Entertainment & Performing Arts

ImageNameSummaryPriceBuy
Bing, Bop, Bam: Time to Jam! by Valerie Bolling (hardcover)
Bing, Bop, Bam: Time to Jam! by Valerie Bolling (hardcover)

A joyful, rhyming celebration of music and community, Bing, Bop, Bam: Time to Jam! is an upbeat picture book from the creators of Ride, Roll, Run: Time for Fun! that follows nine children as they help plan a big musical block party.

Sounds soar!
Tunes galore.
Music trance . . .
Gotta dance!

Author and educator Valerie Bolling’s rhyming text makes for a rollicking read aloud and features instruments from all around the world, including agogô, banjo, daegeum, djembe drums, double bass, erhu, maracas, piano, steel drums, and trumpet. Sabrena Khadija’s stunning, colorful illustrations depict the joy of dancing, playing music, and feasting with neighbors and friends. Readers will clamor to plan jam sessions of their own!

Appropriate for ages 3 to 5.

$18.00
It Was All A Dream: Biggie and the World That Made Him 
by Justin Tinsley (hardcover)
It Was All A Dream: Biggie and the World That Made Him by Justin Tinsley (hardcover)

From a talented young journalist on the rise, a deeply reported, timely new biography of the Notorious B.I.G., publishing for what would have been his 50th birthday.

The Notorious B.I.G. was one of the most charismatic and talented artists of the 1990s. Born Christopher Wallace and raised in Clinton Hill/Bed Stuy, Brooklyn, Biggie lived an almost archetypal rap life: young trouble, drug dealing, guns, prison, a giant hit record, the wealth and international superstardom that came with it, then an early violent death. Biggie released his first record, Ready to Die, in 1994, when he was only 22. Less than three years later, he was killed just days before the planned release of his second record Life After Death.


Journalist Justin Tinsley’s
 It Was All a Dream is a fresh, insightful telling of the life beyond the legend. It is based on extensive interviews with those who knew and loved Biggie, including neighbors, friends, DJs, party promoters, and journalists. And it places Biggie’s life in context, both within the history of rap but also the wider cultural and political forces that shaped him, including Caribbean immigration, the Reagan era disinvestment in public education, street life, the war on drugs, mass incarceration, and the booming, creative, and influential 1990s music industry. This is the story of where Biggie came from, the forces that shaped him, and the legacy he has left behind.

Original price was: $28.00.Current price is: $20.00.
Leslie F*cking Jones: A Memoir 
by Leslie Jones (hardcover)
Leslie F*cking Jones: A Memoir by Leslie Jones (hardcover)

Hey you guys, it’s Leslie. I’m excited to share my story with you.


Now, I’m gonna be honest: Some of the details might be vague because a b*tch is fifty-five and she’s smoked a ton of weed. But while bits might be a touch hazy, I can promise you the underlying truth is REAL. Whether I’m talking about my childhood growing up in the South, my early stand-up days driving from gig to gig through the darkest parts of our country and praying I wouldn’t get murdered, what Chris Rock told Lorne Michaels, that time I wanted to shoot Whoopi Goldberg on SNL, and yeah, I’ll tell you all about
 Ghostbusters and the nudes and Supermarket Sweep and The Daily Show . . . I’m sharing it all in these pages. It’s not easy being a woman in comedy, especially when you’re a tall-*ss Black woman with a trumpet voice. I have to fight so that no one takes me for granted, and no one takes advantage. These are the stories that explain why. (Cue the Law & Order theme.)

Original price was: $28.00.Current price is: $14.00.
Scenes From My Life: A Memoir by Michael K. Williams with Jon Sternfield (hardcover)
Scenes From My Life: A Memoir by Michael K. Williams with Jon Sternfield (hardcover)

A “gripping, revelatory” (NPR) memoir of hard-won success, struggles with addiction, and a lifelong mission to give back—from the late iconic actor beloved for his roles in The Wire, Boardwalk Empire, and Lovecraft Country

When Michael K. Williams died on September 6, 2021, he left behind a career as one of the most electrifying actors of his generation. From his star turn as Omar Little in The Wire to Chalky White in Boardwalk Empire to Emmy-nominated roles in HBO’s The Night Of and Lovecraft Country, Williams inhabited a slew of indelible roles that he portrayed with a rawness and vulnerability that leapt off the screen. Beyond the nominations and acclaim, Williams played characters who connected, whose humanity couldn’t be denied, whose stories were too often left out of the main narrative.

At the time of his death, Williams had nearly finished a memoir that tells the story of his past while looking to the future, a book that merges his life and his life’s work. Mike, as his friends knew him, was so much more than an actor. In Scenes from My Life, he traces his life in whole, from his childhood in East Flatbush and his early years as a dancer to his battles with addiction and the bar fight that left his face with his distinguishing scar. He was a committed Brooklyn resident and activist who dedicated his life to working with social justice organizations and his community, especially in helping at-risk youth find their voice and carve out their future. Williams worked to keep the spotlight on those he fought for and with, whom he believed in with his whole heart.

Imbued with poignance and raw honesty, Scenes from My Life is the story of a performer who gave his all to everything he did—in his own voice, in his own words, as only he could.

$28.99