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Stacey Abrams is an American lawyer, politician, entrepreneur and author of fiction and non-fiction books.

Born in Madison, Wisconsin, she received her Bachelor of Arts degree in interdisciplinary studies from Spelman College, her Master of Public Affairs degree from University of Texas in Austin, and her Juris Doctor from Yale Law School.

Upon finishing law school, Abrams worked as a tax attorney at a law firm in Atlanta, where she specialized in tax-exempt organizations, health care, and public finance.

Passionate about politics, Abrams served as the Minority Leader of the Georgia House of Representatives between 2011 and 2017. In 2018, she was the Democratic nominee for Governor of Georgia, becoming the first black woman to be nominated for the gubernatorial position by a major party in the US.

A recipient of the John F. Kennedy New Frontier Award, Abrams writes mystery, thriller, children's fiction and non-fiction books under her real name, and romantic fiction under her pseudonym Selena Montgomery.

More about Stacey Abrams

Genres: Children's Book, Mystery, Non-fiction, Thriller

Born: 1973

United States

Pseudonym: Also known as Selena Montgomery.

Avery Keene

  1. While Justice Sleeps (2021)
  2. Rogue Justice (2023)

Non-fiction

  1. Lead from the Outside: How to Build Your Future and Make Real Change (2018)
  2. Our Time Is Now (2020)
  3. Voter Suppression in U.S. Elections (History in the Headlines Book 2) (2020)
  4. Level Up: Rise Above the Hidden Forces Holding Your Business Back (2022)

Picture Books

  • Stacey's Extraordinary Words (2021)
  • Stacey's Remarkable Books (2022)

Detailed book overview

Avery Keene

While Justice Sleeps

Avery Keene, a brilliant young law clerk for the legendary Justice Howard Wynn, is doing her best to hold her life together—excelling in an arduous job with the court while also dealing with a troubled family. When the shocking news breaks that Justice Wynn—the cantankerous swing vote on many current high-profile cases—has slipped into a coma, Avery’s life turns upside down. 

She is immediately notified that Justice Wynn has left instructions for her to serve as his legal guardian and power of attorney. Plunged into an explosive role she never anticipated, Avery finds that Justice Wynn had been secretly researching one of the most controversial cases before the court—a proposed merger between an American biotech company and an Indian genetics firm, which promises to unleash breathtaking results in the medical field. She also discovers that Wynn suspected a dangerously related conspiracy that infiltrates the highest power corridors of Washington.

As political wrangling ensues in Washington to potentially replace the ailing judge whose life and survival Avery controls, she begins to unravel a carefully constructed, chesslike sequence of clues left behind by Wynn. She comes to see that Wynn had a much more personal stake in the controversial case and realizes his complex puzzle will lead her directly into harm’s way in order to find the truth.

Author: Stacey Abrams
First Release: 2021
ISBN: 978-0593469514
Publisher: Anchor
Rogue Justice

Supreme Court clerk Avery Keene is back, trying to get her feet on solid ground after unraveling an international conspiracy in While Justice Sleeps. But as the sparks of Congressional hearings and political skirmishes swirl around her, Avery is approached at a legal conference by Preston Davies, an unassuming young man and fellow law clerk to a federal judge in Idaho. 

Davies believes his boss, Judge Francesca Whitner, was being blackmailed in the days before she died. Desperate to understand what happened, he gives Avery a file, a burner phone, and a fearful warning that there are highly dangerous people involved.

Another shocking murder leads Avery to a list of names – all federal judges – and, alarmingly, all judges on the FISA Court (the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court), also known as America’s "secret court." It is this body which grants permission to the government to wiretap Americans or spy on corporations suspected of terrorism. 

As Avery digs deeper, she begins to see a frightening pattern – and she worries that something far more sinister may be unfolding inside the nation’s third branch of government. With lives at stake, Avery must race the clock and an unexpected enemy to find the answer.

Author: Stacey Abrams
First Release: 2023
ISBN: 978-0593744222
Publisher: Random House Large Print

Non-fiction

Lead from the Outside: How to Build Your Future and Make Real Change

Leadership is hard. Convincing others―and often yourself―that you possess the answers and are capable of world-affecting change requires confidence, insight, and sheer bravado. Lead from the Outside is the handbook for outsiders, written with the awareness of the experiences and challenges that hinder anyone who exists beyond the structure of traditional white male power―women, people of color, members of the LGBTQ community, and millennials ready to make a difference.

In Lead from the Outside, Stacey Abrams argues that knowing your own passion is the key to success, regardless of the scale or target. From launching a company, to starting a day care center for homeless teen moms, to running a successful political campaign, finding what you want to fight for is as critical as knowing how to turn thought into action. Stacey uses her experience and hard-won insights to break down how ambition, fear, money, and failure function in leadership, while offering personal stories that illuminate practical strategies.

Stacey includes exercises to help you hone your skills and realize your aspirations. She discusses candidly what she has learned over the course of her impressive career: that differences in race, gender, and class are surmountable. With direction and dedication, being in the minority actually provides unique and vital strength, which we can employ to rise to the top and make real change.

