Literary theme analysis, by a book like {foo}
Books about Racism
Absalom, Absalom!
by William Faulkner
A tangled web of family secrets, betrayal, and tragedy in the American South.
Absalom, Absalom! details the rise and fall of Thomas Sutpen , a white man born into poverty in West Virginia who moves to Mississippi with the complementary aims of gaining wealth and becoming a ... (Wikipedia)
March: Book One
by John Lewis
A firsthand account of the civil rights movement in America, and its impact on history.
On March 7, 1965, John Lewis, a young man, stands on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama with fellow civil rights activists during the Selma to Montgomery marches on "Bloody Sunday". They are ... (Wikipedia)
Cry, the Beloved Country
by Alan Paton
A journey of faith in a divided land, seeking justice and reconciliation.
In the remote village of Ndotsheni, in the Natal province of eastern South Africa , the Reverend Stephen Kumalo receives a letter from a fellow minister summoning him to Johannesburg . He is needed ... (Wikipedia)
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West
by Dee Brown
An in-depth account of the displacement of Native American tribes by the US government.
Now a special 30th-anniversary edition in both hardcover and paperback, the classic bestselling history The New York Times called "Original, remarkable, and finally heartbreaking...Impossible to put ... (Goodreads)
Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong
by James W. Loewen
Exposing the inaccuracies in American history textbooks and exploring the forces that shaped them.
“Every teacher, every student of history, every citizen should read this book. It is both a refreshing antidote to what has passed for history in our educational system and a one-volume education in ... (Barnes & Noble)
The Autobiography of Malcolm X
by Malcolm X
A gripping account of one man's transformation from criminal to civil rights leader.
Alternate cover for ISBN 9780345350688 Through a life of passion and struggle, Malcolm X became one of the most influential figures of the 20th Century. In this riveting account, he tells of his ... (Goodreads)
To Kill a Mockingbird
by Harper Lee
A young girl learns about morality, justice, and courage by witnessing the trials of the people of her small town.
The story, told by the six-year-old Jean Louise Finch, takes place during three years (1933–35) of the Great Depression in the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama, the seat of Maycomb County. ... (Wikipedia)
Homegoing
by Yaa Gyasi
Spanning centuries, the intertwining stories of two African sisters, their descendants, and the legacy of slavery.
Effia is raised by her mother, Baaba, who is cruel to her. Nevertheless she works hard to please her mother. Known as a beauty, Effia is intended to be married to the future chief of her village, but ... (Wikipedia)
Disgrace
by J.M. Coetzee
A professor's fall from grace in post-apartheid South Africa, reckoning with the consequences of his actions.
David Lurie is a South African professor of English who loses everything: his reputation, his job, his peace of mind, his dreams of artistic success, and finally even his ability to protect his own ... (Wikipedia)
A People's History of the United States
by Howard Zinn
An examination of American history from a perspective of marginalized people.
In the book, Zinn presented a different side of history from the more traditional "fundamental nationalist glorification of country". Zinn portrays a side of American history that can largely be seen ... (Goodreads)
Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood
by Trevor Noah
Memoir of a young boy’s struggle to survive in a dangerous and divided apartheid South Africa.
The memoir of one man’s coming-of-age, set during the twilight of apartheid and the tumultuous days of freedom that followed. Trevor Noah’s unlikely path from apartheid South Africa to the desk of ... (Goodreads)
The Underground Railroad
by Colson Whitehead
An escaped slave's daring escape to freedom, fighting against the brutality of slavery.
The story is told in the third person, focusing mainly on Cora. Scattered single chapters also focus on Cora's mother Mabel, the slavecatcher Ridgeway, a reluctant slave sympathizer named Ethel, and ... (Wikipedia)
The Invention of Wings
by Sue Monk Kidd
A powerful story about a girl's journey to freedom, despite the limitations of slavery.
Writing at the height of her narrative and imaginative gifts, Sue Monk Kidd presents a masterpiece of hope, daring, the quest for freedom, and the desire to have a voice in the world—and it is now ... (Goodreads)
The Help
by Kathryn Stockett
A group of African-American maids in 1960s Mississippi challenge the racial and social norms of the time.
The Help is set in the early 1960s in Jackson, Mississippi , and told primarily from the first-person perspectives of three women: Aibileen Clark, Minny Jackson, and Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan. ... (Wikipedia)
The Sellout
by Paul Beatty
An outrageous satire of race and civil rights in modern America.
The novel concerns a narrator, referred to by his childhood nickname "Bonbon" or his last name, "Me," who attempts to reintroduce segregation and keep a slave named Hominy in Dickens, his Los Angeles ... (Wikipedia)
Between the World and Me
by Ta-Nehisi Coates
A letter to his son, exploring the realities of racism in America.
