In this breathtaking memoir, acclaimed author Alex Wheatle details how reggae music became his salvation through a childhood marred by abuse, imprisonment, and police brutality. —Selected for the In the Margins Book Awards 2024 Top Ten Title List and 2024 Nonfiction Recommendation List "In this inspiring, often harrowing narrative, the author chronicles how, shortly after he turned 3, he was abandoned by his parents and placed in the care of the government. That led to a childhood of physical and sexual abuse on top of the racism and police brutality he experienced growing up in Brixton, England, in the 1970s and ’80s . . . As dark as his early memories are, Wheatle describes his reggae memories with glimmers of hope and appreciation . . . A striking tribute to reggae’s ability to protect a fragile soul when seemingly everything else had failed him." —Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review Abandoned as a baby to the British foster care system, Alex Wheatle grew up without any knowledge of his Jamaican parentage or family history. Preoccupied with his own roots, Alex grew inexorably drawn to reggae music, which became his primary solace through years of physical and mental abuse in a children’s home. Although riven by loneliness and depression, Alex found joy and empathy among his reggae heroes: Dennis Brown, Bob Marley, Marcia Griffiths, the Mighty Diamonds, Sister Nancy, Gregory Isaacs, Barrington Levy, King Yellowman, and so many others. These were friends and mentors who understood the enormous challenges facing a young Black man, gave purpose to despair, provided a sense of belonging when Alex had no one, and who educated him in ways no school ever could. From the abuse he suffered in foster care, to the challenges he faced on the streets of South London as a young man and his eventual imprisonment for participating in the legendary 1981 Brixton uprising against racial injustice, reggae music always provided a lifeline to Alex. Alex’s life story was portrayed in Oscar Award–winning director Steve McQueen’s 2020 Small Axe. In Sufferah, he vividly tells his own story, putting the reader in his shoes through the many challenges of his younger years, answering the question: how on earth did he make it? By his example we are reminded that words can be our sustenance, and music can be our heartbeat.

In 1668, a young Jamaican girl, Kemosha, secures her freedom from enslavement and finds her true self while sailing to Panama with the legendary Captain Morgan. A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection "Inspired by accounts of women pirates, this fantastical tale represents the era’s cruelty without romanticizing it. Kemosha’s love and persistence combine with forceful action, the terror of harsh racism and passionate, colourful language." —The Toronto Star In 1668, fifteen-year-old Kemosha is sold by a slave owner to a tavern keeper in Port Royal, Jamaica—the “wickedest city on earth.” She soon flees from a brutal assault and finds herself in the company of a mysterious free Black man, Ravenhide, who teaches her the fine art of swordplay, introduces her to her soul mate, Isabella, and helps her win her freedom. Ravenhide is a privateer for the notorious Captain Morgan aboard his infamous ship, the Satisfaction. At Ravenhide’s encouragement, Morgan invites Kemosha to join them on a pillaging voyage to Panama. As her swashbuckling legend grows, she realizes she has the chance to earn enough to buy the freedom of her loved ones—if she can escape with her life . . .

"A rich layering of motive and emotion . . . robust dialogue, streetwise humour and muscular, mischievous vernaculour" Independent Set on the streets of Brixton, south London, BRENTON BROWN is a fatal love story about a man who never got over his first love, a perfect love with his half-sister Juliet that has left him unable to form any real relationships since they both decided it must end. "Wheatle's dialogue sings" Guardian Juliet is consumed by guilt because she knows that her half-brother, Brenton, grew up in children's homes with no family to speak of, while she received all her mother's love. She has a career with good prospects in politics, and has married Clayton, a successful banker, to please her mother. He treats her daughter, Breanna, like his own - but secretly he has always suspected that there has been something going on between Juliet and Brenton. Unable to let go physically or emotionally, Brenton takes the advice of his longstanding friend Floyd, and decides to start a new life in another country. When their good intentions fail, Juliet and Brenton must pay the ultimate price. A story about family ties, forbidden love and life, BRENTON BROWN is shot through with robust humour, unforgettable characters, unerringly pitched dialogue and towering emotion.

