Shelter in a Hostile World by Mack Little tells the story of Badu, an Igbo man who was enslaved and taken to Barbados from his home in Igboland, which is part of modern-day Nigeria. Set in the 1600s, this book moves between Badu’s young adulthood in the village of Obosi and his life, first as an enslaved man, then as a free man in Barbados.

Dinny and her brother make their escape from slavery on the pirate ship the Hades. It is the last place in the world Dinny imagined she’d meet the love of her life. Lei, a Chinese exile, recognizes Dinny as the woman of his destiny.