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Recommended Reads for Black History Month 2022 |
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The beautiful ones
by Prince
In a book started before his tragic and untimely death, the popular and influential musician describes his life as a young boy who absorbed the world around him, crafted a persona, developed an artistic vision and worked tirelessly to become a musical superstar. Illustrations.
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My Monticello : fiction
by Jocelyn Nicole Johnson
A debut novel explores burdened inheritances and extraordinary pursuits of belonging, bearing witness to this country’s legacies as unforgettable characters fight to survive in America. 250,000 first printing.
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What the fireflies knew : a novel
by Kai Harris
Told from the perspective of almost 11-year-old Kenyatta Bernice (KB), this coming-of-age novel follows KB as she is sent to live with her estranged grandfather where she, as everything and everyone changes around her, is forced to carve out a different identity for herself and find her own voice.
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The teller of secrets : a novel
by Bisi Adjapon
A young Nigerian-Ghanaian girl growing up amid the political upheaval of late 1960s postcolonial Ghana, Esi Agyekum, as she navigates her burgeoning womanhood, tries to reconcile her own ideals and dreams with society’s many double standards that limit her and other women. 25,000 first printing.
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How beautiful we were : a novel
by Imbolo Mbue
A young revolutionary risks everything to secure her people’s freedom when her small African village is decimated by an American oil company that reneges on promises of reparation. By the award-winning author of Behold the Dreamers.
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Yonder : a novel
by Jabari Asim
Meeting at Placid Hall, a plantation in an unspecified part of the American South, Cato and Willian, subjected to the whims of their tyrannical and eccentric captor, find their friendship fraying when a visiting pastor fills their heads with ideas about independence and love. 50,000 first printing.
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Carolina Built
by Kianna Alexander
Describes the life of real estate magnate Josephine N. Leary, a freed plantation slave who taught herself how to be a business woman, manage her finances, make smart investments and to ultimately become a successful entrepreneur. 100,000 first printing. Illustrations.
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The great Mrs. Elias : a novel
by Barbara Chase-Riboud
The author of the award-winning Sally Hemings now brings to life Hannah Elias, one of the richest black women in America in the early 1900s, in a novel swirling with atmosphere and steeped in history
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Call us what we carry : poems
by Amanda Gorman
The presidential inaugural poet—and unforgettable new voice in American poetry—presents a collection of poems that includes the stirring poem read at the inauguration of the 46th President of the United States.
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Nobody's magic
by Destiny O. Birdsong
Three Black women with albinism find themselves at a crossroads in their lives, in this novel, told in three parts, that is a searing meditation of grief, female strength and self-discovery set against the backdrop of social and racial histories. 30,000 first printing.
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The final revival of Opal & Nev : a novel
by Dawnie Walton
Accepting a contract from a fledgling record company, a talented music artist in early 1970s New York endures racist responses to her activism, before a reunion interview decades later reveals explosive secrets. 100,000 first printing.
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Harlem shuffle
by Colson Whitehead
A furniture salesman in 1960s Harlem becomes a fence for shady cops, local gangsters and low-life pornographers after his cousin involves him in a failed heist, in the new novel from the two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Underground Railroad.
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