A Way out of No Way
by Stephen Lewis and Kimberly R. Daniel
BookBaby/Independent Publisher's Group
March 15, 2022
9781667824420
Trade Paperback
$24.99 USD, $31.64 CAD
Religion / Christian Living / Social Issues

For people in marginalized communities who work at the intersections of faith and entrepreneurship, innovation often begins with identifying the needs of the least among us. From Atlanta to the Rio Grande, Christian entrepreneurs are disrupting age-old practices of innovation. 

That is the good news at the heart of A Way Out of No Way, by Kimberly R. Daniel and Stephen Lewis, who in 2017,  began hosting small gatherings with entrepreneurs, pastors, and community leaders at the Forum for Theological Exploration (FTE). What they learned from more than 200 innovators around the country, and as co-founders of DO GOOD X, a community for early-stage social entrepreneurs, inspired and excited them to write a book. 

A Way Out of No Way is an approach to Christian innovation grounded in the life and ministry of Jesus, and African diasporic people's ingenious experiences. It offers a six-step approach to innovation, lessons and stories from the trenches, and theological reflections. This timely resource for entrepreneurs, community leaders, and congregations builds on the Christian tradition of making a way out of no way. 

"At once spiritually grounded, insightful and accessible... required reading for anyone interested in learning how to use their faith as the foundation for their entrepreneurial ventures that help heal the wounds caused by systemic inequality."  – Rev. Jennifer Bailey, author of To My Beloveds

"It starts with assumptions that are uniquely and deeply Christian, because it challenges us to ask, from the start, "Who benefits? And it further challenges us to not just be entrepreneurs, but to create entrepreneurial communities. Highly recommended." –Brian D. McLaren, Author of Faith After Doubt 

To request a review copy please email  helenabrantley@redpencilpublicity.com or text/call 510.316.35454. 

Send Her Back and other stories
by Munashe Kaseke
Mukana Press, July 2022
ISBN13: 9780578353128, $17.95,
Multicultural fiction/Short story collection

In Send Her Back and other stories, Munashe Kaseke offers an awfully intimate, fresh telling of the immigrant experience of black women in the United States. Equally awash with the joys of exploring a new world as well as a myriad of challenges, her complicated, and often tangled, female Zimbabwean protagonists navigate issues of identity, microaggressions, and sexism in vibrant, indelible settings. Yet again, these are not only stories of navigating an at times tense US political climate, they are also marked by characters who rise to the top of their professional fields, seize the American dream, and travel the world in glee. Kaseke peels back on the inner wranglings of characters caught between two worlds, be it by stories of dating outside one’s culture and race or failing to assimilate upon returning home after spending time abroad.

Email: partnerships@mukanapess.com to request ARC copies. 100 free copies available.

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Struggling to Learn : An Intimate History of School Desegregation in South Carolina
by June M Thomas
USC Press | January 12, 2022
9781643362595 Hardcover
$29.99 USD
Education / History
History / United States / State & Local / South
Social Science / Discrimination

In 1964 June Manning Thomas became one of the first thirteen Black students to desegregate Orangeburg High School in South Carolina. This extraordinary experience shaped her life and spurred in her a passion to understand racism and its effect on education in the Black community. In Struggling to Learn, Thomas details the personal trauma she and her Black classmates experienced during desegregation, the great difficulties Black communities have faced gaining access to K–12 and higher education, and the social and political tools Black southerners used to combat segregation and claim belonging. Combining meticulous research and poignant personal narrative, this provocative true story reveals the long and painful struggle for equal education in the Jim Crow South. This is a story of constructive resilience—the fighting spirit of an oppressed people to ensure a better life for themselves and their children.

June Manning Thomas is the Mary Frances Berry Distinguished University Professor Emerita of Urban Planning at the University of Michigan.

Digital review copies available on Edelweiss
Contact MacKenzie Collier | COLLIEMF@mailbox.sc.edu

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Tempest: The Veil Chronicles, Book One
CJ Campbell

Releases August 31, 2021
ISBN-13 : 978-1563094460
Retail: $15.99
BISAC category heading (ver 2019):  FIC009100 – FICTION / Fantasy / Action & Adventure
BISAC category heading (ver 2019):  FIC061000 – FICTION / Magical Realism

To unearth the truth, she must embrace the legend within.

For eighteen-year-old Lexi, freedom is a luxury. She’s spent her life evading capture for a genetic gift that feels more like a curse. Her bulletproof immunity and monstrous disfigurement are of great interest to the secret organization, but they aren’t the only ones. Through a chance encounter that sets off a chain reaction, Lexi is thrown into a world of myths and legends, but things are not always as they seem.

Tempest, part of The Veil Chronicles, gives readers a modern twist on ancient Irish mythology. With heightened themes of image, worth, identity, and the age-old struggle of facing the evil and weakness within ourselves, readers will find these deeply layered worlds an enticing place where concepts are challenged, beliefs are questioned, and the impossible becomes possible.

