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During the 1970s Donald Goines and Iceberg Slim delivered ‘Urban Fiction’ to readers. Sister Souljah’s Coldest Winter Ever in 1999 and Teri Woods True to the Game strengthened the genre and attracted female readers and writers to what had been a male dominated field. Souljah is unapologetic in tone and honestly depicts the realities of her protagonist. Wood is a star at writing fast-paced stories and has many worthy contemporaries including Vicki Stringer, founder of Triple Crown Publications.

Triple Crown is arguably the most prolific publisher of Urban Fiction, representing writers like Nikki Turner, Keisha Ervin and Tracy Brown, however, the genre keeps growing and here are a few titles hitting MPL’s shelves this summer that you won’t want to miss:

Payback with Ya Life by Wahida Clark
Pregnant by the married Forever, Shan is desperate to start a new life for herself and her baby. She leaves Memphis for Detroit, but the street drama follows her as the now-incarcerated Forever is transferred to a facility in Motor City, and her brother, Peanut, is set on revenge against the thugs who did him wrong. Wires and women are crossed in a storm of action wherein many pay the game back with their lives. Check catalog for availability.

Twisted by Tracy Brown
In a desperate effort to escape her drama-filled life (recounted in Dime Piece), Celeste burns down her Brooklyn, NY, salon and moves to Atlanta. However, tranquility doesn’t last long because Celeste’s lover—a very married drug kingpin named Rah-lo—tracks her down. On his heels is Asia, his scorned, estranged wife. As old characters enter Celeste’s new life, things get really twisted. Check catalog for availability.

Street Vengeance by Evie Rhodes
Eighteen-year-old Brandi Hutchinson is a nice girl with a bright academic future, but her family can’t afford to send her to college. This disappointment—along with the trauma of witnessing her best friend's being beaten into paralysis by police following a rap concert—ignites Brandi’s vengeful side as she heads her own street posse, which gains a reputation for highly organized ruthlessness. But a rival girl gang lead by "Left Eye" challenges Brandi’s status in the hood. At the same time, Ajani enters Brandi’s life, except he’s not the love she thinks he is. At the height of a gang war between the two factions, the murder of a loved one leads Brandi to a change of heart and down a new path. Check catalog for availability.

Fiction has its advantages over reality, especially for people who don’t get to take the 9 to 5 route. In his famous essay, “The Soul of Black Folk”, WEB Dubois spoke of a “veil” which separates the African American community from the outside world. People of color who live in the megalopolis often have lives replete with danger, and their journeys involve a subtext:

Drama is danger mixed with opportunity.

By extension, many faithful readers might be unaware of experience grounded in inner-city life. Urban fiction is the most-requested and much-loved literary genre at King Library, creating a significant new audience for books. It has registered impressive national sales ($$$$ millions), catching the attention of the publishing industry. Previously sold as typewritten photocopies on street corners, these stories now appear in slick paperback. The tone is usually dark, focusing on urban variations of an underside, with occasional explicit sex and violence. The chatter may include George Carlin’s seven dirty words, and the plots are in your face—nothing gets watered down. Check out one of these page turnas:

Sister Souljah The Coldest Winter Ever
The mother of street lit, Sister Souljah (aka Lisa Williamson) sold this novel out of the trunk of her car. After the novel found a major publisher as a result of the buzz it created, it was praised by the The New Yorker. Vibe Magazine recently reported that Jada Pinkett Smith is executive-producer of a film-in-development based on this book. Check catalog for availability.

Vickie Stringer Dirty Red
Having tricked her boyfriend into believing she is pregnant, eighteen-year-old Red enjoys his lavish attentions until she becomes pregnant for real by an ex-boyfriend who is in jail, a situation that leads her into home ownership and a successful new career. By the author of Imagine This and founder of Triple Crown Publications. Check catalog for availability.

Street Love: A Triple Crown Anthology
A sampler pack of urban fiction by African American authors featuring themes like sacrifice, race, survival, and the importance of family. The fifth story, “Allure of the Game", is so beautifully executed it feels like a play-by-play done in real time. Check catalog for availability.

Submitted by Jane @ Martin Luther King Library

Shameless Hoodwives by Meesha Mink and De'nesha Diamond is the second installment in the "Hoodwives" series (after Desperate Hoodwives.) Miz Cleo and Osceola return to bequeath more wisdom on the young women of the Bentley Manor housing project. Check the catalog for availability.

Who’s Loving You by Mary B. Morrison is the follow-up to Sweeter Than Honey and tells the story of one woman’s journey to reclaim her lost lover and her lost self-love. Zane readers won’t be disappointed; the steamy, erotic scenes may not be for those with more conservative tastes. Check the catalog for availability.

Never Enough by Miasha is effectively a sequel to the best-selling Secret Society and continues transgendered Celess’s tumultuous life story. Check the catalog for availability.

Dirty Money by Ashley JaQuavis
Driven by revenge and a thirst for the finer things in life, Anari and her best friend Tanya quickly rise to the top of New Jersey's dope game, using everyone in their path and stopping at nothing--even murder--to get what they want. Check the catalog for availability.

Gutter by K'wan
In this sequel to Gangsta, after Lou-loc's brutal murder, his best friend, Gutter, vows to seek revenge on the entire Blood faction in New York City. Check the catalog for availability.

Get Money Chicks by Anna J.
When tragedy strikes, Mina, who uses sex to get what she wants, questions her morality and fast money lifestyle, which causes a rift between her and her best friends Shanna and Karen. Check the catalog for availability.

Anne, a single recovering mom, has been free of drugs and alcohol for nearly twenty years. However, she finds out that her sixteen year old son, Isaiah, is starting to experiment with drugs. She doesn’t want to see him fall into the same traps that she did so she contacts his father to take on the challenge of turning him around before it’s too late.

This urban fiction novel is better written than others that I’ve read and the characters really appealed to me too. The mom is so determined, the son starting to spiral down a dangerous slope, the father has learned from his past mistakes…it all adds up to a story of how love, and especially family, can overcome the negative influences so prevalent in street life. Check catalog for availability.

Jacki@Central

This glance at survival in the projects as a family fights with the demons of incarceration, drug addiction and death is one of the most powerful coming-of-age stories I’ve read.

Abraham is born on the bathroom floor of his grandmother’s apartment to a 13 year old girl in the Ever Park project. As he grows older, he dreams of living like the Huxtables, with a father like Bill Cosby. But, his reality is a mother turned crack addict and an uncle sent to prison. His grandmother does everything she can to keep the family together, but when Abraham’s cousin Donnel also goes to prison he’s ready to give up.

His girlfriend, Kaya, is determined to go to college and get out of the projects, but until Abraham is contacted by a recruiter from Brandeis he doesn’t think that possibility is open to him. Hoping for a scholarship, he’s encouraged and stays in school, successfully graduating. Check catalog for availability.

Submitted by Jacki @ MPL Central

Two men plan to rob the stash house of Simon Shuller, one of Philadelphia's most notorious drug lords. But things go awry when one of Shuller's men catches them as they break in. Trouble continues to brew when they try to force Poncho, one of Shuller's workers, to show them where the goods are. But Poncho's partner is on the scene and armed, which leads to trouble. Only one man is left standing and he cleans up shop and makes a getaway, but not without being spotted by neighbors. Will the witnesses give up his identity? He needs a credible alibi because if he doesn't come up with one quick, it could mean life in prison or death on the streets. Check catalog for availability.

Submitted by Jacki @ MPL Central