“DJ Michelle, you are amazing, mama … Keep rockin’!” —Alicia Keys
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- I Am DJ Michelle
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By Michelle Rasul and Saida Rasul, with Rabiah York
Foreword written and read by Wyclef Jean
Read by Soneela Nankani, Emily Marso, Eileen Stevens, and Cary Hite
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Release Date: 5/16/23
Formats: Digital Audy
For young readers inspired by bestselling autobiographies such as Essentially Charli and Reach for the Skai comes the extraordinary true story of how a nine-year-old DJ from Dubai became an international superstar, as told in her own words—with some help from her “Momager”—with a foreword by Wyclef Jean.
Dubai wunderkind Michelle Rasul was only a toddler when she first got behind the turntables. By the time she entered the 2021 DMC Global DJing Championship, she was on her way to becoming an international celebrity. Her inspiring autobiography is a testament to passion, talent, family, love, and perseverance—and above all, a celebration of Girl Power with some scratching and a beat.
Award-winning children’s author Rabiah York takes the reader through DJ Michelle’s extraordinary life in a rollicking, intimate narrative driven by Michelle’s own words—joined by the star’s mother, Saida Rasul. (Or “Momager,” as the family prefers.) In conversation, mother and daughter open up not only about the magic of music in their lives, but about the discipline it takes to journey from precocious youngster to professional scratch DJ. For all of Michelle’s positivity, she is unflinchingly honest about the obstacles she has had to overcome to achieve such astonishing success at such a young age.
The print edition is enhanced by colorful photographs and other fun multimedia inserts—including (but not limited to) crucial bits of DJ history; text messages from friends, fans, and celebrities; even a school assignment.
- I Am DJ Michelle
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By Michelle Rasul and Saida Rasul, with Rabiah York
Foreword written and read by Wyclef Jean
Read by Soneela Nankani, Emily Marso, Eileen Stevens, and Cary Hite
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Release Date: 5/16/23
Formats: Digital Audy
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- On Becoming an American Writer
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Selected and with an introduction by Anthony Walton
Read by Cary Hite
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Release Date: 1/17/23
Formats: Digital Audy
Discover the unique mind and humane vision of an under-recognized American author. Encompassing themes of race, education, fame, law, and America’s past and future, these essays are James Alan McPherson at his most prescient and invaluable.
Born in segregated 1940s Georgia, McPherson graduated from Harvard Law School only to give up law and become a writer. In 1978, he became the first Black author to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. But all the while, McPherson was also writing and publishing nonfiction that stand beside contemporaries such as James Baldwin and Joan Didion, as this collection amply proves.
These essays range from McPherson’s profile of comedian Richard Pryor on the cusp of his stardom; a moving tribute to his mentor, Ralph Ellison; a near-fatal battle with viral meningitis; and the story of how McPherson became a reluctant landlord to an elderly Black woman and her family.
There are meditations on family as the author travels to Disneyland with his daughter, on the nuances of a neighborhood debate about naming a street after Malcolm X or Dr. Martin Luther King, and, throughout, those connections that make us most deeply human—including connections between writer and listener.
This collection is for anyone seeking a better understanding of our world and a connection to a wise and wickedly funny writer who speaks with forceful relevance and clarity across the decades.
- On Becoming an American Writer
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Selected and with an introduction by Anthony Walton
Read by Cary Hite
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Release Date: 1/17/23
Formats: Digital Audy
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- Better Than We Found It
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By Frederick Joseph and Porsche Joseph
Read by Cary Hite and Deanna Anthony
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Release Date: 11/11/22
Formats: Digital Audy
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Black Friend and a seasoned activist comes an indispensable guide to social and political progressivism for young people and anyone wanting to get more involved.
Every generation inherits the problems created by the ones before them, but no generation will inherit as many problems—as many crises—as the current generation of young people. From the devastations of climate change to the horrors of gun violence, from rampant transphobia to the widening wealth gap, from the lack of health care to the lack of housing, the challenges facing the next generation can feel insurmountable.
But change, even revolution, is possible; you just have to know where to start. In Better Than We Found It, bestselling author Frederick Joseph and debut author Porsche Joseph make the case for addressing some of the biggest issues of our day
Featuring more than two dozen interviews with prominent activists, authors, actors, and politicians, this is the essential resource for those who want to make the world better than we found it.
Featured here are interviews with:
Mehcad Brooks
Keah Brown
Julián Castro
Sonja Cherry-Paul
Chelsea Clinton
Charlotte Clymer
Mari Copeny, aka Little Miss Flint
Greg D’Amato
Jesse Katz
Amed Khan
Daniel Alejandro Leon-Davis
Willy and Jo Lorenz
Ben O’Keefe
Brittany Packnett Cunningham
Anna Paquin
Robert Reich
Brandon T. Snider
Nic Stone
Anton Treuer
Andrea Tulee
David Villalpando
Elizabeth Warren
Shannon Watts
Natalie Weaver
Brandon Wolf- Better Than We Found It
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By Frederick Joseph and Porsche Joseph
Read by Cary Hite and Deanna Anthony
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Release Date: 11/11/22
Formats: Digital Audy
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- Holmes Coming
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Read by Francesca Ling, Rory Barnett, Kenneth Johnson, Jenny Gago, Thom Rivera, and Cary Hite
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Release Date: 11/01/22
Formats: Digital Audy
Dr. Amy Winslow tells the story: in foggy, nighttime San Francisco a jogging SFPD captain is savagely attacked by a Bengal tiger which then vanishes. In her ER, Amy labors unsuccessfully to save the captain’s life, then consoles his aggrieved closest friend, Lt. Luis Ortega. Neither suspects their lives will intertwine in a life-or-death mystery.
