaeke Emezi
  • On the Come Up by Angie Thomas
  • Okoye to the People by Ibi Zoboi
Hybrid | Jennie Liu launches Enly and the Buskin’ Blues
Feb 7 @ 6:00 pm
Malaprop's Bookstore and Virtual

This is a hybrid event, meaning there is an option to attend virtually and a limited number of seats are available to attend the event in-store. The event is free but registration is required for both in-person and virtual attendance. 

Please click here to register for the VIRTUAL event. The link required to attend will be emailed to registrants prior to the event.

Please click here to register for the IN-PERSON event. Note the important event details on the RSVP form.

This event includes a book signing. If you would like a signed book but can’t attend in person, use the order comments field when you order below to request a signed copy and tell us to whom the book should be personalized.

If you decide to attend and to purchase books, we ask that you purchase from Malaprop’s. When you do this you make it possible for us to continue hosting author events and you keep more dollars in our community. You may also support our work by purchasing a gift card or making a donation of any amount below. Thank you!


Twelve-year-old Enly Wu Lewis is determined to go to band camp and follow in the footsteps of his musician father, who died years ago. But his mom, a single parent working two jobs, is saving every penny for his older brother’s college tuition. So Enly sets out to earn the money for camp on his own, by busking with an obscure instrument he can only kind of play. When someone drops a winning scratch-off lottery ticket into his tip box, Enly thinks it’s the answer to his problems–but he’ll have to overcome teenage thieves and his own family if he wants to achieve his dreams.

Jennie Liu is the daughter of Chinese immigrants. She has been fascinated by the attitudes, social policies, and changes in China each time she visits. Her young adult novels have won honors including a Freeman Book Award Honorable Mention and an In the Margins: Best Books for Teens award She lives in North Carolina with her family.

WILD (Women in Lively Discussion) Book Club
Feb 7 @ 6:30 pm
Malaprop's Bookstore

WILD (Women in Lively Discussion) Book Club

Tuesday, February 7, 2023 – 6:30pm
Tuesday, March 7, 2023 – 6:30pm
Tuesday, April 4, 2023 – 6:30pm
Tuesday, May 2, 2023 – 6:30pm

Join former Malaprop’s General Manager Linda-Marie Barrett for this woman-only book club that seeks to have fun by reading books (fiction & non) by women writers. Click here to see a full schedule of what the club is reading. Club attendees get 10% off the book at Malaprop’s!

The club meets at 6:30 P.M. on the first Tuesday of the month.

Please RSVP to the moderator at [email protected] for location and details.

Wednesday, February 8, 2023
Celebrate Black Legacy Month
Feb 8 all-day
Buncombe County Libraires

Join us throughout February as we celebrate Black Legacy Month with programs and events for all ages! In addition to the programs listed below, we will have special story times and exhibits at most of our libraries.

  • Bright Star Touring Theatre: African Folktales – February 1 at 4pm at the Weaverville Library (for children ages 3 and up)
  • Book Club: Jazz by Toni Morrison – Thursday, February 2 a 3pm at the Weaverville Library
  • Book Club: The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett – Tuesday, February 7 at 6pm
  • Book Club: The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict Tuesday, February 14 at 1pm at the Leicester Library
  • Book Club: Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina by Misty Copeland – February 16 at 2:30pm at the Skyland/South Buncombe Library
  • Book Club: The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett – February 21 at 7pm at the Fairview Library
  • Black Experience Book Club: The Furrows by Namwali Serpell – February 23 at 6:30pm at the Noir Collective, co-sponsored by the East Asheville library

Drop by your local library and check us out. Email or call if you have any questions.

Our librarians have also put together a Black Legacy Month reading list for all ages.

