African Kings by Ricky Strachan

Price: £6.99

ISBN: 978-1-914933-07-3

Mya’s learning about important kings at school and asks, ‘Why don’t any of these kings look like me?’ Dad teaches Mya about five extraordinary kings from Africa, famous for their innovation, wealth, military tactics and education. In African Kings, Ricky Strachan, explores lesser-taught histories to help children discover a more rounded view of history. Uncover a global perspective and challenge your stereotypes as you learn about a diverse caste of kings.

A Virtuous Killer by J H McCullough

Price: £11.98

ISBN: 978-1-914933-44-8

Jamilah remains traumatised by the terrorism and corruption that stole her adolescence and killed her parents. She’s strived to become a senior nurse and relocated to the city, seeking to raise her younger siblings in a secure environment. Her brother Ahmed has started university; sister Aminah is thriving at school and wants to be a doctor. Meanwhile, Boko Haram is expanding into the lawless borderlands around Lake Chad, abducting and enslaving adolescent girls, even using them as suicide bombers. When they take Aminah and her classmates, Jamilah knows she can’t rely on the government or its underfunded security forces to get them back. A South African mercenary agrees to help. Is this her knight in shining armour? Or is his master, the Governor, playing politics with the lives of the lost girls? The only person Jamilah can truly rely on is herself. The law is broken, she won’t let these people break her. Yet what chance does a young woman alone have against a well-protected Governor and an elusive terrorist? And isn’t a nurse supposed to save lives, not end them?

Kafeero by Allen Lule

Price: Paperback £6.99

ISBN: 9781914933165

The real Kafeero was a childhood pet adored by the entire family. It was my father, a real animal lover who introduced the little monkey to our home. There he joined a number of other animals. However, in his efforts to fit in, he indulged in behaviour that was unacceptable to some of the other adults. And one Sunday morning the family awoke to find that he was no more. Kafeero left a void in the hearts of many people, and I wrote this story to keep his memory alive.

I dedicate this book to my family and to all children who have ever lost a pet.

Trials and Tribulations by Patience Moore

Price: Paperback £9.95

ISBN: 978-1-8384686-8-2

Poignant. Powerful. Hopeful.

This is an authentic account of Patience Moore’s journey. From a vibrantly turbulent upbringing in Ghana, to traversing life in England as an African woman – she lays all bare. Vividly fascinating memoirs lead to hard-hitting diary entries that record her battle with both physical and mental illnesses. Her operations, health complications and experiences with depression are presented without holding back. Moving anecdotes, raw emotions and deep thoughts explore how she felt during the toughest years of her life. Alongside her struggles, issues of race, culture, tradition and expectation are cracked wide open in a truly touching and thought-provoking way.

In the face of fear, there is a display of incredible strength. In the pits of sadness and despair, there is a ladder of hope. In times of isolation and loneliness, there is family. Above all, doubt is vanquished by Faith. Trials and Tribulations is a story that shows from darkness breaks an incredible, shining light.

A tear-jerking, heart-rendering, jaw-dropping tale that many will relate to and learn from. This story is simply real and pure from start to end.

Patience Moore will demonstrate how anyone can find purpose, even when all seems lost.

Black History Is All Our History by Sally J Penni MBE

Price: Paperback £8.95

ISBN: 978-1-914933-10-3

Celebrating some of the history we were not taught in schools. From black Tudors to black Romans to black soldiers…Black History is All our History.

Waghiaghaz’Edo by Osazuwa Omede

Non-Fiction

Price: Paperback £8.95

ISBN: 978-1-8380929-8-6

In this age of cultural awareness, it has become imperative to identify oneself with his culture as well as his spoken dialect.

This is necessary especially in a volatile country like Nigeria where the majority ethnic groups are preponderant over their minority counterparts and in so doing, reducing these groups to mere irrelevance. The persuasive inference one can draw from this, therefore, is that if these ethnic languages are left unused or sparsely used, they will fizzle out in the near future – and we will be worse for it.

Waghiaghaz’Edo in this respect, is a useful guide to learning the Edo, one of the minority tribal languages in Nigeria. It introduces readers to its alphabets, consonants as well as its pronunciation. In fact, call it a succinct appraisal of the cultural as well as ancestral heritage of the Edo people and you are not far from it. This book is a captivating work for his ethnic Edo tribe so much so that when you flip its first pages, you are spellbound to read it through to the end.

Author Osazuwa Ọmede, a reserved and knowledgeable gentleman, is an historian, writer, photography enthusiast and a film producer based in the United Kingdom. He has deep interest in the preservation of the rich cultural heritage of his ancestral Ẹdo tribe and her people.

He holds a B.Sc. (Hons) in Oil and Gas Management from Plymouth University.

Some of his creations include: Wrong Desire (a movie), Odumamwẹn (a movie) as well as a Book entitled ‘Business and Privileges in Nigeria.’ Mr Ọmede is the Founder/President of Osazuwa Ọmede Multimedia based in the United Kingdom.

He is also a co-creator of Africa Couples Connect and the Osazuwa Ọmede Smile Project (an NGO). He is a reserved gentleman of ample knowledge.

Killing them Softly by Martins Agbonlahor

Non-Fiction

Price: Paperback £8.95, Kindle £4.95

ISBN: 978-1-9162285-8-0

In an age when the rights of women are under constant and close scrutiny in the Western world, it is timely to remind ourselves of the appalling conditions in which women still spend their lives in many parts of the African continent.

Killing them Softly is the story of Martha Clifford, who in her infancy witnessed the trauma of female genital mutilation, attempted rape as well as the brazen discrimination and shoddy treatment of feminine issues in her patriarchal native land of Nigeria. This is made worse by the huge prejudice against women, the marginalization and sexism: women side-lined as the ‘weaker sex’ and conditioned to be perpetually subservient to their male counterparts in the chauvinistic society.

Believing that men are their oppressors and women should fight their own battles, young Martha teams up with like-minded feminists and with their pressure group: Woe-man Incorporated, they challenge their country’s discriminatory laws, statutes as well as the dicta of culture, religion, tradition and customs all of which debase womanhood. Bruised, battered and imprisoned, these courageous women strive on until they are set free by the intervention of human rights groups abroad, a respite which only made them more resolute in their struggle for gender justice and egalitarianism.

Author Martins Agbonlahor is a journalist whose feature articles have appeared in the Insider Weekly (Nigeria), Tell Magazine (Nigeria), Foroyaa Magazine (The Gambia), Fate Magazine (USA) amongst others. He was the Editor-in-Chief of Clarion, a human-interest journal based in Turin.

Martins Agbonlahor is also a motivational speaker who holds a Law degree from the University of Huddersfield and an Msc. in Criminology and Criminal Justice from the University of Portsmouth. He resides in Greater Manchester, North-West of England.

Bisi by Jonathan Odukoya

Fiction

Price: Paperback £7.99, Kindle £2.99

ISBN: 978-1-9163097-9-1

Bisi is a novel that succinctly highlights the lifestyle and experience of African people but with special focus on a unique African girl who is able to override the common challenges often experienced by girls in this setting.

The book traces the life experience one such African girl, named Bisi, from birth until she is joyfully married.

Right from childhood, Bisi battles with the challenges of tradition that forbids girls from schooling, the challenge of poverty, the challenge of sexual harassment, the challenge of death, the challenge of HIV/AIDS and the challenge of girls succeeding in science and engineering courses.

Miraculously, Bisi surmounts them all and achieves great success.  Yes, Bisi is truly a unique African girl.  There are lots you will learn from her experience.  Read on.