About the Author
CJ Campbell is a successful and highly popular author of award-winning fanfiction surrounding JRR Tolkien's character The Elven King, which has garnered thousands of online fans. Growing up on her grandfather's farm in Ireland, CJ was surrounded by Irish folklore and the mysteries of the Tuatha de danann people, which has inspired this newest fantasy fiction series The Veil Chronicles.

Contact Kim McCulla at kim.mcculla@ironstreammedia.com for author interviews or review copies.

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Open Skies : My Life as Afghanistan's First Female Pilot
by Niloofar Rahmani, Adam Sikes

On Sale Date: July 6, 2021
9781641603348, 1641603348
Hardcover
$28.99 USD, $38.99 CAD

Biography & Autobiography / Aviation & Nautical
Biography & Autobiography / Women
Transportation / Aviation

Niloofar Rahmani was born in 1991 in Kabul, Afghanistan. During the rise of the Taliban, her father took his young family to Pakistan, where they lived for nine years as refugees. Then, after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the international coalition's invasion, the Rahmani family returned to their home in Kabul. In 2010, for the first time since the Soviets, Afghanistan allowed women to join the armed forces, and Niloofar entered Afghanistan's military academy. Niloofar had to break through social barriers to demonstrate confidence, leadership, and decisiveness—essential qualities for a combat pilot.

Niloofar performed the first solo flight of her class—ahead of all her male classmates—and in 2013 became Afghanistan's first female fixed-wing air force pilot. Yet some Afghan soldiers refused to fly with her, while others disparaged and harassed her. In 2014 the Taliban threatened Niloofar, her father lost his job, and extended family members disavowed them. The US State Department honored Niloofar with the International Women of Courage Award and sent her to the United States to meet Michelle Obama and fly with the US Navy's Blue Angels. But when she returned to Kabul, the danger to her and her family had increased significantly, forcing them to move every few months. In 2015 the US military brought Niloofar back to the US to learn to fly C-130s, but before graduation she learned she couldn't go home, and requested political asylum. She was granted US asylum in 2018, and her family is still in hiding. 

Contact marketing@chicagoreviewpress.com to request a copy.

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Graceland, At Last : Notes on Hope and Heartache From the American South by Margaret Renkl

On Sale Date: September 14, 2021
9781571311849
Hardcover $26.00

Literary Collections / Essays
Nature / Essays
Travel / United States / South / East South Central (AL, KY, MS, TN)
Political Science / Civics & Citizenship

From New York Times contributing opinion writer and author of the TODAY Show book club pick Late Migrations Margaret Renkl comes a selection of her beloved weekly essays for the Times, presenting a multifaceted view of the contemporary American South, forthcoming this September.

“People have often asked me how it feels to be the ‘voice of the South,’” writes Renkl in her introduction. “But I’m not the voice of the South, and no one else is, either.” There are many Souths—red and blue, rural and urban, mountain and coast, Black and white and brown—and no one writer could possibly represent all of them. In Graceland, At Last, Renkl writes instead from her own experience about the complexities of her homeland, demonstrating along the way how much more there is to this tangled region than many people understand.

In a patchwork quilt of personal and reported essays, Renkl also highlights people who are fighting for a better future for the region. A group of teenagers who organized a youth march for Black Lives Matter. An urban shepherd whose sheep remove invasive vegetation. Church parishioners sheltering the homeless. Throughout, readers will find the generosity of spirit and deep attention to the world, human and nonhuman, that keep readers returning to her columns each Monday morning. 

To request a galley, email Milkweed’s marketing director Joanna (Yanna) R. Demkiewicz: joanna_demkiewicz@milkweed.org.

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Wildwood Whispers by Willa Reese

ISBN: 9780316591768
Redhook/Hachette Book Group
August 2021
Hardcover, $28.00

Coming this august, fate and folk magic intertwine when a young woman travels to a sleepy town in the Appalachian Mountains to bury her best friend in this heartwarming novel. SIBA members can request a print or digital galley of this magical novel today from Redhook books!

At the age of eleven, Mel Smith’s life found its purpose when she met Sarah Ross. Ten years later, Sarah’s sudden death threatens to break her. To fulfill a final promise to her best friend, Mel travels to an idyllic small town nestled in the shadows of the Appalachian Mountains. Yet Morgan’s Gap is more than a land of morning mists and deep forest shadows.
 
There are secrets that call to Mel, in the gaze of the gnarled and knowing woman everyone calls Granny, in a salvaged remedy book filled with the magic of simple mountain traditions, and in the connection she feels to the Ross homestead and the wilderness around it.

With every taste of sweet honey and tart blackberries, the wildwood twines further into Mel’s broken heart. But a threat lingers in the woods—one that may have something to do with Sarah's untimely death and that has now set its sight on Mel.