Moa, a fourteen-year-old slave, gets caught up in the most significant slave rebellion in Jamaican history, paying homage to freedom fighters all over the world. Winner of a 2021 Young Quills Award for Best Historical Fiction “Wheatle brings the struggle of slavery in the Jamaican sugar cane fields to life . . . A refreshing and heartbreaking story that depicts both a real-life uprising against oppression and the innate desire to be free. Highly recommended.” —School Library Journal, Starred Review NOBODY FREE TILL EVERYBODY FREE. Moa is fourteen. The only life he has ever known is toiling on the Frontier sugarcane plantation for endless hot days, fearing the vicious whips of the overseers. Then one night he learns of an uprising, led by the charismatic Tacky. Moa is to be a cane warrior, and fight for the freedom of all the enslaved people in the nearby plantations. But before they can escape, Moa and his friend Keverton must face their first great task: to kill their overseer, Misser Donaldson. Time is ticking as the day of the uprising approaches . . . Irresistible, gripping, and unforgettable, Cane Warriors follows the true story of Tacky’s War in Jamaica, 1760.

"Pacey; witty; his characters are real and recognisable" LINTON KWESI JOHNSON "Alex Wheatle writes from a place of honesty and passion with the full knowledge and understanding that change can only happen through words and actions" STEVE McQUEEN, director of Small Axe South London in the 1980s. Brenton Brown is a 16-year-old mixed-heritage boy who has lived in a children's home all his life. He has never met his mother and is haunted by her loss. The best thing happens: Brenton is reunited with his mother, Cynthia. And then the worst: he falls in love with his beautiful half-sister, Juliet. At the same time, Brenton meets his nemesis in the shape of Terry Flynn, a killer who scars him for life. Brenton must seek revenge. All this leads to an explosive climax as Brenton struggles to hold on to his sanity. Brixton Rock is the powerfully explosive debut of one of the UK's finest writers, with pitch-perfect descriptions of South London street life.

"Wheatle has delivered a definitive narrative steeped in cultural philosophy and human sensibilities. Despite the foibles of his tragic characters, a redemptive quality is present--persevering--a testament of the human will to survive against all odds...Highly recommended." --Kaieteur News (Guyana) "With a tough exterior and brash attitude, Naomi is an authentic character in an unfortunate yet accurate picture of modern-day foster care in the UK...The ending is neither predictable nor sugarcoated, leaving readers rooting for this determined heroine." --School Library Journal Included in In the Margins's 2020 Recommended Fiction List Included in Publishers Weekly's African-American Interest Young Readers's Titles, 2019–2020 Included in Booklist's Fall 2019 Youth Preview Included in Publishers Weekly's Fall 2019 Children's Sneak Previews "As politicians might only see the population's day-to-day lives in terms of statistics rather than experiences, (knowing how many people work on minimum wage doesn't say anything about what the experience is like), they might benefit from more of an insight. A useful contemporary novel they should pick up is Alex Wheatle's Home Girl, focusing on the experience of a girl in the foster care system who is constantly shifted around and can never find a permanent home. Wheatle's other books might be just as beneficial, as he draws on his own experiences of Brixton and the social system." --The Boar, included in The Politicians' Required Reading List "Wheatle returns to the world of his award-winning Crongton books with what Atom is calling his most powerful and personal novel yet. Naomi Brisset is a teenage girl growing up too fast in the UK care system. Her journey through a series of foster homes exposes the unsettling, often heartwrenching truth of this life. Yet despite the grit, Wheatle's writing is as rich and warm as ever, bringing courage and hope to an unforgettable heroine's story." --Bookseller (UK), Editors' Choice "Teenager Naomi, old before her time and as vulnerable as she is fierce, is growing up in the care system. Foster homes and pupil referral units revealing the unsettling, often bewildering reality of this existence. Wheatle's empathy, authentic characters, and rich dialogue illuminate the dark." --Observer Magazine (UK) "Another powerful and poignant novel deftly created by one of the most prolific master novelists on either side of the pond. Home Girl is a page-turner, with not a dull moment. Loved it from the rooter to the tooter." --Eric Jerome Dickey, New York Times best-selling author of Before We Were Wicked "Alex Wheatle's latest novel offers no unrealistic fairy tale happy ending. But the award-winning writer, who draws on his own experiences of a childhood in care, does offer some hope for Naomi, a sometimes difficult but very likeable heroine." --Irish News, Children's Book of the Week This isn't my home. Haven't had a proper home since...This is just somewhere I'll be resting my bones for a week and maybe a bit. This time next year you'll forget who I am. I haven't got a diddly where I'll be by then. But I'm used to it. New from the best-selling black British author Alex Wheatle, Home Girl is the story of Naomi, a teenage girl growing up fast in the foster care system. It is a wholly modern story which sheds a much-needed light on what can be an unsettling life--and the consequences that follow when children are treated like pawns on a family chessboard. Home Girl is fast-paced and funny, tender, tragic, and full of courage--just like Naomi. It is Alex Wheatle's most moving and personal novel to date.