The next day, checking on former patient Mrs. Hudson at her Victorian house isolated in Marin County’s forest, Amy discovers in the cellar a secret, cobweb-covered 1899 electrochemical laboratory containing a Jules Verne–esque steam-punk sarcophagus out of which springs a wild-eyed, half-mummified, crypt-keeper-like man who injects himself with something before falling dead at her feet. Amy barely revives him.
He claims to be a real-life Victorian master chemist and detective named Holmes, who allowed Conan Doyle to write stories based on his cases, though was slightly annoyed when Doyle changed his real first name to the catchier Sherlock. Becoming uninspired by 1890s crime, Holmes devised this method to hibernate for a century to investigate future mysteries.
Amy assumes he’s a lunatic. His Scotland Yard identity papers were stolen while he slept, so it takes her a while to realize his amazing story is true.
Respectably handsome when cleaned up, Holmes is still the same brash, egoistic, über-English, cocaine-addicted, non-feminist genius—but now a century out of sync—so his still-brilliant deductions are sometimes laughably or dangerously wrong. Holmes and Amy, his reluctant new Watson, find themselves unexpectedly attracted to each other while perilously involved in reclaiming his proof of identity, aided by cyber-savvy street teen Zapper. It’s all connected to the horrific death-by-tiger, only the first of several bizarre, mystifying murders being committed by an exquisitely fiendish descendant of Holmes’ Victorian archenemy, Professor Moriarty.
The tone is classic Holmes—plus a refreshing twist of fish-out-of-water humor with a surprising spark of real romance.
- Holmes Coming
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Read by Francesca Ling, Rory Barnett, Kenneth Johnson, Jenny Gago, Thom Rivera, and Cary Hite
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Release Date: 11/01/22
Formats: Digital Audy
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- The Handoff
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By Jordan Ford
Read by Cary Hite and Lindsey Dorcus
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Release Date: 5/10/22
Formats: Digital Audy
She’s the last person he has time for, but Finn’s never been able to turn his back on someone in trouble. Can the kind-hearted offensive lineman be won over by Nelson High’s party girl?
It’s nearly spring break. Mack is leaving for New Zealand to win back his girl, and he asks Finn (Tank) to do him a favor—keep an eye on his little sister, Layla. Finn has his reservations about the party girl, but he isn’t about to let one of his best friends down, so he agrees. Unfortunately for him, he has no idea what he’s getting into … or the effect this dynamic beauty will have on him.
Layla likes to party. It’s the only sure-fire medicine for helping her forget the fact that her father’s dead and a new guy has taken his place. But when she’s drunk, Layla has a big mouth … and the wrong friends. Unable to remember what she’s been up to at her various parties, Layla falls into a nasty trap.
With Mack gone, she’s forced to turn to someone who’s always kept his distance, a good guy who has never had time for her partying ways. Letting Finn in on her dark and dirty secrets is something she never planned to do, but his tender strength and quiet protection draws it out of her, creating a bond between them that neither saw coming … and a whirlwind of problems that they’ll only survive if they stick together.
- The Handoff
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By Jordan Ford
Read by Cary Hite and Lindsey Dorcus
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Release Date: 5/10/22
Formats: Digital Audy
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- So Good to Be Bad
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Read by Cary Hite
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Release Date: 9/28/21
Formats: Digital Audy
Harkening back to nostalgic nuggets such as Matilda and The Goonies, but with a twist of modern storytelling a la Captain Underpants, So Good to Be Bad presents a very unique audio story for young listeners.
Moishe “Mushy” Luftmensch, age ten and a half, has a big problem: he’s a very good kid … in a very bad world (and we mean very, very bad! We’re talking “tangerine peanut butter and garlic milkshakes” bad!). When Mushy proves to be too good for his, well … own good … he’s summarily shipped off to a special camp for “good eggs” like him. It’s no surprise we end up at a particularly unique camp where kids like Mushy are turned from really good to really bad … just like they’re supposed to be.
But while at reformatory camp, Mushy befriends some of the other “good egg” campers, and they decide that maybe now and maybe together they can make their move, escape, and work to change the world—quite literally—for the better. All before it’s too late!
- So Good to Be Bad
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Read by Cary Hite
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Release Date: 9/28/21
Formats: Digital Audy
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- Paul Robeson
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Foreword by Jason Reynolds
Read by Cary Hite
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Release Date: 4/27/21
Formats: Digital Audy
The inspiring life and legacy of vocal artist and civil rights icon Paul Robeson—one of the most important public figures in the twentieth century—adapted for young adults by the acclaimed Robeson biographer
“As an artist I come to sing, but as a citizen, I will always speak for peace, and no one can silence me in this.” —Paul Robeson
Paul Robeson was destined for greatness. The son of an ex-slave who upon his college graduation ranked first in his class, Robeson was proclaimed the future “leader of the colored race in America.” Although a graduate of Columbia Law School, he abandoned his law career (and the racism he encountered there) and began a hugely successful career as an internationally celebrated actor and singer. The predictions seemed to have been correct—Paul Robeson’s triumphs on the stage earned him esteem among white and Black Americans across the country, although his daring and principled activism eventually made him an outcast from the entertainment industry, and his radical views made many consider him a public enemy.