Black Legacy Month Reading List 2023

Books for Adults

Adult Fiction

  • Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
  • On Girlhood: 15 Stories from the Well-Read Black Girl Library edited by Glory Edim
  • What the Fireflies Knew by Kai Harries
  • Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James
  • The Love Songs of W.E.B. Dubois by Honoree Fannone Jeffers
  • How Long ‘Til Black Future Month? by N.K. Jemison
  • Deacon King Kong by James McBride
  • Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
  • Black Bottom Saints by Alice Randall
  • The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb
  • Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead
  • Seven Days in June by Tia Williams
  • Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson

Adult nonfiction

  • Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man by Emmanuel Acho
  • Carefree Black Girls: A Celebration of Black women in Popular Culture by Zeba Blay
  • The 1619 Project edited by Nikole Hannah-Jones
  • Rest is Resistance by Tricia Hersey
  • Wow, No Thank You by Samantha Irby*
  • The Sum of Us by Heather McGhee
  • All That She Carried by Tiya Miles
  • Please Don’t Sit On My Bed In Your Outside Clothes by Phoebe Robinson*
  • You’ll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey by Amber Ruffin*
  • Counting Descent by Clint Smith
  • The Body Is Not an Apology by Sonya Renee Taylor
  • Here For It by R. Eric Thomas*
  • Koshersoul: the faith and food journey of an African American Jew by Michael W. Twitty

*especially good on audio because the authors read their work!

Picture books for families to share

  • My Heart Flies Open by Omileye Achikeobi-Lewis
  • Only the Best: The Exceptional Life and Fashion of Ann Lowe by Kate Messner
  • My N.C. From A to Z by Michelle Lanier
  • Shhh! The Baby’s Asleep by JaNay Brown-Wood
  • Curls by Ruth Forman
  • Fly by Brittany J. Thurman
  • Opal Lee and What it Means to be Free: The True Story of the Grandmother of Juneteenth by Alice Faye Duncan
  • Build a House by Rhiannon Giddens
  • Bright Brown Baby, A Treasury by Andrea Davis Pinkney
  • Born on the Water by Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renee Watson

Chapter books for older kids

  • Isaiah Dunn is My Hero by Kelly J. BaptistBlended by Sharon Draper
  • Ikenga by Nnedi Okorafor
  • Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi
  • Tristan Strong Trilogy (Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky, Tristan Strong Destroys the World, and Tristan Strong Keeps Punching) by Kwame Mbalia
  • From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks
  • Black Boy Joy: 17 Stories Celebrating Black Boyhood edited by Kwame Mbalia
  • Freewater by Amina Luqman-Dawson
  • Operation Sisterhood by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich
  • The Door of No Return by Alexander Kwame

Books for teens

  • Quincredible by Rodney Barnes
  • The Legendborn Cycle (Legendborn and Bloodmarked) by Tracy Deonn
  • All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson
  • You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson
  • Survive the Dome by Kosoko Jackson
  • Revolution in Our Time: The Black Panther’s Promise to the People by Kekla Magoon
  • Ain’t Burned All the Bright by Jason Reynolds
  • Bitter by Akwaeke Emezi
  • On the Come Up by Angie Thomas
  • Okoye to the People by Ibi Zoboi
The Rumpus presents: Morgan Thomas + Alysia Li Ying Sawchyn
Feb 8 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Story Palor

Morgan Thomas is a writer from the Gulf Coast. Their debut story collection, MANYWHERE, was published by MCD-FSG. Their work has appeared in The Atlantic, American Short Fiction, The Kenyon Review, and elsewhere. They were the recipient of Lambda Literary’s Judith Markowitz Award for Exceptional New LGBTQ+ Writers and have also received support from the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, the Southern Studies Fellowship, and the Fulbright Foundation.

Alysia Li Ying Sawcyhn is the author of the essay collection A Fish Growing Lungs, and she is the editor-in-chief of The Rumpus. Her nonfiction has appeared in the St. Petersburg Review, Gulf Coast, Brevity, Prairie Schooner, Southeast Review, and elsewhere. She has taught creative writing at Catapult, the University or Maryland, and currently teaches at Warren Wilson.

Founded in 2009 in San Francisco, CA and now based in Asheville, NC with readers and editors all over the US and abroad, The Rumpus is one of the longest-running independent online literary and culture magazines. Our mostly volunteer-run magazine strives to be a platform for risk-taking voices and writing that might not find a home elsewhere. We lift up new voices alongside those of more established writers readers already know and love. Often, we are an emerging writer’s first notable publication, which is something we’re really proud of. We believe that literature builds community, and we’re excited to bring readers and writers together.

Note: Story Parlor will have its bar open and drinks will be available for purchase, along with Rumpus merch and the authors’ books.

