Welcome back! I hope you all are enjoying this series so far.
February is Black history month, so here are six books written by Black authors that are centered around characters of colour. Black History month is a time to honour the struggles that Black individuals have faced over the years. The fiction books in this list offer new perspectives and plenty of representation while the nonfiction books are informative and powerful. Let’s get started.
Elementary - Fiction
Sulwe by Lupita Nyong'o, Vashti Harrison (Illustrator)
Here is a short blurb about this book from Goodreads…
“Sulwe has skin the colour of midnight. She is darker than everyone in her family. She is darker than anyone in her school. Sulwe just wants to be beautiful and bright, like her mother and sister. Then a magical journey in the night sky opens her eyes and changes everything.
In this stunning debut picture book, actress Lupita Nyong’o creates a whimsical and heartwarming story to inspire children to see their own unique beauty.”
This book is about a young girl learning to find beauty in her own colour. Sulwe has always wanted to have the skin colour of those around her: light. She believes that that is what true beauty looks like. But when she goes on her own special journey, she learns how beautiful her skin is as well. I think this book is important for young children wanting to learn to embrace their natural beauty. This can also be a fun book for parents or guardians to read with their children as it’s a very sweet story full of feel-good moments.
Elementary - Nonfiction
Ron's Big Mission by Rose Blue and Corinne J. Naden
Here is a short blurb about this book from Goodreads…
“Nine-year-old Ron loves going to the Lake City Public Library to look through all the books on aeroplanes and flight. Today, Ron is ready to take out books by "himself." But in the segregated world of South Carolina in the 1950s, Ron's obtaining his own library card is not just a small rite of passage - it is a young man's first courageous mission. Here is an inspiring story, based on Ron McNair's life, of how a little boy, future scientist, and Challenger astronaut desegregated his library through peaceful resistance.”
This is an important book to show young children the power of fighting for what you believe in. This book also shows how important equal rights are and the power that the younger generation has. Young readers will enjoy the journey of Ron as he embarks on his first of many missions…to get his own library card. I think this book will help children realise the importance of books and how empowering they can be. This is a good book for parents and guardians to read and discuss with their children, while teaching them about a true story.
Middle School - Fiction
Dough Boys by Paula Chase
Here is a short blurb about this book from Goodreads…
“Deontae “Simp” Wright has big plans for his future. Plans that involve basketball, his best friend, Rollie, and making enough money to get his mom and four younger brothers out of the Cove, their low-income housing project.
Long term, this means the NBA. Short term, it means being a dough boy—getting paid to play lookout and eventually moving up the rungs of the neighbourhood drug operation with Rollie as his partner.
Roland ``Rollie” Matthews used to love playing basketball. He loved the rhythm of the game, how he came up with his best drumbeats after running up and down the court. But playing with the elite team comes with extra, illegal responsibilities, and Rollie isn't sure he's down for that life. The new talented-and-gifted program, where Rollie has a chance to audition for a real-life go-go band, seems like the perfect excuse to stop being a dough boy. But how can he abandon his best friend?”
This book offers an authentic insight into the minds of middle-schoolers, especially those going through some of the same struggles as our main characters. Rollie and Simp are best friends who must figure out what to do when their interests clash. We see their friendship go through ups and downs as they try and figure out who they are and where their loyalties lie. Readers will enjoy this novel for the way it zooms into the lives of each of our main characters, really allowing us to see their way of life. We are open to see their emotions and thoughts and this book is all the better for it. Dough Boys is a realistic and powerful novel about two boys and their navigation through their lives and dreams.
Middle School - Nonfiction
Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
Here is a short blurb about this book from Goodreads…
“Jacqueline Woodson, one of today's finest writers, tells the moving story of her childhood in mesmerizing verse.
Raised in South Carolina and New York, Woodson always felt halfway home in each place. In vivid poems, she shares what it was like to grow up as an African American in the 1960s and 1970s, living with the remnants of Jim Crow and her growing awareness of the Civil Rights movement. Touching and powerful, each poem is both accessible and emotionally charged, each line a glimpse into a child’s soul as she searches for her place in the world. Woodson’s eloquent poetry also reflects the joy of finding her voice through writing stories, despite the fact that she struggled with reading as a child. Her love of stories inspired her and stayed with her, creating the first sparks of the gifted writer she was to become.”
