The Secret Lives of Church LadiesThe Secret Lives of Church Ladies explores the raw and tender places where Black women and girls dare to follow their desires and pursue a momentary reprieve from being good. The nine stories in this collection feature four generations of characters grappling with who they want to be in the world, caught as they are between the church's double standards and their own needs and passions. There is fourteen year old Jael, who has a crush on the

but its power can be a force for good

descendants of the fifteen million Native people who once inhabited this land

gender and the definitions of community and family are at the center of this inventive and urgent fable of survival

to be vulnerable when you are only respected for strength

Vivid illustrations from celebrated artist Kadir Nelson evoke toddlerhood from sandbox to high chair to crib

In other words

amidst his teacher's lectures on the historical benefits of slavery and the modern-day prison system

Her suicidal mother is living in her bed

It's not easy to take those first steps into a place where nobody really knows you yet

how well I've done at measuring up to the values I myself have set

From the best man's toast to the bouquet toss

Years later