African-American Fiction: Urban Stories

Paper Chasers by Mark Anthony: Set in the summer of 1991, at a time when the crack epidemic was wreaking havoc in just about every major city in America, the novel follows the lives of The Fourth Crew, a close-knit gang from Queens, NY.
Concrete Candy: Stories by Apollo: Six powerful, haunting tales of young boys who are cast dangerously adrift in a violent urban neighborhood includes such titles as "Bad Boyz," "Trash Walks," "Blackbirder," "Jungle Game," "Four Wolves and a Panther," and "Concrete Candy."
Sheisty by T.N. Baker: Friends since they were girls growing up in Southside Jamaica Queens, Epiphany Wright, Keisha Moore, and Shana Scott struggle to keep their clique together against envy, hidden betrayal, and animosity over the men in their lives.
Black: A Street Tale by Tracy Brown: Kaia didn't choose the streets. The streets chose her. Tossed from a broken home, Kaia is forced to learn the hard way just how grimy street life can be.
The Farm by Clarence L. Cooper, Jr.: A Dante-esque tour of the levels of hell to be found in a federal drug rehabilitation center and a powerful story of love growing in the most unnatural conditions.
The Scene by Clarence L. Cooper, Jr.: First published in 1960, this explosive book depicts the hellish realism of the urban underground world of drug pushers, users and narcotics detectives.
MOB by Roy Glenn: When three friends find themselves laid off from their comfortable jobs, they decide to live by their own set of rules, beginning with "money-over-babes," but when the lovely Me'shelle Lawrence appears, the trio's code may be broken.
Yesterday Will Make You Cry by Chester B. Himes: A restored edition of the author's 1937 autobiographical novel of Jimmy Monroe portrays an African-American prisoner who must endure racism, homosexuality, and prison corruption, all of which test the limits of his sanity, his capacity for suffering, and his definition of love.
Bad Girlz by Shannon Holmes: Taken under the wing of Kat, a veteran stripper, Tender and Goldie must turn to the streets and strip clubs as a way to survive difficult times.
Street Life by Jihad: A former inmate, who is now an assistant stock broker and a part-time gang counselor, details his life on the inner city streets of Atlanta as a notorious drug dealer, vividly recreating his struggle to break the cycle and walk the straight and narrow.
Pipe Dream by Solomon Jones: The murder of a career politician with a reputation for exposing and punishing corruption could lead to the biggest scandal in Philadelphia history when it is discovered that the man had been the victim of blackmail and that the police commanders responsible for finding his killer could be the prime suspects in the crime.
Ride or Die by Solomon Jones: The love affair between seventeen-year-old Keisha, the daughter of a pastor and social activist determined to drive drugs from the neighborhood, and Jamal, a savvy crack dealer and son of a North Philly drug kingpin, is threatened by the animosity between their fathers and the murder of a high-ranking police official, a crime in which Jamal becomes the prime suspect.
Homo Thug by Asante Kahari: Follow the life of Michael Fraser, a first-time felon turned hardened criminal and his life behind bars.
Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned by Walter Mosley: After serving twenty-seven years in an Indiana prison for killing two people in a drunken rage, tough, brooding ex-convict Socrates Fortlow lives in a tiny apartment in an abandoned building in Watts, struggling to make sense of the anarchic violence in the world -- and in himself.
Walkin' the Dog by Walter Mosley: Nine years after being released from prison, ex-convict Socrates Forlow is struggling to rebuild his life -- with a girlfriend, a steady job, and a pet -- but his efforts to maintain his principles and do the right thing is complicated when the police make him their prime suspect for every neighborhood crime.
Six out Seven by Jess Mowry: Fleeing from Mississippi to California following the arrest of his father, Met, a young black boy, is plunged into a nightmare world of drugs, violence, and poverty.
Way Past Cool by Jess Mowry: Living by a strict code of honor, two rival gangs of boys on Oakland's tough streets -- the Friends and the Crew -- find a common enemy in Deek, the sixteen-year-old drug dealer who cruises their neighborhood, controlling by intimidation.
The Coldest Winter Ever by Sister Souljah: Winter Santiaga, the daughter of one of Brooklyn's most powerful drug czars, uses her own weapons -- including sex and an aggressive attitude -- to stay on top, after her father's empire is threatened by a drug war.
Let That Be the Reason by Vickie M. Stringer: This fact-based novel introduces you to Carmen, a female hustler who gets caught up in the street game.
A Hustler's Wife by Nikki Turner: Coming from a well-to-do family, Yarni knows life with her new love -- Richmond, Virginia's notorious drug kingpin Des -- will be quite a change, but the innocent girl can't imagine what is in store for her when Des is sentenced to life in prison.
A Project Chick by Nikki Turner: When Tressa finally has enough of Lucky, her wealthy, possessive, and deranged baby's daddy, she finds herself relying on her street smarts to cope with her new life as a poor single mother.
Philadelphia Fire by John Edgar Wideman: At once personal and political, this novel about being Black and male in white America depicts an unyielding core of individual resistance and demonstrates with tragic immediacy how America's mixed signals foster false hopes.
Dutch by Teri Woods: Feared by all, and completely fearless, ‘Dutch' and his dangerous clique take over the lucrative heroin trade on the streets of Newark from the clutches of Nigerian drug lord Ojiugo Kazami. With both the respect and and protection of the Italian Mafia, Dutch becomes the most terrifying force on the streets.
True to the Game by Teri Woods: When Gena, a young girl from the projects, finds her true love Quadir, a Harlem millionaire associated with the cartel, she finds herself caught up in the vicious, high stakes world of drugs and money.