THE VOICES IN MY HEAD Charles is born into the American Catholic Dream. Father is cruel to be kind ("Charles was good this week. Charles was bad this week."), pitting him against his sister in the battle for affection. Momma, in her native Italian language, calls him piccolo Gesù (Little Jesus). In his personal battle of good versus evil, Charles turns to daydreams. Can he be saved? Seeking redemption requires more than good intentions. It requires luck too, the kind that places the exact right person in the exact right time and place. It requires love that has nothing to do with money and everything to do with finding a soul that has been petrified by lifelong emotional rejection. A woman to the rescue? Or is the voice of a saint that does the trick? Or maybe it's the voice of young political activist, or is it the voice of the Archangel Metatron? Little Jesus tells his tale in the second person voice of "You" ... just one of the many voices in his head.

What's worse than hiding a secret? Liccle Bit's about to find out... Venetia King is the hottest girl at school. Too bad Lemar is the second shortest guy in his year. Everyone calls him Liccle Bit, and his two best friends, McKay and Jonah, never tire of telling him he has no chance with girls. Things aren't much better at home. His mum is permanently hassled, his sister a frustrated single mum and his dad moved out years ago. Liccle Bit wishes he could do something - anything! - to make life better. A new phone would be a start... When Venetia starts paying Liccle Bit attention, he secretly hopes he's on a fast track to a first date. Unfortunately, as a new gang war breaks out, he finds himself on a fast track to something much more sinister. South Crongton's notorious gang leader has taken an interest in Liccle Bit. Before he knows what's happening, he finds himself running errands. But when he hears about a killing on the estate, Liccle Bit is forced to question his choices. How can he possibly put things right?

"Sometimes I feel myself to have been the last colonial." This, in his own words, is the extraordinary story of the life and career of Stuart Hall—how his experiences shaped his intellectual, political, and theoretical work and how he became one of his age's brightest intellectual lights. Growing up in a middle-class family in 1930s Kingston, Jamaica, still then a British colony, the young Stuart Hall found himself uncomfortable in his own home. He lived among Kingston's stiflingly respectable brown middle class, who, in their habits and ambitions, measured themselves against the white elite. As colonial rule was challenged, things began to change in Kingston and across the world. In 1951 a Rhodes scholarship took Hall across the Atlantic to Oxford University, where he met young Jamaicans from all walks of life, as well as writers and thinkers from across the Caribbean, including V. S. Naipaul and George Lamming. While at Oxford he met Raymond Williams, Charles Taylor, and other leading intellectuals, with whom he helped found the intellectual and political movement known as the New Left. With the emotional aftershock of colonialism still pulsing through him, Hall faced a new struggle: that of building a home, a life, and an identity in a postwar England so rife with racism that it could barely recognize his humanity. With great insight, compassion, and wit, Hall tells the story of his early life, taking readers on a journey through the sights, smells, and streets of 1930s Kingston while reflecting on the thorny politics of 1950s and 1960s Britain. Full of passion and wisdom, Familiar Stranger is the intellectual memoir of one of our greatest minds.