Author: Stacey Abrams
First Release: 2018
ISBN: 978-1250214805
Publisher: Picador
Our Time Is Now

A recognized expert on fair voting and civic engagement, Abrams chronicles a chilling account of how the right to vote and the principle of democracy have been and continue to be under attack. 

Abrams would have been the first African American woman governor, but experienced these effects firsthand, despite running the most innovative race in modern politics as the Democratic nominee in Georgia. 

Abrams didn’t win, but she has not conceded. The book compellingly argues for the importance of robust voter protections, an elevation of identity politics, engagement in the census, and a return to moral international leadership.

Our Time Is Now draws on extensive research from national organizations and renowned scholars, as well as anecdotes from her life and others’ who have fought throughout our country’s history for the power to be heard. The stakes could not be higher. Here are concrete solutions and inspiration to stand up for who we are―now.

Author: Stacey Abrams
First Release: 2020
ISBN: 978-1250798466
Publisher: Picador
Voter Suppression in U.S. Elections (History in the Headlines Book 2)

Historians have long been engaged in telling the story of the struggle for the vote. In the wake of recent contested elections, the suppression of the vote has returned to the headlines, as awareness of the deep structural barriers to the ballot, particularly for poor, black, and Latino voters, has called attention to the historical roots of issues related to voting access.

Perhaps most notably, former state legislator Stacey Abrams’s campaign for Georgia's gubernatorial race drew national attention after she narrowly lost to then-secretary of state Brian Kemp, who had removed hundreds of thousands of voters from the official rolls. After her loss, Abrams created Fair Fight, a multimillion-dollar initiative to combat voter suppression in twenty states.

At an annual conference of the Organization of American Historians, leading scholars Carol Anderson, Kevin M. Kruse, Heather Cox Richardson, and Heather Anne Thompson had a conversation with Abrams about the long history of voter suppression at the Library Company of Philadelphia. This book is a transcript of that extraordinary conversation, edited by Jim Downs.

NB: This book is also part of the two-book series called History in the Headlines. Here is the complete list of the series:

1. Confederate Statues and Memorialization (2019) by Catherine Clinton, W. Fitzhugh Brundage, Karen L. Cox, Gary W. Gallagher and Nell Irvin Painter.

2. Voter Suppression in U.S. Elections (2020) by Stacey Abrams, Carol Anderson, Kevin M. Kruse, Heather Cox Richardson and Heather Ann Thompson.

Author: Stacey Abrams
First Release: 2020
ISBN: 978-0820357744
Publisher: University of Georgia Press
Level Up: Rise Above the Hidden Forces Holding Your Business Back

Like many business owners, renowned politician and activist Stacey Abrams didn’t start a business because she dreamed of calling herself an entrepreneur. Her part-time post (and its $17,310 annual salary) as a member of the Georgia House of Representatives necessitated striking out on her own as a consultant—her first small business. 

Then, Stacey and her friend Lara Hodgson launched an infrastructure advisory firm—named Insomnia Consulting because they did their best thinking at 3:00 a.m.—and then another business, and then another.

Fifteen years into their entrepreneurial journey together, they have tackled the obstacles that many business owners face: how to grow sustainably, hire thoughtfully, and keep up with the Goliaths in your industry.

Now, for the first time, Stacey and Lara share their inspiring and relatable personal story and lessons learned the hard way to show how every business owner can confront the forces that conspire to keep small businesses small. 

Lauded for her “resilient, visionary leadership” (Barack Obama) and celebrated as a “passionate advocate of democracy” (Madeleine Albright), Stacey now brings her fierce sense of justice to the challenges that America’s business owners face. 

Level Up arms readers with the confidence, know-how, and savvy to overcome the obstacles that hold their businesses back.

Author: Stacey Abrams
First Release: 2022
Ebook: B09CN81FWM
Publisher: Portfolio

Picture Books

Stacey's Extraordinary Words

Stacey is a little girl who loves words more than anything. She loves reading them, sounding them out, and finding comfort in them when things are hard.

But when her teacher chooses her to compete in the local spelling bee, she isn’t as excited as she thought she’d be. What if she messes up? Or worse, if she can’t bring herself to speak up, like sometimes happens when facing bullies at school?

Stacey will learn that win or lose . . . her words are powerful, and sometimes perseverance is the most important word of all.

Author: Stacey Abrams
First Release: 2021
Ebook: B0928Z3NLY
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Stacey's Remarkable Books

Stacey’s favorite day of the week is Thursday, when the whole class goes to the library and she gets to lose herself in her beloved books.

On one of these special days, Stacey discovers that a new student named Julie has trouble reading in English, so they begin sharing books and stories to practice. Soon, more students start to join them.

Books take the group on magical adventures and reveal other worlds and cultures—but best of all, they bring them together as friends.

This is another inspiring tale, based on a true story from Stacey Abrams’s childhood, about the life-changing power of books.

Author: Stacey Abrams
First Release: 2022
Ebook: B09VGXRPGY
Publisher: Balzer + Bray