“This is your country, this is your world, this is your body, and you must find some way to live within the all of it.” In a profound work that pivots from the biggest questions about American ... (Goodreads)
Sea of Poppies
by Amitav Ghosh
A colorful adventure across the Indian Ocean, bringing together a diverse ensemble of characters.
At the heart of this vibrant saga is a vast ship, the Ibis. Her destiny is a tumultuous voyage across the Indian Ocean shortly before the outbreak of the Opium Wars in China. In a time of colonial ... (Goodreads)
The Round House
by Louise Erdrich
A teenage boy seeks justice for a crime committed against his mother in a Native American community.
The novel opens with Joe Coutts and his father, Judge Bazil Coutts, pulling out saplings from their house's garden and foundation. They realize Joe's mother and Bazil's wife, Geraldine Coutts, has ... (Wikipedia)
The Complete Maus
by Art Spiegelman
A graphic novel depicting a Jewish survivor of the Holocaust and his son's journey to understand the past.
On the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of its first publication, here is the definitive edition of the book acclaimed as “the most affecting and successful narrative ever done about the ... (Goodreads)
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
by Mark Twain
A young boy's journey down the Mississippi River, exploring morality, freedom, and friendship.
The story begins in fictional St. Petersburg, Missouri (based on the actual town of Hannibal, Missouri ), on the shore of the Mississippi River "forty to fifty years ago" (the novel having been ... (Wikipedia)
The Hate U Give
by Angie Thomas
A young girl's struggle to stand up for justice in the face of racial injustice.
Starr Carter is a 16-year-old black girl, who lives in the mostly poor black neighborhood of Garden Heights, but attends an affluent predominantly white private school, Williamson Prep. After a ... (Wikipedia)
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
by Junot Díaz
An exploration of love, identity, and the power of fate in a family's struggles and triumphs.
Oscar de León (nicknamed Oscar Wao, a bastardization of Oscar Wilde ) is an overweight Dominican growing up in Paterson, New Jersey. Oscar desperately wants to be successful with women but, from a ... (Wikipedia)
Beloved
by Toni Morrison
A haunting story of loss and resilience in the aftermath of slavery.
Beloved begins in 1873 in Cincinnati, Ohio , where the protagonist Sethe, a formerly enslaved woman, has been living with her eighteen-year-old daughter Denver at 124 Bluestone Road. The book ... (Wikipedia)
Small Island
by Andrea Levy
A story of post-WWII immigration, exploring themes of identity, belonging, and racism.
Hortense Joseph arrives in London from Jamaica in 1948 with her life in her suitcase, her heart broken, her resolve intact. Her husband, Gilbert Joseph, returns from the war expecting to be received ... (Goodreads)
The Bluest Eye
by Toni Morrison
Coming of age story of a young Black girl dealing with prejudice and racism in 1940s Ohio.
In Lorain, Ohio , nine-year-old Claudia MacTeer and her 10-year-old sister Frieda live with their parents, a tenant named Mr. Henry, and Pecola Breedlove, a temporary foster child whose house was ... (Wikipedia)
Americanah
by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
An exploration of race, identity, and belonging as two Nigerian immigrants experience life in America and beyond.
Ifemelu and Obinze are young and in love when they depart military-ruled Nigeria for the West. Beautiful, self-assured Ifemelu heads for America, where despite her academic success, she is forced to ... (Goodreads)
Gone with the Wind
by Margaret Mitchell
A sweeping portrait of love, loss, and survival in the American Civil War.
Gone with the Wind takes place in the state of Georgia during the American Civil War (1861–1865) and the Reconstruction Era (1865–1877). The novel opens on the eve of a rebellion in which seven ... (Wikipedia)
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
by Harriet Ann Jacobs
A harrowing account of a young woman's experiences as a slave in the American South.
The true story of an individual's struggle for self-identity, self-preservation, and freedom, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl remains among the few extant slave narratives written by a woman. ... (Goodreads)
Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI
by David Grann
Exposé of a series of murders of the Osage Nation in 1920s Oklahoma and the FBI's investigation.
In the 1920s, the richest people per capita in the world were members of the Osage Indian Nation in Oklahoma. After oil was discovered beneath their land, the Osage rode in chauffeured automobiles, ... (Goodreads)
The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America
by Richard Rothstein
Examination of the US government's role in creating and enforcing racial segregation in housing.
In this groundbreaking history of the modern American metropolis, Richard Rothstein, a leading authority on housing policy, explodes the myth that America’s cities came to be racially divided through ... (Goodreads)
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
by Maya Angelou
Autobiographical account of a Black woman's journey to find her identity in a prejudiced society.