The wildwood is whispering. It has secrets to reveal—if you're willing to listen…

Request your galley now and get lost in Wildwood Whispers. 

An inherently fascinating read."
— Midwest Book Review, Small Press Bookwatch

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The Essence of Nathan Biddle by J. William Lewis
Greenleaf Publishing
June 1, 2021
$27.95 Hardcover
ISBN: 9781626348462

A timeless, Southern Gothic-esque, coming-of-age novel that unfolds on the Alabama coast in the 1950s, The Essence of Nathan Biddle follows a young protagonist’s search for meaning, for purpose—and for answers.

“Eloquent, provocative, and beautifully written, The Essence of Nathan Biddle is like discovering The Catcher in the Rye all over again.” 
 –David Armstrong, author of The Rising Place

Kit Biddle, nearing the end of his high school career, finds himself tangled in a web of spiritual quandaries and intellectual absurdities. Kit’s angst is only compounded by the psychological burden of his crazy uncle Nat, who sacrifices Kit’s metaphorical doppelganger, Nathan Biddle, on what the uncle claimed were direct orders from God.  The murder of Nathan leaves Kit adrift, exacerbating his already compulsive struggle with existential questions about the meaning of his life.

But when Kit’s irrational decision to steal a maintenance truck and speed aimlessly down the highway ends in a horrific accident and months of both physical and emotional convalescence, Kit is forced to examine his perceptions of his life and his version of reality.  Calamity focuses Kit’s mind, and forces him to confront the problems plaguing him.  Readers will cheer as Kit’s tide begins to turn and he comes to terms with the necessity of engagement with life’s pain, pleasure … and absurdity.

Beautifully written, profoundly moving, and resplendent with characters destined to remain with readers long after the last page is turned, The Essence of Nathan Biddle is unforgettable

About the author:  Novelist J. William Lewis lives in Shoal Creek, Alabama

For a free review copy, email essenceofnathanbiddle@gmail.com.

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Eat. Sleep. Read. Southern.

The Way Out
by Armond Boudreaux

Publisher:  Uproar Books
Pub date: Sept. 29, 2020
Price: $16.95
Format: Trade Paperback
ISBN: 9781949671087
Available from Ingram

Enjoy sci-fi thrillers with a political edge? Get a free copy of THE WAY OUT by Armond Boudreaux in paperback or ebook today!

Fast-paced and thought-provoking, THE WAY OUT is set in Atlanta, Georgia, and the mountains of North Carolina fifty years in the future.

Called a medical miracle, the artificial womb ensures the perfect health and flawless development of every unborn child. Natural pregnancy is now unnecessary risk—and quickly criminalized as a danger to both mother and fetus.

As a reporter, Jessica Brantley makes new enemies on a daily basis covering both sides of the controversial new law. Her search for the truth behind this world-changing technology leads to an unimaginable discovery—the existence of children with terrifying telepathic powers.

This truth is no secret to former U.S. Marine Valerie Hara. Her illegally born eleven-year-old son can’t help but hear the thoughts of everyone around him. Soon, these two fearless women will be branded as terrorists, hunted by the military, demonized by the media—and drawn into a desperate fight for the freedom of the human race.

Author Armond Boudreaux of Statesboro, Ga., is now scheduling in-person and virtual events at bookstores throughout the Southeastern U.S.—please contact us to be part of his tour!

For a free review copy, email Rick Lewis at rick@uproarbooks.com. Please specify paperback or ebook.

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Eat. Sleep. Read. Southern.

If I Were You
by Lynn Austin

Tyndale Fiction, 9781496437303, 464pp.
Publication Date: June 2, 2020

From bestselling and eight-time Christy Award-winning author Lynn Austin comes a remarkable novel of sisterhood and self-discovery set against the backdrop of WWII.

1950. In the wake of the war, Audrey Clarkson leaves her manor house in England for a fresh start in America with her young son. As a widowed war bride, Audrey needs the support of her American in-laws, whom she has never met. But she arrives to find that her longtime friend Eve Dawson has been impersonating her for the past four years. Unraveling this deception will force Audrey and Eve's secrets--and the complicated history of their friendship--to the surface.

1940. Eve and Audrey have been as different as two friends can be since the day they met at Wellingford Hall, where Eve's mother served as a lady's maid for Audrey's mother. As young women, those differences become a polarizing force . . . until a greater threat--Nazi invasion--reunites them. With London facing relentless bombardment, Audrey and Eve join the fight as ambulance drivers, battling constant danger together. An American stationed in England brings dreams of a brighter future for Audrey, and the collapse of the class system gives Eve hope for a future with Audrey's brother. But in the wake of devastating loss, both women must make life-altering decisions that will set in motion a web of lies and push them both to the breaking point long after the last bomb has fallen.

This sweeping story transports readers to one of the most challenging eras of history to explore the deep, abiding power of faith and friendship to overcome more than we ever thought possible.

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