This is an autobiographical book of poetry, with Jacqueline Woodson sharing her childhood through heartfelt verses. In this collection of poetry, we get a special insight into all of Woodson’s life, including the racism she faced, her religious beliefs, the deaths of her relatives, and the violence she has witnessed. This book offers a new perspective on the Civil Rights movement, that of a child. Readers will enjoy the positive role model they gain in Woodson and the positive messages evident in these poems as she overcomes her struggles and perseveres through the darkness. Readers will also relate to Woodson’s love of stories as a child and the happiness she found in creating her own. I think that Brown Girl Dreaming is an excellent read for anyone looking for an insightful view on childhood during the 1960s and 1970s, all while enjoying expressively beautiful poetry.
Secondary School - Fiction
The Stars and the Blackness Between Them by Junauda Petrus
Here is a short blurb about this book from Goodreads…
“Trinidad. Sixteen-year-old Audre is despondent, having just found out she’s going to be sent to live in America with her father because her strictly religious mother caught her with her secret girlfriend, the pastor’s daughter. Audre’s grandmother Queenie (a former dancer who drives a white convertible Cadillac and who has a few secrets of her own) tries to reassure her granddaughter that she won’t lose her roots, not even in some place called Minneapolis. “America have dey spirits too, believe me,” she tells Audre.
Minneapolis. Sixteen-year-old Mabel is lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling and trying to figure out why she feels the way she feels–about her ex Terrell, about her girl Jada and that moment they had in the woods, and about the vague feeling of illness that’s plagued her all summer. Mabel’s reverie is cut short when her father announces that his best friend and his just-arrived-from-Trinidad daughter are coming for dinner.
Mabel quickly falls hard for Audre and is determined to take care of her as she tries to navigate an American high school. But their romance takes a turn when test results reveal exactly why Mabel has been feeling low-key sick all summer and suddenly it’s Audre who is caring for Mabel as she faces a deeply uncertain future.”
The Stars and the Blackness Between Them is a powerful and uplifting book about love, friendship, and finding strength even in challenging times. Audre and Mabel have grown up in two very different circumstances, and find themselves falling in love and caring for one another. They find the strength to support each other even while they deal with their own problems. This novel is a representation of all different kinds of love, from friendship to romance to family. Petrus also writes this book to be rich with Trinadadian culture and spiritualism. This book has tons of queer and Black representation and readers will be able to find pieces of themselves within its pages.
Secondary School - Nonfiction
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Here is a short blurb about this book from Goodreads…
“In a profound work that pivots from the biggest questions about American history and ideals to the most intimate concerns of a father for his son, Ta-Nehisi Coates offers a powerful new framework for understanding our nation’s history and current crisis. Americans have built an empire on the idea of “race,” a falsehood that damages us all but falls most heavily on the bodies of black women and men—bodies exploited through slavery and segregation, and, today, threatened, locked up, and murdered out of all proportion. What is it like to inhabit a black body and find a way to live within it? And how can we all honestly reckon with this fraught history and free ourselves from its burden?
Between the World and Me is Ta-Nehisi Coates’s attempt to answer these questions in a letter to his adolescent son. Coates shares with his son—and readers—the story of his awakening to the truth about his place in the world through a series of revelatory experiences, from Howard University to Civil War battlefields, from the South Side of Chicago to Paris, from his childhood home to the living rooms of mothers whose children’s lives were taken as American plunder. Beautifully woven from personal narrative, reimagined history, and fresh, emotionally charged reportage, Between the World and Me clearly illuminates the past, bracingly confronts our present, and offers a transcendent vision for a way forward.”
Between the World and Me is a powerful narration of the experiences faced by African Americans. Coates shares the truths of his life in an unfiltered and realistic manner, so that the readers can truly understand his experiences. The racism that African Americans experience in America is evident through this book. Through writing to his “son”, the readers get premium access to Croates thoughts and emotions. Readers will enjoy this book for the raw truths it provides on America’s history with racism and how both the country and its people have overcome these challenges.
Written by: Nevadha M
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