Maya Angelou’s debut memoir is a modern American classic beloved worldwide. Her life story is told in the documentary film And Still I Rise, as seen on PBS’s American Masters. Here is a book as ... (Goodreads)
Song of Solomon
by Toni Morrison
A tale of family, heritage, and identity, exploring the power of memory and its impact on the present.
Song of Solomon opens with the death of Robert Smith, an insurance agent and member of The Seven Days, an organization that kills white people in retaliation for the racial killing of black people. ... (Wikipedia)
Go Tell It on the Mountain
by James Baldwin
A young boy's struggle to reconcile his faith and family with his own identity.
“,Mountain,” Baldwin said, “is the book I had to write if I was ever going to write anything else.”, Go Tell It on the Mountain, originally published in 1953, is Baldwin’s first major work, a novel ... (Barnes & Noble)
The Thing Around Your Neck
by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Collection of stories about the struggles and triumphs of Nigerian immigrants in America.
Searing and profound, suffused with beauty, sorrow, and longing, the stories in The Thing Around Your Neck map, with Adichie's signature emotional wisdom, the collision of two cultures and the deeply ... (Goodreads)
Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America
by Ibram X. Kendi
Exploration of the history of racism in America, tracing its origins and its effects on society.
In this deeply researched and fast-moving narrative, Kendi chronicles the entire story of anti–Black racist ideas and their staggering power over the course of American history. Stamped from the ... (Goodreads)
Heart of Darkness
by Joseph Conrad
A journey into the depths of the human psyche, exploring the darkness of colonialism.
Aboard the Nellie , anchored in the River Thames near Gravesend , Charles Marlow tells his fellow sailors how he became captain of a river steamboat for an ivory trading company. As a child, Marlow ... (Wikipedia)
Small Great Things
by Jodi Picoult
A gripping story of racism and justice, exploring the intersections of power and privilege.
#1, NEW YORK TIMES, BESTSELLER • With richly layered characters and a gripping moral dilemma that will lead readers to question everything they know about privilege, power, and race,, Small Great ... (Barnes & Noble)
Salvage the Bones
by Jesmyn Ward
A family struggles to survive in the aftermath of a devastating hurricane.
The novel follows a working-class African-American family living in southern Mississippi in 2005. The family consists of Daddy, his daughter Esch (the narrator), and his sons Randall, Skeetah, and ... (Wikipedia)
The Coldest Winter Ever
by Sister Souljah
Coming of age story of a young girl's survival in a harsh, inner-city environment.
Renowned hip-hop artist, political activist, and bestselling author Sister Souljah brings the streets of New York to life in a powerful and utterly unforgettable first novel. I came busting into the ... (Goodreads)
Assata: An Autobiography
by Assata Shakur
A powerful memoir of her struggles and triumphs in the face of racism and oppression.
On May 2, 1973, Black Panther Assata Shakur (aka JoAnne Chesimard) lay in a hospital, close to death, handcuffed to her bed, while local, state, and federal police attempted to question her about the ... (Goodreads)
Twelve Years a Slave
by Solomon Northup
A man's journey of survival and resilience after being kidnapped and sold into slavery in the antebellum South.
Twelve Years a Slave, sub-title: Narrative of Solomon Northup, citizen of New-York, kidnapped in Washington city in 1841, and rescued in 1853, from a cotton plantation near the Red River in ... (Goodreads)
The Fire Next Time
by James Baldwin
Reflection on the plight of African Americans in a candid and deeply moving essay.
A national bestseller when it first appeared in 1963, The Fire Next Time galvanized the nation and gave passionate voice to the emerging civil rights movement. At once a powerful evocation of James ... (Goodreads)
March: Book Three
by John Lewis
The civil rights movement recounted through the eyes of Congressman Lewis and other activists.
Welcome to the stunning conclusion of the award-winning and best-selling MARCH trilogy. Congressman John Lewis, an American icon and one of the key figures of the civil rights movement, joins ... (Barnes & Noble)
The Secret Life of Bees
by Sue Monk Kidd
A young girl's journey of self-discovery and healing, set against the backdrop of civil rights-era South Carolina.
Set in 1964 in the fictitious town of Sylvan, South Carolina , The Secret Life of Bees tells the story of a 14-year-old white girl, Lily Melissa Owens, whose life has been shaped around the blurred ... (Wikipedia)
A Time to Kill
by John Grisham
A small town lawyer's fight for justice for a black man accused of murder.
In the small town of Clanton, in fictional Ford County, Mississippi , a ten-year-old African-American girl named Tonya Hailey is viciously raped and beaten by two white supremacists , James "Pete" ... (Wikipedia)
The Wretched of the Earth
by Frantz Fanon
A political analysis of colonialism and its effects on the global underclass.
