"This gorgeous debut is a 'debut' in chronology only. . . . Need is everywhere—in the unforgiving images, in lines so delicate they seem to break apart in the hands, and in the reader who will enter these poems and never want to leave."—Adrian Matejka Phillip B. Williams investigates the dangers of desire, balancing narratives of addiction, murders, and hate crimes with passionate, uncompromising depth. Formal poems entrenched in urban landscapes crack open dialogues of racism and homophobia rampant in our culture. Multitudinous voices explore one's ability to harm and be harmed, which uniquely juxtaposes the capacity to revel in both experiences. From "Agenda": I. While two women kissed in their house I watched a jury hide bullets in a Black boy's body, all rigor mortis and bass line. I landed in Chicago, a lead box. The airport showed CNN and a Black mother could not be heard over gate changes, bistro jazz. Subtitles gathered and faded like gossip while I made my mouth vacant in my hometown. I carried a fever of insufferable noise that skin, illuminated by a hoodie, held close, a forced kin. Phillip B. Williams has authored two chapbooks: Bruised Gospels (Arts in Bloom Inc.) and Burn (YesYes Books). A Cave Canem graduate, he received scholarships from Bread Loaf Writers Conference and a Ruth Lilly Fellowship. His work appeared or is forthcoming in Callaloo, Poetry, the Southern Review, West Branch , and others. Phillip received his MFA in Writing as a Chancellor's Graduate Fellow at the Washington University in St. Louis. He is the poetry editor of Vinyl Poetry.

A remarkable, true story about raising an unusually challenging child, in this case one who struggles to reciprocate love. Unfolding over nearly 20 years, the story focuses on the struggles of a Russian orphan, Sonya, mistreated early in life, ultimately diagnosed with Reactive Attachment Disorder, and the family that adopted and tried to raise her. Sonya's story will allow a reader to better understand the immeasurable impact of a caregiver early in a child's life and also grasp why some bounce back from terrible childhood adversity and some don't.

When Eliza Jane Murphy—line leader, captain of the worm rescue team—impulsively pockets a sparkly green stone from her classroom’s “Exploring Green” display table, her heart crumples. My heart stopped singing. My letters went wonky. I was too heavy to swing! I wanted to put it back . . . But what if someone saw? But when she discovers that nearly everyone in her family took something once in their lives—from her baby brother and mom, to her nana with her sausage-stealing dog—Eliza overcomes her shame to make things right. A hilarious and heartfelt story about stealing and finding the courage to do the right thing.

"When a wild boar with a passion for clover discovers a rare patch in the woods, he is determined to patiently stand guard until it blooms-but he is not the only clover enthusiast in the forest, and it takes reading a good book for him to figure out the mystery"--

Connie Grey, the perfect daughter, obedient and devoted to her controlling mother, is a straight-A student and a champion distance runner. She also has a chronic stomach ulcer, a good sense of humor and kleptomania. A summer helping her grandmother move sheds a disturbing light on Connie's life that will leave Connie wondering how well she knows her mother.

Forget what you know about the nature of magic. In a world where an industrial revolution is powered by magic, Tyen, a student of archaeology, unearths a sentient book called Vella. Once a young sorcerer-bookbinder, Vella was transformed into a useful tool by one of the greatest sorcerers of history. Since then she has been collecting information, including a vital clue to the disaster Tyen's world faces. Elsewhere, in an land ruled by the priests, Rielle the dyer's daughter has been taught that to use magic is to steal from the Angels. Yet she knows she has a talent for it, and that there is a corrupter in the city willing to teach her how to use it -- should she dare to risk the Angels' wrath. But not everything is as Tyen and Rielle have been raised to believe. Not the nature of magic, nor the laws of their lands. . . and not even the people they trust. AN EPIC NEW FANTASY ADVENTURE BEGINS.

In an era when ladies were demure and men courtly, one priceless treasure set England ablaze and incited unimaginable scandal and passion—the Hope Diamond. Heir to an impressive title and fortune, Lord William Townshend, Earl of Harclay, is among the most disreputable rakes in England. Desperately bored by dull heiresses and tedious soirees, he seeks new excitement—with a dangerous scheme to steal the world’s most legendary gemstone from its owner, Thomas Hope. To his surprise, however, it’s not the robbery that sets his blood burning but the alluring lady from whom he pilfers the gem. A string of bad luck has left the fate of Lady Violet Rutledge’s estate entirely in Hope’s scheming hands. So when his prized jewel disappears from around her neck, she has no choice but to track down the villain responsible for the theft. Only Harclay has his sights set on taking more from her than the necklace—and she’s tempted to surrender anything he desires… Now, caught in a thrilling game of secrecy and seduction, Violet must find a way to protect her fortune—and her heart—before she loses both forever…