Our greatest African American poet's award-winning first novel, about a black boy's coming-of-age in a largely-white Kansas town When first published in 1930, Not Without Laughter established Langston Hughes as not only a brilliant poet and leading light of the Harlem Renaissance but also a gifted novelist. In telling the story of Sandy Rogers, a young African American boy in small-town Kansas, and of his family--his mother, Annjee, a housekeeper...

It is pool day in the city and everyone is welcome.

"In a lonely cottage overlooking the windswept Maine coast, Wilder Harlow begins the last book he will ever write. It is the story of a sun-drenched summer of his youth, and of the killer that stalked the small New England town. And of the terrible tragedy that forever bonded him with his friends Nat and Harper in unknowable ways. Decades later, Wilder returns to the town in an attempt to recount that summer's events in his memoirs. But as he writes,...

This Nobel Prize–winning author's satirical Southern novel is "full of the kind of swift and lusty writing that comes from a healthy, fresh pen" (Lillian Hellman, New York Herald Tribune). If ever there was a William Faulkner novel that could be called a portrait of the artist as a young man, Mosquitoes is that book. Set on a yacht excursion on Lake Pontchartrain, Faulkner's second novel introduces his readers to the artistic community of...

"Salma Khatun is hopeful about Blenheim, the suburban development into which she, her husband, and their son have just moved. The Bangladeshi family needs a fresh start, and Blenheim feels like just the place. Soon after they move in, Salma spots her white neighbor, Tom Hutton, ripping out the anti-racist banner her son put in the front garden. Avoiding confrontation, Salma takes the banner inside and puts it in her window. But the next morning, she...

"Boy with dog and grandfather with beard watch holiday lights turn on in the city"-- Provided by publisher.

"A laugh-out-loud YA debut that examines the realities of small-town queer life and celebrates the transformative power of drag--perfect for fans of RuPaul's Drag Race and Pumpkin. Peter Thompkins needs a public image overhaul. After a tense confrontation with one of the few other queer kids in his small-town high school, rumors about him are becoming more elaborate by the day. Meanwhile, his best friend Alan (aka teen drag queen Aggie Culture) is...

In 1962 and 1963, Thornton Wilder spent twenty months in hibernation, away from family and friends, in the Rio Grande border town of Douglas, Arizona. While there, he launched "The Eighth Day," a tale set in a mining town in southern Illinois about two families blasted apart by the apparent murder of one father by the other. The miraculous escape of the accused killer, John Ashley, on the eve of his execution and his flight to freedom triggers a powerful...

When the toughest boy in school swears to kill him, twelve-year- old Mouse finds little help from friends and must prepare for this emergency alone.

"A week before your wedding is one heckuva time for your ex to ride back into town, stirring up trouble. But that's exactly the predicament Darla McAdams finds herself in. Darla's on the verge of breaking up with her fiancé, Will Jackson--only a week before the wedding. Her parents would disown her, but Darla's sure that her Granny Roxie will understand when Darla tells her that her first love, Andy, has come back to town. Thank goodness for a wise...