With the original biography lavishly praised in the Washington Post as “enthralling … a marvelous story marvelously told,” this will be a thrilling new addition to the young adult canon. Featuring a foreword by multiple award–winning author Jason Reynolds, Paul Robeson: No One Can Silence Me will introduce listeners in middle and high school to the inspiring and complicated life of one of America’s most fascinating figures, whose story of artistry, heroism, conviction, and conflict is newly relevant today.
- Paul Robeson
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Foreword by Jason Reynolds
Read by Cary Hite
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Release Date: 4/27/21
Formats: Digital Audy
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- The Kids of Widney Junior High Take Over the World!
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Read by Cary Hite
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Release Date: 3/09/21
Formats: Digital Audy
Before they became the world-famous Kids of Widney High, they first had to survive junior high! This rock band, composed entirely of members with developmental disabilities, loves to put on a show, but boy can they can get into fights, trouble, and sticky situations. Join their friend and honorary assistant manager Robbie as he introduces the band members and shows us how they’re just like everyone else. From cafeteria food fights to relationship woes, Robbie finds himself immersed in an incredible adventure to get everyone onboard for the big concert while better understanding his new friends with special abilities. Junior high can be tough, but this group of rambunctious misfits is ready to entertain and loves to have a good time!
Comes with an exclusive interview with Peewee about disability representation and two unreleased Kids of Widney High songs.
- The Kids of Widney Junior High Take Over the World!
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Read by Cary Hite
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Release Date: 3/09/21
Formats: Digital Audy
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- Cougar Cocktales
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Edited by N’Tyse
Stories by various authors
Read by Morae Brehon and Cary Hite
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Release Date: 2/05/19
Formats: Digital Audy
Dare to embrace your wild side as five of the brightest imaginations in black literature today—Michelle Cuttino, Shakir Rashaan, Anna Black, Jada Pearl, and N’Tyse—come together to weave an unforgettable exploration of female liberation and self-gratifying sexual healing. These risqué tales of steamy passion bloom from illicit affairs, secret fetishes, romantic flings, and pure unadulterated happenstance.
- Cougar Cocktales
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Edited by N’Tyse
Stories by various authors
Read by Morae Brehon and Cary Hite
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Release Date: 2/05/19
Formats: Digital Audy
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- Forever, Mr. Black
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Read by Honey Jones and Cary Hite
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Release Date: 1/15/19
Formats: Digital Audy
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Shanora Williams brings you the highly anticipated conclusion to the #1 bestselling taboo novel that had readers craving for more.
Dear Chloe Knight,
I know you still think of me. You must because I am constantly thinking about you. I can’t deny what I feel any longer—that you are, without a doubt, the love of my life.
It doesn’t matter that I’m married, or that I’ve heard you’ve gotten engaged. I don’t care if it costs me everything just to get you back. I would walk to the ends of the earth for you. I would kill for you. I would die for you.
I’m coming home, Little Knight, and I will make you mine again. I can’t wait to tell you the truth—that I love you. That I need you.
That I can hardly fucking breathe without you.
I will risk it all because I know that you belong to me … just as I belong to you.
And this time, nothing is going to stand in my way … unless that something is you.
- Forever, Mr. Black
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Read by Honey Jones and Cary Hite
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Release Date: 1/15/19
Formats: Digital Audy
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- Dear Mr. Black
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Read by Honey Jones and Cary Hite
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Release Date: 12/18/18
Formats: Digital Audy
From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Shanora Williams comes a forbidden romance about a college woman who helplessly falls for her best friend’s father.
Dear Mr. Black, I know you were hurting. I heard your cries for help. I wished over and over again that I could make it better, but as you stated I was too inexperienced; too good for someone as bad as you. Perhaps you were right, but it didn’t matter because what I did know was that I loved the way you felt—loved the way you smelled. I loved how hard you got for me, and when you called me your Little Knight. I had been madly in love with you ever since I was twelve years old, but I shouldn’t have been. My best friend—your daughter—Isabelle would have hated it. I couldn’t afford to lose her. Besides, you two had already lost enough. Losing Mrs. Black was the epitome. It’s me, Chloe Knight. I wanted to be there for you no matter what, but Isabelle needed me too, and she would have hated me if she ever found out I was sleeping with her father.
** Dear Mr. Black was formerly titled the #1 bestseller, Tainted Black.
- Dear Mr. Black
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Read by Honey Jones and Cary Hite
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Release Date: 12/18/18
Formats: Digital Audy
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- To Shape a New World
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Edited by Tommie Shelby and Brandon M. Terry
Read by Kevin Kenerly, Priya Ayyar, Cary Hite, Robin Miles, and Carrington MacDuffie
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Release Date: 12/04/18
Formats: Digital Audy
Martin Luther King Jr. may be America’s most revered political figure, commemorated in statues, celebrations, and street names around the world. On the fiftieth anniversary of King’s assassination, the man and his activism are as close to public consciousness as ever. But despite his stature, the significance of King’s writings and political thought remains underappreciated.