Thursday, February 9, 2023
Celebrate Black Legacy Month
Feb 9 all-day
Buncombe County Libraires

Join us throughout February as we celebrate Black Legacy Month with programs and events for all ages! In addition to the programs listed below, we will have special story times and exhibits at most of our libraries.

  • Bright Star Touring Theatre: African Folktales – February 1 at 4pm at the Weaverville Library (for children ages 3 and up)
  • Book Club: Jazz by Toni Morrison – Thursday, February 2 a 3pm at the Weaverville Library
  • Book Club: The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett – Tuesday, February 7 at 6pm
  • Book Club: The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict Tuesday, February 14 at 1pm at the Leicester Library
  • Book Club: Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina by Misty Copeland – February 16 at 2:30pm at the Skyland/South Buncombe Library
  • Book Club: The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett – February 21 at 7pm at the Fairview Library
  • Black Experience Book Club: The Furrows by Namwali Serpell – February 23 at 6:30pm at the Noir Collective, co-sponsored by the East Asheville library

Drop by your local library and check us out. Email or call if you have any questions.

Our librarians have also put together a Black Legacy Month reading list for all ages.

Black Legacy Month Reading List 2023

Books for Adults

Adult Fiction

  • Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
  • On Girlhood: 15 Stories from the Well-Read Black Girl Library edited by Glory Edim
  • What the Fireflies Knew by Kai Harries
  • Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James
  • The Love Songs of W.E.B. Dubois by Honoree Fannone Jeffers
  • How Long ‘Til Black Future Month? by N.K. Jemison
  • Deacon King Kong by James McBride
  • Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
  • Black Bottom Saints by Alice Randall
  • The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb
  • Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead
  • Seven Days in June by Tia Williams
  • Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson

Adult nonfiction

  • Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man by Emmanuel Acho
  • Carefree Black Girls: A Celebration of Black women in Popular Culture by Zeba Blay
  • The 1619 Project edited by Nikole Hannah-Jones
  • Rest is Resistance by Tricia Hersey
  • Wow, No Thank You by Samantha Irby*
  • The Sum of Us by Heather McGhee
  • All That She Carried by Tiya Miles
  • Please Don’t Sit On My Bed In Your Outside Clothes by Phoebe Robinson*
  • You’ll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey by Amber Ruffin*
  • Counting Descent by Clint Smith
  • The Body Is Not an Apology by Sonya Renee Taylor
  • Here For It by R. Eric Thomas*
  • Koshersoul: the faith and food journey of an African American Jew by Michael W. Twitty

*especially good on audio because the authors read their work!

Picture books for families to share

  • My Heart Flies Open by Omileye Achikeobi-Lewis
  • Only the Best: The Exceptional Life and Fashion of Ann Lowe by Kate Messner
  • My N.C. From A to Z by Michelle Lanier
  • Shhh! The Baby’s Asleep by JaNay Brown-Wood
  • Curls by Ruth Forman
  • Fly by Brittany J. Thurman
  • Opal Lee and What it Means to be Free: The True Story of the Grandmother of Juneteenth by Alice Faye Duncan
  • Build a House by Rhiannon Giddens
  • Bright Brown Baby, A Treasury by Andrea Davis Pinkney
  • Born on the Water by Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renee Watson

Chapter books for older kids

  • Isaiah Dunn is My Hero by Kelly J. BaptistBlended by Sharon Draper
  • Ikenga by Nnedi Okorafor
  • Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi
  • Tristan Strong Trilogy (Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky, Tristan Strong Destroys the World, and Tristan Strong Keeps Punching) by Kwame Mbalia
  • From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks
  • Black Boy Joy: 17 Stories Celebrating Black Boyhood edited by Kwame Mbalia
  • Freewater by Amina Luqman-Dawson
  • Operation Sisterhood by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich
  • The Door of No Return by Alexander Kwame

Books for teens

  • Quincredible by Rodney Barnes
  • The Legendborn Cycle (Legendborn and Bloodmarked) by Tracy Deonn
  • All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson
  • You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson
  • Survive the Dome by Kosoko Jackson
  • Revolution in Our Time: The Black Panther’s Promise to the People by Kekla Magoon
  • Ain’t Burned All the Bright by Jason Reynolds
  • Bitter by Akwaeke Emezi
  • On the Come Up by Angie Thomas
  • Okoye to the People by Ibi Zoboi