Check out our reading recommendations for the month of August…
Our book selections this month include new releases from illustrator Joelle Avelino, science-focused content creator and music artist Big Manny, and legendary music industry executive and A&R Darcus Beese to add to your reading list.
A book about people like me by Joelle Avelino
Kenny is on a journey of discovery! He loves cycling, the color purple and his favorite dog, ketchup. Is there anyone else in the world like him? Making friends, favorite foods, big dreams – Kenny thinks about all the things he likes and along the way he meets lots of friends and discovers funny things about them.
Full of interesting details about the world today, A Book of People Like Me is told by a rising star in the children’s book industry in a naturally inclusive way with colorful illustrations. This inspiring story helps young readers think about identity and belonging, and celebrates all the little things that bring people together.
Release date: Thursday, August 1, 2024
Editor: Harper Collins Children’s Books
Science is enlightened by Big Manny
So, BOOM, Big Manny is here to show you how to become a real scientist and do amazing experiments at home using ordinary ingredients. We’re learning some basic (and not so basic) chemistry stuff – from combustion to chromatography (chroma-what-now?).
We’ll learn about the amazing elements that each have their own personality – from fiery hydrogen to the main organism, oxygen – and that cause explosive reactions from fizzy oranges to dishwashing liquid volcanoes! Let’s start experimenting and find out why science is so awesome, shall we?
Release date: Thursday, August 8, 2024
Editor: Penguin Random House
And so I scream by Abi Daré
Brave fourteen-year-old Adunni is in Lagos, excited to finally start school. She fled her village to find a better future and has now found refuge with Tia, a kind and brilliant woman who is on her own difficult journey of self-discovery.
But it is not so easy to run away from the past.
The night before her first lesson with her new classmates, a terrifying knock at the front gate calls Adunni back to her home village of Ikati, where her dramatic story of resilience begins.
While Tia desperately tries to protect her from an uncertain fate, Adunni must save not only herself but all the young women in her village and transform Ikati into a place where girls can have the bright future they deserve – and share their stories with the world.
‘A novelist with great power, wit and inventiveness‘ ELIZABETH GILBERT, author of City of Girls
‘An exciting return to the world of “The Girl with the Louding Voice”CHARMAINE WILKERSON, author of Black cake
Release date: Thursday, August 8
Editor: Sceptre/ Hachette UK
Rebel with a goal: roots, records and revolutions by Darcus Beese
The remarkable story of Darcus Beese: legendary music industry executive and A&R who grew up in a musically fertile and politically febrile time.
His parents – Darcus Howe and Barbara Beese – were prominent activists in West London and members of the Mangrove Nine at a time when racism was rife. This book tells his story and how his unique upbringing, along with his love of music and culture, helped him develop from a “tea boy” to “one of the greatest A&R people of his or any generation*” and how these beliefs instilled in him by his parents played and continue to play an important role in his personal and professional life.
Release date: Thursday, August 15
Editor: Nine Eight Books
Sian’s Kitchen Caribbean comfort cuisine by Sian Anderson
Having founded her hugely popular restaurant Octaves, Sian now celebrates her Afro-British identity with Jamaican and St Lucian roots in a modern Caribbean cookbook full of delicious home-cooked comfort food.
The 80 fresh and tasty recipes include interviews with Big Zuu, Julie Adenuga and Big Narstie, who Sian invites over for dinner to talk about their favourite foods, and there’s a playlist for each chapter to set the mood.
Release date: Tuesday, August 20
Editor: Quarto Publishing PLC
No small matter by Orlaine McDonald
An extraordinary debut from a black Brit full of longing and danger, set in a mansion in south London
Alone in the lush vegetation of his balcony, Earl watches as a broken family comes back together in the apartment below. There is Livia, who has been on the run for so long that she believes her past will never catch up with her. Now she must take a breather and face the daughter she left behind.
Then Mickey is angry because her mother left her, her father died and she messed up her life. She has no place else to go and needs the mother who abandoned her.
And Summer, whose new grandmother is strange and whose mother is always sad or looking for men to distract her. She can move around and find friends who give her the attention Mickey doesn’t. But are they as nice as she thinks?
‘A gem of a book about mothers and daughters, about being black and working class in contemporary London. Beautiful writing, full of emotion, poetry and insightPriscilla Morris, Women’s Prize-nominated author of Black Butterflies
Release date: Thursday, July 18, 2024
Editor: Snake tail
This motherless country by Nikki May
When Funke’s mother dies in an accident in Lagos, she is sent to live with her maternal family in England. Despite condescending treatment and mild neglect, sensible Funke tries to fit in and is determined to become one of them.
Free-spirited Liv has always wanted to break out of her joyless family and be completely different from them. She defends Funke with all her might and now finally has an ally. The two cousins give each other what they need most: love.
But the past casts long shadows and their mothers’ decisions haunt them and shape the course of their adult lives.
‘A spirited exploration of culture and kinship‘ Bonnie Garmus
‘Deeply emotional and entertaining‘ Emma Stonex
‘Goes to the heartDamilare Kuku, author of Almost all men in Lagos are crazy
Release date: Thursday, July 18, 2024
Editor: Penguin Books
