Children (and adults!) who love books deserve access to a rich variety of stories and characters, from a range of brilliant literary voices. However, in schools and in mainstream media, the voices of Black storytellers are often sidelined, which impoverishes all students’ literary experience. According to Lee & Low Books, only 5% of authors in the publishing world identify as Black in an industry where 76% of publishing staff and literary agents are white. Because we believe that a more diverse reading list creates a more enriching literary education, we’re sharing our team’s favorite works by Black authors, from classics to contemporary lit.
FOR ADULTS (and precocious teens!)
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
This book follows inseparable twin sisters who, as they grow older, choose very different paths in life, one Black and one white. The Vanishing Half paints a stark picture of how “equal opportunity” can sometimes be no more than myth and how the past can shape the present.
An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
Set in Atlanta, Georgia, this engaging story of a young, successful married couple is a character study that forces readers to recognize the reverberating impact of our criminal justice system on the families that it touches. It encourages readers to reflect on the challenges of marriage as well as the privilege their community may experience because of the inherent trust that community enjoys.
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
Homegoing is a powerful novel that follows the descendants of two half sisters from Ghana. The book gives the reader a historical fiction perspective on the history of enslavement and paints a portrait of the events and plights that shape families and communities.
Creatures of Passage by Morowa Yejidé
Set in a fictionalized, magical version of Anacostia in Washington, D.C., Creatures of Passage brings a sense of place that feels as real as walking across the Anacostia River to anyone who has spent time there. The story is captivating, and the characters are fascinating.
For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood… and the Rest of Y’all Too by Dr. Christopher Emdin
This book by Dr. Christopher Emdin presents an incredibly rich and detailed set of ideas and steps on how to revolutionize the classroom to make teaching actually work for the students it is meant to serve. Even for those who aren’t teachers, it’s an enlightening and moving book!
Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America by Ijeoma Oluo
To understand where we are today, we have to understand the role each of us plays in holding up white supremacy. Author of the #1 New York Times Bestseller, So You Want to Talk About Race, brings us a provocative and important book on identity and a new vision for American greatness.
So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
Ijeoma Oluo takes us through the history of our institutions and how they were created both to oppress women, especially women of color, and to uphold white male supremacy.
Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women that a Movement Forgot by Mikki Kendall
Mikki Kendall points out the painful truth of the feminist movement — it has a huge blindsopt. The women’s movement was started by mostly middle class and wealthy white women and has gone on to serve largely that same demographic. Kendall helps white women readers understand their privilege and shows how much feminists have missed by centering certain bodies to the detriment of those most adversely affected by the patriarchy.
Medical Apartheid by Harriet A. Washington
This book details the history of medical experiments conducted on Black Americans. Harriet Washington is also a great speaker, and her speeches concerning medical apartheid are rooted in facts and data. An eye opening, disturbing, and truthful read.
Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
Written in taut poetic language, Sing Unburied Sing is full of political nuances and tackles themes of poverty, drug addition, child abuse, incarceration, terminal illness, and racism. Jojo is 13. His mother is black; his father is white. He and his sister are raised by their maternal grandparents, while his dad’s parents refuse to acknowledge them. When his mother, who suffers from drug addiction, decides to take her kids on a road trip to get their father, who has been released from Parchman Prison, everything unravels, comes undone, comes to a head. Ghosts enter; past secrets are revealed.
Stay With Me by Ayòbámi Adébáyò
This debut novel from a Nigerian author describes a couple and their struggle with infertility. They live in Lagos and have been married for four years, and yet … no babies. Of course, their bossy interfering family members blame the woman and decide that a second wife is in order! It’s funny, it’s sad, and it makes for great storytelling.
The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin
This first novel in the Broken Earth trilogy was awarded the Hugo (the top prize in sci-fiction and fantasy) in 2015, making Jemisin the first Black author to win that prize. And then she won it in 2016 for the second book in the series… and then again in 2017 for the third, making her the first ever author to win three consecutive Hugos and to win for all three books in a trilogy. The series follows a woman’s odyssey to recover her daughter in a world where both the planet and the people who walk its surface are equal parts fascinating, terrifying, powerful, and dangerous.
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
Published in 1952 and winner of the National Book Award for fiction, Invisible Man explores race and humanity in America in a way that remains pertinent today. The novel follows a nameless narrator from his graduation from a small-town high school in the American South to an all-Black college and eventually Harlem in New York City. Ellison’s masterpiece is filled with symbolism and allegory.
FOR TEENS
Monster by Walter Dean Myers
This book follows a teenage boy’s trial for murder and helps students begin to question criminality. Who defines it? What punishments are appropriate? It’s also written as a mix of screenplay and diary, thereby introducing students to both alternative ways of presenting a narrative and the concept of the unreliable narrator.
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
In this YA fantasy novel, Nigerian-American author Tomi Adeyemi draws upon Yoruba culture in her amazing world building. Complex characters reckon with coming-of-age and their relationships to each other against a backdrop of anti-magic conflict. The best part? It’s the first book in a trilogy, and the sequel, Children of Virtue and Vengeance, is already out.
We Ride Upon Sticks by Quan Barry
Quan Barry’s charming novel is about a women’s high school field hockey team with a hint of witchcraft. We Ride Upon Sticks is a magical story of female empowerment, friendship, and finding oneself.
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Between the World and Me is a powerful work of nonfiction. The book is written as a letter from the author to his teenage son about the realities, plights, and feelings of being Black in the United States. We love this book for its love, symbolism and truths.
Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
Brown Girl Dreaming is a book told in verses. The story follows the author’s childhood growing up in the 60s as an African American in the South and in New York City. Each poem will touch the reader as it gives a glimpse into a child’s soul as she searches for her place in the world.
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
This book by Angie Thomas follows its 16 year old heroine, Starr, as she flips between the worlds of the underprivileged neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The Hate U Give paints a picture of cultural appropriation and covert and internalized racism as Starr witnesses a fatal shooting of her childhood best friend. This is a gripping story of a girl’s struggle for justice.
FOR KIDS
The Watsons Go to Birmingham–1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis
This historical fiction novel, written for middle grade readers (ages 8-12), features the tight-knit Watson family as they go on a family road trip from Michigan to Alabama. Alternatingly laugh-out-loud funny and moving, Curtis’ book explores one of the darkest moments in America’s past, the Birmingham bombings, through a nuanced and multidimensional lens.
Skin Again by Bell Hooks, illustrated by Chris Rashka
This picture book for young readers features a bell hooks poem, a joyful celebration of identity, accompanied by Chris Rashka’s beautiful paintings. hooks’ words carry a message all children should hear.
The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson
This book is widely beloved by both kids and adults. The illustrations are lovely and the text activates empathy by reminding kids that everyone feels different sometimes. Children who read this are encouraged both to be brave when they feel out of place and be kind to others who might feel that way.
Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race (illustrated version for young readers) by Margot Lee Shetterly, illustrated by Laura Freeman
Based on the New York Times bestselling book and the Academy Award–nominated movie, author Margot Lee Shetterly and Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Award winner Laura Freeman bring the incredibly inspiring true story of four black women who helped NASA launch men into space to picture book readers!
BLACK OWNED BOOKSTORES WE RECOMMEND
This list is just a smattering of the many Black authors who have expanded the scope of American literature. Whether you’re picking up a book for academics or enjoyment, Black History Month is the perfect time to reflect on how Black writers have shaped scholarly and artistic literature to become ever more magical.
