Waiting On...A SONG BELOW WATER, YOU SHOULD SEE ME IN A CROWN, and A SONG OF WRAITHS AND RUIN -- Please Purchase From Black-Owned Bookstores!

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings to spotlight and discuss the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they're books that have yet to be released. It's based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine.

Hi Bookworms!

I know I haven't posted for the last couple of weeks with the new releases. I just didn't have the energy, and thought I'd roll them together into one post. Or at least post a stack on Instagram. And I didn't. And then I still didn't.

And today, even though there were SO MANY new books that came out yesterday -- books I am crazy excited about and have been hyped for all year -- today, I don't want to talk about anything except the three titles that released yesterday from Black Authors. I want you to join me in supporting these books, these authors, and help them hit the New York Times Best Sellers List.

If you are able to, please pre-order a copy from a Black-Owned Bookstore,

such as my semi-local store Uncle Bobbie's in Philadelphia!

(And snag I WANNA BE WHERE YOU ARE if you don't already own a copy!)

Philly is closed due to COVID19 -- the store may reopen in June once restrictions are lifted.

BUT if you order from sites such as Bookshop and Libro.fm, the store will receive a portion of the proceeds and it will help so much!

You can also donate to their GoFundMe to help keep the store in business!

Here are a few other Black-Owned Bookstores you can support:

If you can't afford to purchase any of the books at the moment, please support them by borrowing them from your local library or requesting that the library orders them!

Today, I am re-posting the content of yesterday's Happy Book Day post as my Can't Wait Wednesday. A few of you may have seen it if you subscribe, but I didn't post the link anywhere online, not wanting to promote myself by even asking people to come here to see what books I was discussing when I could share other voices and post pictures straight to social media.

Please help me support these new releases. I am about to begin reading YOU SHOULD SEE ME IN A CROWN by Leah Johnson, which I just checked out from my library, and I've been excited to read A SONG BELOW WATER by Bethany  C. Morrow and A SONG OF WRAITHS AND RUIN by Roseanne A. Brown for months, and am so excited that they are now out for me to enjoy soon!

From my upcoming Instagram post later this week. 

There is something for everyone here. YOU SHOULD SEE ME IN A CROWN is a perfect way to start off Pride Month, taking place at high school and revolving around important teen moments such as prom and applying for college scholarships. A SONG BELOW WATER features mermaids, is full of magic realism, and also brimming with social justice. A SONG OF WRAITHS AND RUIN will take you away from our reality and into a brand-new realm inspired by West African Folklore!

Check out the full summaries below and help promote these new releases. 
Black Lives Matter, Black Authors Matter. 
Not just today, but yesterday and all of our tomorrows. Let's help boost their voices and consume their stories, not just our own.

Support Black Authors and raise up their voices, especially this week.

Even better, purchase the books (and any others you might want) from Black-Owned bookstores such as my local Philadelphia stores Uncle Bobbie's Coffee and Books or Harriett's Bookshop, or one of these 124 Black-Owned bookstores! If an indie bookstore you wish to support is closed (As both the Philly stores are; we're still on lockdown during the pandemic), using Bookshop.org will give the stores a portion of the proceeds and help fund them while they can't operate normally!

 ~*~

O F F I C I A L   I N F O:

Title: A SONG BELOW WATER
Author: Bethany C. Morrow

Release Date: June 2, 2020

Publisher: Tor Teen

SUMMARY:

Tavia is already at odds with the world, forced to keep her siren identity under wraps in a society that wants to keep her kind under lock and key. Never mind she's also stuck in Portland, Oregon, a city with only a handful of black folk and even fewer of those with magical powers. At least she has her bestie Effie by her side as they tackle high school drama, family secrets, and unrequited crushes.

But everything changes in the aftermath of a siren murder trial that rocks the nation; the girls’ favorite Internet fashion icon reveals she's also a siren, and the news rips through their community. Tensions escalate when Effie starts being haunted by demons from her past, and Tavia accidentally lets out her magical voice during a police stop. No secret seems safe anymore—soon Portland won’t be either.

 ~*~

O F F I C I A L   I N F O:

Title: YOU SHOULD SEE ME IN A CROWN
Author: Leah Johnson

Release Date: June 2, 2020

Publisher: Scholastic Press

SUMMARY:

Liz Lighty has always believed she's too black, too poor, too awkward to shine in her small, rich, prom-obsessed midwestern town. But it's okay -- Liz has a plan that will get her out of Campbell, Indiana, forever: attend the uber-elite Pennington College, play in their world-famous orchestra, and become a doctor.

But when the financial aid she was counting on unexpectedly falls through, Liz's plans come crashing down . . . until she's reminded of her school's scholarship for prom king and queen. There's nothing Liz wants to do less than endure a gauntlet of social media trolls, catty competitors, and humiliating public events, but despite her devastating fear of the spotlight she's willing to do whatever it takes to get to Pennington.

The only thing that makes it halfway bearable is the new girl in school, Mack. She's smart, funny, and just as much of an outsider as Liz. But Mack is also in the running for queen. Will falling for the competition keep Liz from her dreams . . . or make them come true?

 ~*~

O F F I C I A L   I N F O:

Title: A SONG OF WRAITHS AND RUIN
Author: Roseanne A. Brown

Release Date: June 2, 2020

Publisher: Balzer + Bray // HarperCollins

SUMMARY:

The first in an fantasy duology inspired by West African folklore in which a grieving crown princess and a desperate refugee find themselves on a collision course to murder each other despite their growing attraction.

For Malik, the Solstasia festival is a chance to escape his war-stricken home and start a new life with his sisters in the prosperous desert city of Ziran. But when a vengeful spirit abducts Malik’s younger sister, Nadia, as payment into the city, Malik strikes a fatal deal—kill Karina, Crown Princess of Ziran, for Nadia’s freedom.

But Karina has deadly aspirations of her own. Her mother, the Sultana, has been assassinated; her court threatens mutiny; and Solstasia looms like a knife over her neck. Grief-stricken, Karina decides to resurrect her mother through ancient magic . . . requiring the beating heart of a king. And she knows just how to obtain one: by offering her hand in marriage to the victor of the Solstasia competition.

When Malik rigs his way into the contest, they are set on a course to destroy each other. But as attraction flares between them and ancient evils stir, will they be able to see their tasks to the death?