In To Shape a New World, Tommie Shelby and Brandon Terry write that the marginalization of King’s ideas reflects a romantic, consensus history that renders the civil rights movement inherently conservative―an effort not at radical reform but at “living up to” enduring ideals laid down by the nation’s founders. On this view, King marshaled lofty rhetoric to help redeem the ideas of universal (white) heroes, but produced little original thought. This failure to engage deeply and honestly with King’s writings allows him to be conscripted into political projects he would not endorse, including the pernicious form of “color blindness” that insists, amid glaring race-based injustice, that racism has been overcome.
Cornel West, Danielle Allen, Martha Nussbaum, Robert Gooding-Williams, and other authors join Shelby and Terry in careful, critical engagement with King’s understudied writings on labor and welfare rights, voting rights, racism, civil disobedience, nonviolence, economic inequality, poverty, love, just-war theory, virtue ethics, political theology, imperialism, nationalism, reparations, and social justice. In King’s exciting and learned work, the authors find an array of compelling challenges to some of the most pressing political dilemmas of our present, and rethink the legacy of this towering figure.
- To Shape a New World
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Edited by Tommie Shelby and Brandon M. Terry
Read by Kevin Kenerly, Priya Ayyar, Cary Hite, Robin Miles, and Carrington MacDuffie
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Release Date: 12/04/18
Formats: Digital Audy
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- The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Vol. 2-A
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By H. G. Wells, Poul Anderson, and others
Edited by Ben Bova
Read by various narrators
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Release Date: 2/27/18
Formats: Digital Audy
Eleven essential classics in one volume
This volume is the definitive collection of the best science fiction novellas published between 1929 and 1964, containing eleven great classics. No anthology better captures the birth of science fiction as a literary field.
Published in 1973 to honor stories that had appeared before the institution of the Nebula Awards, the Science Fiction Hall of Fame introduced tens of thousands of young readers to the wonders of science fiction and was a favorite of libraries across the country.
This volume contains the following:
Introduction by Ben Bova
Call Me Joe by Poul Anderson
Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell Jr. (as Don A. Stuart)
Nerves by Lester del Rey
Universe by Robert A. Heinlein
The Marching Morons by C. M. Kornbluth
Vintage Season by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore (as Lawrence O’Donnell)
… And Then There Were None by Eric Frank Russell
The Ballad of Lost C’Mell by Cordwainer Smith
Baby Is Three by Theodore Sturgeon
The Time Machine by H. G. Wells
With Folded Hands by Jack Williamson
- The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Vol. 2-A
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By H. G. Wells, Poul Anderson, and others
Edited by Ben Bova
Read by various narrators
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Release Date: 2/27/18
Formats: Digital Audy
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- The Game Don’t Change
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By Mazaradi Fox, with Brittani Williams
Read by Cary Hite
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Release Date: 11/01/16
Formats: Digital Audy
The posthumous novel from legendary Queens rapper Mazaradi Fox, a member of 50 Cent's G-Unit crew
Mazaradi Fox wrote this novel in 2013 during his incarceration at the Orleans Correctional Facility. The Game Don't Change opens with DeMarco Jones' escape from a juvenile detention facility. Successfully evading the law, DeMarco builds his reputation on the streets of Queens as a fearless and charismatic drug hustler. Though he is only sixteen, women of all ages can't get enough of him. But DeMarco soon finds that he must battle ferociously to maintain his new kingpin status.
- The Game Don’t Change
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By Mazaradi Fox, with Brittani Williams
Read by Cary Hite
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Release Date: 11/01/16
Formats: Digital Audy
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- Diamonds and Pearl
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By K’wan
Read by Cary Hite
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Release Date: 10/11/16
Formats: Digital Audy
Diamonds and Pearl is a gritty, compelling novel from #1 Essence bestselling author K’wan.
They say that good girls like bad boys, and this was especially true for Pearl Stone, a child born of privilege to a drug baron and reputed killer known in the streets as Big Stone. Although the flashy, fast-paced nature of the streets calls to Pearl, she’s been brought up to look but not touch. Yet when a young hustler named Diamonds crawls up from the swamps of Louisiana and sets up shop in New York City, everything Pearl was taught flies out the window.
Raised in the wild and schooled on the mean streets of New Orleans, Diamonds is no stranger to hard times and is willing to do whatever it takes to stay above the poverty line, including kill. When an armed robbery turns into mass murder, Diamonds is forced to flee New Orleans and lands in New York where he meets Pearl and, for the first time, finds something he craves more than wealth and power—love.
As the stakes get higher, Diamonds has to push away his past if he’s to grab hold of his future. But by doing so, will he show Pearl that not all that glitters is gold?
- Diamonds and Pearl
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By K’wan
Read by Cary Hite
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Release Date: 10/11/16
Formats: Digital Audy
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- Manology
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By Tyrese Gibson and Rev Run
Read by Cary Hite
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Release Date: 10/07/16
Formats: Digital Audy
In this New York Times bestseller, Tyrese Gibson, multiplatinum R&B singer and movie star, and Rev Run of Run-DMC and star of Run’s House, present a bold, honest, and uncensored look into the male mind.
Tyrese and Rev are the unlikeliest of best friends—Rev is married with six kids, and Tyrese is a single dad still hesitant to settle down. But after an unexpected argument in which Rev insisted that marriage is forever, and Tyrese countered that you could bail when the sex went bad, the two decided not just to agree to disagree but to team up and open their debate to a larger audience.
