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Reverse-Gentrification of the Literary World

Akashic Books

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News & Features » February 2016 » Valentine’s Day Sale: 50% off select titles!

Valentine’s Day Sale: 50% off select titles!

This Valentine’s Day, say I love you with 50% off select titles:

 

 

Praise for I Love You Too by Ziggy Marley:

“A sweetly affectionate ode to togetherness and love.”
—Publishers Weekly

“Lyrics inspired by an exchange with Marley’s 3-year-old daughter are set to bright paintings of a multicultural cast of children and adults enjoying each other’s company indoors and out . . . The art will draw and hold young children’s attention.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“Sure to be a hit at bedtime, the lyrical story conveys the sweet, soothing, and affirming message.”
—School Library Journal

A debut children’s book by reggae icon Ziggy Marley with illustrations by Ag Jatkowska.

A beautifully illustrated, multicultural children’s picture book based on one of Ziggy Marley’s most beloved songs, “I Love You Too.” The book explores a child’s relationship with parents, nature, and the unstoppable force of love. This is Ziggy’s first book, though his foray into children’s music is extensive and very well known. He is the singer of “Believe in Yourself,” the popular theme song of the hit TV show, Arthur.

From the introduction by Ziggy Marley:

“One day I was in my kitchen making breakfast with my then three-year-old daughter Judah. She looked at me and said, ‘I love you.’ I spontaneously replied to her, ‘I love you too.’ From that came the song and now the book based on the lyrics. I hope you share and enjoy this with your loved ones as I have with mine. I love you too.”

 

Praise for Loving Donovan by Bernice L. McFadden:

“Bernice L. McFadden is one of the best contemporary literary writers out there today . . . Her brilliance, her talent as a novelist, is the very life she breathes into all of her characters.”
—Terry McMillan, from the Introduction

“Bernice L. McFadden was one of the best writers to emerge in the post–Waiting to Exhale explosion that introduced at least a dozen Black female novelists. Loving Donovan has generated near-cult status among readers. After more than a decade since it appeared, Donovan is being reissued. How fitting that Terry McMillan has written a new introduction. If you’ve read Donovanbefore, you will fall in love all over again. And if this is your first time, prepare yourself for an intense romance between an enigmatic antihero and a heroine who will feel like your homegirl.”
—Essence Magazine

“Loving Donovan is brilliant. By exploring the depth of her characters, the novel transforms what, on the surface, may appear to be the run-of-the-mill, paperback sentimental, tear-jerking coupling, into an understanding, unflinching, expertly told tale of human nature.”
—AALBC

The first section of McFadden’s unconventional love story belongs to Campbell. Despite being born to a brokenhearted mother and a faithless father, Campbell still believes in the power of love . . . if she can ever find it. Living in the same neighborhood, but unknown to Campbell until a chance meeting brings them together, is Donovan, the “little man” of a shattered home—a family torn apart by anger and bitterness.

In the face of daunting obstacles, Donovan dreams of someday marrying, raising a family, and playing in the NBA. But deep inside, Campbell and Donovan live with the histories that have shaped their lives. What they discover—together and apart—forms the basis of this compelling, sensual, and surprising novel.

 

Praise for Love Maps by Eliza Factor:

“Powerfully written . . . . Factor reveals this arresting tale through solid character development and a well-paced narrative. From its tense opening chapter to its memorable conclusion, this is a read-in-one-sitting trip.”
—Publishers Weekly

“Compelling . . . a poignant picture of familial and romantic love and their complexities.”
—Library Journal

“Memorable and touching . . . a commendable achievement that captures the interrelation of fear and love in the unbalanced reality of modern adulthood.”
—San Francisco Book Review

The love in Love Maps is not the kind associated with domestic bliss; it is the kind that bubbles up at inopportune moments, attaching itself to people who might be better off free, causing mayhem and longing, along with moments of rare beauty. The title is taken from a series of paintings by Sarah Marker, an artist who ekes out a living teaching humanities at a fancy high school in Connecticut.

The story begins when Sarah receives a letter from Philip, her erstwhile husband. They have lived separately for seven years, without having seen each other once, without having formally severed ties, in a state of sustained ambivalence. Now he wants to visit. As much as Sarah would like to see him, she is terrified at what he will do when he discovers that he has a son.

Sarah bundles up her son and once again takes flight, only to arrive in a place she had not intended. While navigating the terrain of the 1980s art scene in New York City, she must confront the terrible events surrounding Philip’s departure, and reconcile the expectations of domestic life with her own fractured experience of family, confronting the violence and aching love at the heart of this story.

 

Praise for The Love Book by Nina Solomon:

“Fans of Sarah Dessen and Mary Kay Andrews will enjoy this grown-up Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, a story of risk, reward, loss, and love.”
—Booklist

“Happy endings abound in this novel about the power of love and friendship.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“A heartwarming tale of friendship and love and a nice way to welcome a new year.”
—New York Post

It all starts when four unsuspecting women on a singles’ bike trip through Normandy discover a mysterious red book about love. But did they discover it—or did the book bring them together? Magical words, spells, conjurations, and a little dose of synchronicity abound in The Love Book, an anti–rom com about the misadventures of four women who embark on a soul mate–seeking journey. Somehow The Love Bookinsinuates itself into their lives and has its way with them. But there is more than matchmaking afoot. The four women—Emily, Beatrice, Max, and Cathy—are each nudged, cajoled, inspired—perhaps “guided”—despite themselves, to discover love, fulfillment, and the true nature of what being a soul mate really means. While on the surface a lighthearted romp, the novel is a serious exploration of the difficulties women routinely encounter when their lives do not turn out the way society, their families, and they themselves may have planned.

Posted: Feb 9, 2016

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