Showing results by narrator "L. Steven" in All Categories

Urban Books' popular Around the Way Girls series is back, bringing readers more dramatic tales about the lives of some tough, resourceful women who can hold their own when things get rough on the streets. Growing up poor and biracial, Shannon never quite fit in. Not truly accepted by either side of her family, the confused teenager turns to the one thing that loves her back unconditionally - the streets. With a bottle of liquor at her side and a worthless mentality in tow, Shannon allows the local strip club and the pole to become her new family.

Korey Taylor, a.k.a. "Killa Korey" and his ace, Hammer, were sentenced to serve two decades in federal prison, but after an unexpected change in the crack cocaine sentencing laws, Korey is released. Now he's on his way home to Charlotte, North Carolina. Like Hammer, Korey is a thug with a violent nature, nothing to joke around with in the cold streets. However, while serving his time, Korey took classes that he hoped would help him become someone other than a drug dealer. Armed with a new way of thinking and a deep desire to reconnect with his teenage daughter, Korey wants to wave goodbye to the game.

It is the end of days. A nuclear strike hits New York. Alfie, a young black male, survives but with no memory of what has happened. The only thing he can remember with any clarity is how to play his guitar and a few snatches of old blues and folk songs. Another survivor, Meg, has taken refuge in the hills of Vermont, and she, too, is the victim of near absolute amnesia. Her only hope is to survive these darkest of days.

Trap Kitchen is more than just a cookbook. It's a glimpse into the meals that have now become famous in the LA streets thanks to the series of pop-up restaurants that continue to bloom throughout the area. Celebrities and residents alike flock to the locations for soulful meals, but it's more than that. Having lost friends and family to violence, we learn how the masterminds behind Trap Kitchen sought to change the paths they were on, using cooking as their driving force.

Teen sensation Melissa Jones is dragged into a world of conspiracy and violence when her boyfriend is shot dead by police. Melissa joins forces with unlikely allies in a desperate search to uncover the shocking truth behind his murder. Her unlikely allies include a newly elected senator who refuses to be compromised by a wealthy donor, a conspiracy theorist who believes the worst of all enemies has infiltrated the corridors of power, and a Black Lives Matter leader who seeks justice for her brother's murder.

Malek Johnson's hustle is the basketball court, and he's the best Flint's projects has ever produced. He's on his way to the University of Michigan, but not for long, because all the NBA scouts say he's destined for the pros after a year or two of seasoning. Malek finds love in the super fine girl everyone calls Halleigh, and he promises her that he will take her out of the hood.

Lance Thomas is a sexy, young black male who has it all: a high-paying blue collar career, a home in Queens, New York, two cars, a son, and a beautiful wife. However, that marriage happened at a very young age, and it wasn't long after that he realized he was afflicted with dogism, a distorted sexuality that causes men to stray and be unfaithful in their relationships with women.

Central Park is perhaps the most well-trod and familiar green space in the country. It is both a refuge from the city and Manhattan's very heart; a respite from the urban grind and a hive of activity all its own. Eight hundred forty-three carefully planned acres allow some 37 million visitors each year to come and get lost in a sense of nature. Unsurprisingly, the park also inspires a wealth of great writing, and here Andrew Blauner collects some of the finest fiction and nonfiction - 20 pieces in all.

A Washington, D.C., socialite, traveling in the western United States, meets an old friend, and finds herself startled to learn that his current occupation is a long way from what it was when he was in D.C.

Unknowingly, a man arrives on the anniversary of the “Great Tragedy” that led to his host having her large French window wide open onto the lawn on an October afternoon in the vain hope that her husband and brothers - whom he learns have been dead three years - will return through it. To his horror, the man shares in the terrors of the day.

Through an act of heroism, a woman saves her lover, who was destined to be executed in the Tower of London at the ringing of the curfew.

Curfew Must Not Ring Tonight by Rosa Hartwick Thorpe: Through an act of heroism a woman saves her lover, who was destined to be executed in The Tower of London at the ringing of the curfew. Towser Shall Be Tied Tonight by Unknown: A Parody of Curfew Must Not Ring Tonight. Instead of taking place in the majestic and historic Tower of London, the story takes place on a farm in Kansas and the threat to Love is the dreaded dog Towser.

As a proud son of a civil rights leader, Steven L. Reed grew up hearing stories about how his father integrated Montgomery lunch counters and took advice directly from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Reverend Ralph Abernathy. However, it wasn’t until Reed was in the fourth grade and received a death threat against his father that he began to understand more fully the importance of the lessons his father was trying to impart. At this pivotal moment, his father explained, “My job is to prepare you to be a cross-bearer and not just a crown-wearer.