Song Yet Sung
James McBride
Penguin, $25.95, 368pp
ISBN-13: 9781594489723

     From the bestselling author of The Color of Water comes a powerful page-turner about a runaway slave and a determined slave catcher. Nowhere has the drama of American slavery played itself out with more tension than in the dripping swamps of Maryland's eastern shore, where abolitionists such as Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman, born less than thirty miles apart, faced off against slave traders in a catch-me-if-you-can game that fueled fear and brought economic hardship to both white and black families. Trapped in the middle were the watermen, a group of America's most original and colorful pioneers, poor oystermen who often found themselves caught between the needs of rich plantation owners and the roaring Chesapeake, which often claimed their lives. 
     Liz Spocott, a young runaway who has odd dreams about the future of the colored race, mistakenly inspires a breakout from the prison attic of a notorious slave thief named Patty Cannon. As Cannon stokes revenge, Liz flees into the nefarious world of the underground railroad with its double meanings and unspoken clues to freedom known to the slaves of Dorchester County as "The Code." Denwood Long, a troubled slave catcher and eastern shore waterman, is coaxed out of retirement to break "The Code" and track down Liz.
     Filled with rich history-much of the story is drawn from historical events, Song Yet Sung brings into full view a world long misunderstood in American fiction: how slavery worked, and the haunting, moral choices that lived beneath the surface, pressing both whites and blacks to search for relief in a world where both seemed to lose their moral compass. This is a story of tragic triumph, violent decisions, and unexpected kindness. 
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     Carl Weber - the New York Times bestselling author of The First Lady and So You Call Yourself a Man - represents with a straight-up novel about friendship and love, sex and betrayal, and how getting some on the side is never as simple as it seems. Meet Tammy, Egypt, Isis, Nikki, Coco, and Tiny-the bodacious women of the Big Girls Book Club. There's only one rule to being a member. You must be at least a size 14.
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     From their front stoops at Bentley Manor, longtime residents Miz Osceola and Miz Cleo have seen just about everything and know all too well that there's no happily-ever-after in the projects. There's only the desperate need to get out by any means possible. Aisha has what every other ghetto girl envies: a loving man who supplies her with all the fashion, money, and accessories that scream "hood success." Now that her husband's in jail, Aisha may have to put something more precious than her designer gear up for sale in order to maintain her image. The cost may be too high even for her expensive tastes. Devani knows she's found her way out of the hood when she sleeps with Tyrik, a star pro athlete. When Tyrik's calls get further and further apart, Devani's mother suggests the perfect scheme: become his baby momma. Will Devani's plans force her man to commit, or backfire with the worst of consequences? Molly is so in love with her husband, Junior, that she doesn't care if she's the only white girl in the hood. Blinded by her love, Molly lets everyone walk all over her. But Junior may cross the line, forcing Molly to give back all the abuse she's taken. Lexi has five children - and four broke baby daddies. Now she is married to Luther, Mr. Right in every way but in the bedroom. Determined to finally provide a good man for her kids, Lexi must struggle to fight her cravings for sex with her ex. Will she stay faithful to her husband or give in to a passion that may very well prove deadly?  
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     Widow Traci Evans happily sits in on meetings with the lovely ladies of the Invincible Sisterhood solely because they reached out to her first.  A loner, Traci feels for the first time she belongs.  All of the official members are sweet older women who have lost the love of their lives, their husbands. Unknown to them, Traci is more angry than she is grief-stricken because her husband died in the midst of cheating on her with another woman. 
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