Manology will help you weed out the cheaters, manipulators, and pimps from the good men, and it will give you the tools to know if your man is the marrying kind. In “Manology after Dark,” the guys even give the lowdown on what men need in bed, before and after they put a ring on your finger. Some behavior can’t be changed, but as Tyrese and Rev share, it’s better to face the truth. With Rev’s hard-earned knowledge on how to make a marriage work, and Tyrese’s sometimes uncomfortable but always honest take on the single man’s mind-set, Manology is your one source to help you take control of your love life and truly understand your man.
- Manology
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By Tyrese Gibson and Rev Run
Read by Cary Hite
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Release Date: 10/07/16
Formats: Digital Audy
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- Can I Say
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By Travis Barker, with Gavin Edwards
Read by Cary Hite
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Release Date: 9/15/16
Formats: Digital Audy
The fascinating never-before-told-in-full story of personal reinvention grounded in musical salvation and fatherhood.
Travis Barker’s soul-baring memoir chronicles the highlights and lowlights of the renowned drummer’s art and his life, including the harrowing plane crash that nearly killed him and his traumatic road to recovery.
After breaking out as the acclaimed drummer of the multiplatinum punk band Blink-182, everything changed for Travis Barker. But the dark side of rock stardom took its toll: his marriage, chronicled for an MTV reality show, fell apart. Constant touring concealed a serious drug addiction. A reckoning did not truly come until he was forced to face mortality: his life nearly ended in a horrifying plane crash, and then his close friend, collaborator, and fellow crash survivor DJ AM died of an overdose.
In this blunt, driving memoir, Barker ruminates on rock stardom, fatherhood, death, loss, and redemption, sharing stories shaped by decades’ worth of hard-earned insights. His pulsating memoir is as energetic as his acclaimed beats. It brings to a close the first chapters of a well-lived life, inspiring listeners to follow the rhythms of their own hearts and find meaning in their lives.
- Can I Say
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By Travis Barker, with Gavin Edwards
Read by Cary Hite
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Release Date: 9/15/16
Formats: Digital Audy
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From the bestselling author of Hoodlum comes a novel about one of the deadliest women to ever grace the streets of Harlem—Eve.
The only family Eve Panelli has ever known is the infamous Twenty Gang. Orphaned as a small child, Eve quickly learned the art of the hustle, and by age seventeen she had spent two years in prison. But now Eve is eighteen, back on the streets of Harlem with her gang, and up to one of her old tricks: strong-arm robbery. Despite her edge, she’s got a soft spot for Felon, the up-and-coming street king.
Eve’s life takes a serious turn when the powerful DeNardi family, the city’s biggest drug supplier, tries to tighten its hold on Harlem. And when Eve’s best friend, Cassidy, is murdered in the crossfire, Eve seeks revenge―starting all the way at the top.
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- The Cartel 6
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Read by Cary Hite
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Release Date: 7/19/16
Formats: Digital Audy
The Cartel series is back … and deadlier than ever.
Las Vegas: a city built on obscene wealth and corrupt deals, cunning entrepreneurs, and the ruthless mob. The Cartel’s plan to open a casino will rake in cash, but it comes with great sacrifice. The stakes have never been this high, and the rules of the game have never been this hard to manipulate. And when one dead girl, one scorned wife, and one hole in the desert launch a chain of catastrophic events, the Cartel is sent on a downward spiral as they battle the Arabian mob and fight traitors within their circle.
Will the Cartel prevail … or fall victim to the city’s black cloud? If there’s one rule in the town of Vegas, it’s that when the dust settles, there can only be one winner.
- The Cartel 6
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Read by Cary Hite
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Release Date: 7/19/16
Formats: Digital Audy
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Hood rat: a woman of questionable repute, one who has been known to “get around” in the ‘hood
Yoshi is young, fine, and larcenous. She lives her life playing on men’s hearts as well as their pockets. But she learns the hard way that all that glitters isn’t gold.
Billy, a former high school basketball star, is at the end of her rope with the opposite sex. To her, all men are dogs, so she secretly seeks comfort in the arms of women—until she meets a man who makes her reevaluate her feelings.
Reese is an around-the-way chick trying to keep up with the Joneses. There’s a revolving door on her bedroom as she searches for the love she always felt was missing. When her promiscuity leaves her pregnant after a one-night stand, Reese is faced with the task of breaking an age-old cycle, passed down from mother to daughter in her family, and standing on her own.
Rhonda is twentysomething with three kids from three different men, and she’s riding the system all the way to the bank. To her, work is a dirty word; between the multiple checks she gets from the government and the games she plays with men, she’s living the life of a ghetto superstar. But the game soon turns ugly when one of her “sponsors” decides to get some payback.
Harlem has never seen four friends as scandalous as these. The neighborhood will never be the same again.
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- Street Dreams
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By K’wan
Read by Cary Hite
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Release Date: 12/01/15
Formats: Digital Audy
Love, betrayal, and loyalty on the streets of Harlem
Darius, a.k.a. Rio, the only child of a singer turned alcoholic, feels he has nothing to hold on to except the idea of escaping the ghetto. Years ago he took a gun charge for a friend and did some prison time. Unable to find a job when he gets out, Rio turns to hustling and finds escape in the arms of his soul mate, Trinity.
When Trinity’s mother dies, her abusive father looks to her to play the role of housewife and bedmate. Trinity finds strength to endure in Rio’s arms, and together they vow to do whatever it takes to make it out of the ghetto. But soon they find their backs against the wall when the streets come to claim their due.
- Street Dreams
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By K’wan
Read by Cary Hite
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Release Date: 12/01/15
Formats: Digital Audy
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Dixyn Greene has it all. She is a hustler's wife, the mother of a beautiful girl, and owns a town house and a nice car—she's living the life. But when the feds arrest her man, Dixyn's whole world begins to crumble. Things quickly go from bad to worse, and as the bills begin to mount, her ability to maintain her lavish lifestyle is put to the test. She becomes strapped for cash, and her good intentions lead to bad decisions.
Enter Brian Winters, B-Dub, her one saving grace—or so she initially believes. In Dixyn's time of need, B-Dub turns out to be no more than an opportunist with his own agenda. Dixyn becomes indebted to him and is forced to do his bidding in order to survive. With B-Dub on her back, she submerges herself in the murky waters of street life and becomes entangled in a web of lust, betrayal, blackmail, and deceit, ultimately discovering that there are no rules in the game, loyalty is limited, trust will get you hurt, and love will get you killed.
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The explosive sequel to Gangsta has finally arrived!
Blood answers for blood on the streets of Harlem. It's been months since Lou-loc was brutally murdered on his way to freedom and the pain is still fresh. Gutter, Lou-loc's best friend, finds himself on a path to self-destruction, vowing to eradicate the entire Blood faction in New York City in the name of his fallen comrade. Sharell urges him to abandon the suicide mission, but his oath won't allow it. Not even for the child they are expecting. But as Gutter slips further into madness, a shocking revelation brings Satin out. In the middle of all this is a man named Major Blood. He has been flown in from Cali with two very simple instructions. Shut down Harlem Crip, and execute El Diablo's murderer. Walk back into the mouth of madness in this not-to-be-missed sequel to Gangsta.
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- Moving Weight
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Read by Cary Hite
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Release Date: 6/01/15
Formats: Digital Audy
Moving Weight introduces listeners to Dysha and lets them ride shotgun for twenty-four hours in the fast life.
Thrown into a web of lies, drugs, and deceit, Dysha has had money put on her head by the most powerful man in the city. Now, with the entire city gunning for her, she can only trust one man. Ashley and JaQuavis weave a sexy, suspenseful tale with an unpredictable ending that will have you in awe.
- Moving Weight
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Read by Cary Hite
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Release Date: 6/01/15
Formats: Digital Audy
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- Carter Diamond, Part Two
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Read by Cary Hite
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Release Date: 5/15/15
Formats: Digital Audy
Welcome to Carter Diamond, part two.
New York Times bestselling authors Ashley and JaQuavis follow up their smash hit Carter Diamond with part two in the prequel series to The Cartel. Picking up right where the last installment ended, this action-packed street tale tells the story of the man who started it all. Before the Cartel—he stood alone.
- Carter Diamond, Part Two
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Read by Cary Hite
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Release Date: 5/15/15
Formats: Digital Audy
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- Still Hood
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By K’wan
Read by Cary Hite
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Release Date: 5/05/15
Formats: Digital Audy
Only the strong survive on the streets of Brooklyn.
While Dena Jones definitely has what it takes to succeed, she wants out. She’s determined to make it out of “Crooklyn” by any means necessary and doesn’t have a problem manipulating men to get what she wants.
True has finally made it. His debut album has the streets going crazy and is threatening to spill over into the mainstream. After the murder of his group, his jump-off, and almost his dreams, True’s life is finally starting to look up—until karma catches up with him. Somebody wants him dead, and he doesn’t know why. Or does he?
Jah and Yoshi were supposed to have a romance straight out of a story, but there are no such things as fairy tales in the ghetto. Her position as a stylist keeps her in the mix and in the company of some industry heavyweights. Jah tries to be understanding, but he can’t help but wonder just how much he can trust his girlfriend. He had promised to love her regardless of her past. But in addition to wondering whether his girlfriend is creeping with her clients, Jah has a bigger problem: someone is trying to kill True, and it’s his job to make sure that doesn’t happen.
- Still Hood
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By K’wan
Read by Cary Hite
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Release Date: 5/05/15
Formats: Digital Audy
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- The Half That’s Never Been Told
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By Doctor Dread
Introduction by Bunny Wailer
Read by Cary Hite
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Release Date: 5/05/15
Formats: Digital Audy
A passionate memoir and fearless behind-the-scenes look at the personal lives of the biggest reggae stars in the world
Doctor Dread has committed his life to producing reggae music and releasing it on his label, RAS Records. He has become one of the world’s foremost reggae producers and has worked with almost all the genre’s icons: Bunny Wailer, Black Uhuru, Ziggy and Damian Marley, Gregory Isaacs, and others. This book, full of behind-the-scenes stories, has shocking chapters that reveal aspects of reggae never before explored.
- The Half That’s Never Been Told
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By Doctor Dread
Introduction by Bunny Wailer
Read by Cary Hite
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Release Date: 5/05/15
Formats: Digital Audy
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- Carter Diamond
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Read by Cary Hite
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Release Date: 5/01/15
Formats: Digital Audy
A prequel to Ashley and JaQuavis’ New York Times bestselling Cartel series, this story follows the rise of notorious gangster Carter Diamond, taking listeners through his days on the mean streets of Michigan to him becoming the biggest drug lord Miami has ever seen. Before the cartel was ever created, he stood alone.
- Carter Diamond
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Read by Cary Hite
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Release Date: 5/01/15
Formats: Digital Audy
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Lamont "Hood" Mason is a fearless nineteen-year-old gangsta who was born and raised in the projects of Brooklyn, New York. He was an abandoned child who roamed the city streets and fought hard for survival. The only thing constant in his young life was the safety of a Brownsville barbershop owned by a father figure called Fat Daddy. The barbershop is where Hood comes of age, but cutting hair isn't the only thing Fat Daddy has going on. His daughter, Egypt, is the love of Hood's young life and the one person whose dreams of a stable future can lead him off the grimy urban corners and out of the hustling life.
But when Fat Daddy crosses paths with Xanbar, a notoriously brutal drug kingpin, his vices threaten to bring death down on the family Hood loves. In an effort to protect his own, Hood and his best friend and hustling partner, Dreko, take to the streets on a bloody mission that doesn't go exactly as planned. Hood returns to find his world turned upside down by a wave of sex, violence, and betrayal. No longer the starving kid on the street, now he's a man seeking vengeance and retribution, and he might be forced to choose between bending and breaking as he picks up the shattered pieces of his life, one by one.
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- Ghetto Bastard
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By K’wan
Read by Cary Hite
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Release Date: 2/10/15
Formats: Digital Audy
What happens to the children that the world throws away? They become animals.
Tayshawn Torres is a child born in the slums and cursed by the sins of his parents. His mother is a notorious drug addict and whore who’s more concerned with getting her next high than she is with Tayshawn’s well-being. His stepfather hates him so much that he literally treats him like an animal, forcing him to sleep in a cage and scavenge for scraps of food wherever he can find them. Because of his squalid appearance, he is also an object of ridicule by all of the neighborhood kids, who have given him a nickname—Animal. The only person to ever show him even the slightest bit of kindness is his older brother Justice. And when Justice is taken from his life, Tayshawn finds himself alone in the streets. His guardian angel gone, he is now at the mercy of the world his brother tried to protect him from. Tayshawn quickly learns that if he is to survive the jungle, he will have to adapt. Love and companionship constantly elude Tayshawn, but death and heartache cling to him like a second skin. Gradually, the layers of the frightened child he had once been are stripped away until there is nothing left—nothing but Animal.
- Ghetto Bastard
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By K’wan
Read by Cary Hite
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Release Date: 2/10/15
Formats: Digital Audy
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After making a promise to leave the street life behind, a shocking revelation forces Animal back into the game to face his greatest opponent yet.
When Animal's former lover, Red Sonja, shows up on his doorstep with a little girl, claiming Animal is the father, he and Gucci immediately fear it's a ploy for money. But Red Sonja has come to collect a debt of a different kind, one that can only be paid in blood. A powerful man is hunting Red Sonja and her daughter, and she calls on Animal to stop him—permanently.
Animal is forced to break the promise he made to his wife upon his release from prison and once again picks up his guns. To keep his daughter and her mother safe, Animal sets out on a mission of murder, but this isn't just any man Red Sonja has sent him after; it's one of the most powerful drug dealers in the country: her father.
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- Long White Con
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By Iceberg Slim
Read by Cary Hite
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Release Date: 10/01/14
Formats: Digital Audy
Iceberg Slim, bestselling author of Pimp and Trick Baby, brings us yet another riveting classic. Continuing the saga begun in Trick Baby, Long White Con tells the story of the most incredible con man ever to have risen.
Picking up where Trick Baby left off, we dive into the world of Johnny O'Brien, better known as White Folks. After learning to use his fair skin to his advantage to rise to the top of the Chicago con game, Folks is back for the big money and the big stakes of the long con.
Following the death of his partner and mentor, Blue, Folks takes off for Canada. Having honed his skills and polished his acting, Johnny is done cheating marks out of small money. With a gang of grifters working with him—High Pockets Kate, High Ass Marvel, and the Vicksburg Kid among them—Folks is after the biggest score of his life.
- Long White Con
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By Iceberg Slim
Read by Cary Hite
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Release Date: 10/01/14
Formats: Digital Audy
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- The Day the Streets Stood Still
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Read by Cary Hite
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Release Date: 9/30/14
Formats: Digital Audy
New York Times bestseller JaQuavis Coleman's The Day the Streets Stood Still is an intricate, fast-paced street thriller that tells a bold story of true love, addiction, and murder.
Sean was raised by a hustling, well-connected mother who taught him early about street survival. When she is brutally murdered, Sean is thrust into a cold world all alone, until an old friend of his mother takes Sean under his wing and introduces him to a life of drug dealing at its highest level. Sean becomes King Sean, making a solid name for himself and rising quickly up the drug game's totem pole.
Sean's only weakness is a beauty named Sunny, who is a friend from childhood—and the love of his life. Sunny has a problem with drugs, and as she travels down her own path of addiction, Sean falls victim to the vice as well—and his downward spiral from street fame will be filled with murder, lies, backstabbing, and a struggle to survive.
Walk along the journey with Sunny and Sean as they hit rock bottom, stealing and lying to support their addiction. Someone will die, but not until the end will the truth be revealed.
JaQuavis Coleman delivers another instant street classic with The Day the Streets Stood Still.
- The Day the Streets Stood Still
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Read by Cary Hite
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Release Date: 9/30/14
Formats: Digital Audy
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- Death Wish
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By Iceberg Slim
Read by Cary Hite
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Release Date: 9/01/14
Formats: Digital Audy
This is the story of Chicago's ruthless and tireless Mafia. The intensely real characters—the brutal overlords, their faithful lackeys, and their vengeful enemies—all collide in acts of loyalty, lust, greed, and death.
Power hungry Don Jimmy Collucci is out to become the kingpin of Chicago's "Honored Society." His rise to the top can only be thwarted by one man—a man fueled by revenge who is hell-bent on bringing Collucci's infamous organization down: the "Black Warrior," Jessie Taylor. When ambitions collide, guns are drawn and blood is spilled. This gritty crime fiction tale is the original Mafia story.
- Death Wish
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By Iceberg Slim
Read by Cary Hite
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Release Date: 9/01/14
Formats: Digital Audy
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- Airtight Willie & Me
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By Iceberg Slim
Read by Cary Hite
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Release Date: 9/01/14
Formats: Digital Audy
This collection of six gritty tales from the underground is a tribute to the streets and those forced to try to survive them.
With tales of slick con men, revenge, a heist gone awry, and more, Robert Beck, the man many know as Iceberg Slim, brings us on a ride through the terrifying urban streets. With the same unforgettable and distinctive prose on display in his other books, Airtight Willie & Me is further evidence that Iceberg Slim was an expert at capturing the language of the streets. Always compelling, sometimes funny, and often bleak, Slim gives us six slices of city life that will leave you thirsting for more.
- Airtight Willie & Me
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By Iceberg Slim
Read by Cary Hite
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Release Date: 9/01/14
Formats: Digital Audy
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- Trick Baby
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By Iceberg Slim
Read by Cary Hite
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Release Date: 8/01/14
Formats: Digital Audy
This is the gritty truth, the life of a hustler in South Side Chicago, where the only characters are those who con and those who get conned.
Trick Baby tells the story of White Folks, a blue-eyed, light-haired con artist whose pale skin allows him to pass in the streets as a white man. Folks is tormented early in life, rejected by other children and branded a "trick baby," a child conceived between a hooker and her trick. Refusing to abandon his life in the ghetto and a chance at revenge, Folks is taken under the wing of an older mentor, Blue. What happens next is unbelievable.
Only Slim could bring us the story of a hustler forced to learn the game and rise to the top. It's Slim's story, and he tells it the only way he knows how: in the language of the streets.
- Trick Baby
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By Iceberg Slim
Read by Cary Hite
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Release Date: 8/01/14
Formats: Digital Audy
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- Formula 50
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By 50 Cent, with Jeff Ou2019Connell
Read by Cary Hite
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Release Date: 12/27/12
Formats: cpid_11
Includes Bonus Material with recipes, photos, and instructions!
Get fit like 50 Cent! The phenomenally fit superstar rapper reveals his strategic six-week workout plan for achieving a ripped body—and developing the mental toughness to stay in shape for a lifetime.
Survival is a recurring theme of 50 Cent’s lyrics and his life. That’s why, with obesity rates soaring and fitness levels declining, he wants to give everyone an all-access pass to his premium plan for lifelong fitness. In Formula 50, the megasuccessful entertainer and entrepreneur unleashes the power of metabolic resistance training (MRT), the key ingredient that has helped him achieve the famously buff physique that makes his music videos sizzle.
Through MRT, 50 Cent’s fitness plan breaks down the barriers between traditional weight training and cardio workouts, accelerating fat loss while building muscle and improving overall fitness. Designed for a six-week rollout for total mind-body transformation, the Formula 50 regimen builds both willpower and physical power. In addition to motivation, nutrition is another key element; listeners will discover the unique dietary combinations that fuel 50 Cent’s workouts.
Coauthored with Jeff O’Connell, health journalist and editor-in-chief at Bodybuilding.com (the world’s largest fitness website), the book delivers a payoff that goes beyond six-pack abs and flab-free pecs—this is a fitness plan that boosts energy, endurance, flexibility, and mobility. The result is a body you’ve always dreamed of—and the mind-set to attain the rest of your dreams.
- Formula 50
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By 50 Cent, with Jeff Ou2019Connell
Read by Cary Hite
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Release Date: 12/27/12
Formats: cpid_11
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- Pimp
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By Iceberg Slim
Read by Cary Hite
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Release Date: 5/10/11
Formats: cpid_11
A blueprint. A bible. What Sun Tzu’s Art of War was to ancient China, Pimp is to the streets. As real as you can get without jumping in, this is the story of Iceberg Slim’s life as he saw, felt, tasted, and smelled it. It is a trip through hell by the one man who lived to tell the tale—the dangers of jail, addiction, and death that are still all too familiar for today’s black community. By telling the story of one man’s struggles and triumphs in an underground world, Pimp shows us the game doesn’t change; it just has a different swagger.
Only Slim could tell this story and make the reader feel it. If you thought Hustle & Flow was the true pimp story, this book is where it all began. This is the heyday of the pimp, the hard-won pride and glory, small though it may be; the beginnings of pimp before it was dragged in front of the camera, before pimp juice and pimp style. Though it is a tale of his times, it will remain current and true for as long as there is a race bias, as long as there is a street life, as long as there is exploitation.
- Pimp
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By Iceberg Slim
Read by Cary Hite
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Release Date: 5/10/11
Formats: cpid_11