A distinguished psychiatrist from Martinique who took part in the Algerian Nationalist Movement, Frantz Fanon was one of the most important theorists of revolutionary struggle, colonialism, and ... (Goodreads)
King Leopold's Ghost
by Adam Hochschild
A harrowing account of the colonization of the Congo and the exploitation of its people.
In the 1880s, as the European powers were carving up Africa, King Leopold II of Belgium seized for himself the vast and mostly unexplored territory surrounding the Congo River. Carrying out a ... (Goodreads)
Kindred
by Octavia E. Butler
A modern woman is thrown back in time, forced to confront the harsh realities of slavery.
Kindred scholars have noted that the novel's chapter headings suggest something "elemental, apocalyptic, archetypal about the events in the narrative," thus giving the impression that the main ... (Wikipedia)
March: Book Two
by John Lewis
An inspiring narrative of the civil rights movement, highlighting the courage and resilience of its participants.
Congressman John Lewis, an American icon and one of the key figures of the civil rights movement, continues his award-winning graphic novel trilogy with co-writer Andrew Aydin and artist Nate Powell, ... (Barnes & Noble)
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
by Frederick Douglass
Memoir of a former slave's journey to freedom and his struggle for human rights.
Born a slave circa1818 (slaves weren't told when they were born) on a plantation in Maryland, Douglass taught himself to read and write. In 1845, seven years after escaping to the North, he published ... (Goodreads)
Uncle Tom's Cabin
by Harriet Beecher Stowe
An anti-slavery novel exploring themes of morality, faith, and justice.
The book opens with a Kentucky farmer named Arthur Shelby facing the loss of his farm because of debts. Even though he and his wife Emily Shelby believe that they have a benevolent relationship with ... (Wikipedia)
The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration
by Isabel Wilkerson
An exploration of the life-changing journeys of the millions of African-Americans who migrated from the South to the North, Midwest, and West from 1915 to 1970.
In this epic, beautifully written masterwork, Pulitzer Prize–winning author Isabel Wilkerson chronicles one of the great untold stories of American history: the decades-long migration of black ... (Goodreads)
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
by Mildred D. Taylor
A family's story of struggle and survival during the Great Depression in the segregated American South.
Nine-year-old Cassie Logan is walking to school with her siblings Stacey (twelve years old), Christopher-John (seven years old), and Little Man,(six years old), in rural Mississippi . Cassie talks ... (Wikipedia)
Go Set a Watchman
by Harper Lee
Confronting the past and present, a woman struggles to reconcile her beliefs with those of her hometown.
Jean Louise "Scout" Finch, a single 26-year-old, returns from New York to her hometown, Maycomb, Alabama, for her annual fortnight-long visit to her father Atticus, a lawyer and former state ... (Wikipedia)
The Cay
by Theodore Taylor
A young boy and an elderly man, stranded on a small island, confront the challenges of survival together.
When World War II breaks out, 11-year-old Phillip Enright and his mother board the S.S. Hato to Virginia because his mother feels it is unsafe to stay in Curaçao with the German submarines ... (Wikipedia)
Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood
by Alexandra Fuller
An autobiographical account of a white family in Rhodesia, struggling to survive in a war-torn land.
Alexandra Fuller's book tells the story of her family of white Zimbabwean tenant farmers in the years before and after Independence. These are not the wealthy landowners demonised by the present ... (Wikipedia)
The Book of Negroes
by Lawrence Hill
A gripping tale of resilience and courage, tracing the life of a woman kidnapped in Africa and sold into slavery in North America.
The Book of Negroes (based on the novel Someone Knows My Name) will be BET's first miniseries. The star-studded production includes lead actress Aunjanue Ellis (Ray, The Help), Oscar winner Cuba ... (Goodreads)
Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption
by Bryan Stevenson
A powerful true story of justice and redemption, exposing the flaws of America's criminal justice system.
In 1989, idealistic young Harvard law graduate Bryan Stevenson travels to Alabama hoping to help fight for poor people who cannot afford proper legal representation. Teaming with Eva Ansley, he ... (Wikipedia)
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
by Jamie Ford
A touching story of the intersection of love, family, and culture during World War II.
Henry Lee, the son of Chinese parents in Seattle , Washington, is the only Asian child at his elementary school. His father makes him wear an "I Am Chinese" button so he will not be mistaken for a ... (Wikipedia)
Snow Falling on Cedars
by David Guterson
A murder trial in a small, coastal town reveals secrets of the past and its inhabitants.
Set on the fictional San Piedro Island in the northern Puget Sound region of the state of Washington coast in 1954, the plot revolves around a murder case in which Kabuo Miyamoto, a Japanese American ... (Wikipedia)
Calling Me Home
by Julie Kibler
An interracial friendship between two women, challenged by the realities of racial prejudice.
Calling Me Home by Julie Kibler is a soaring debut interweaving the story of a heartbreaking, forbidden love in 1930s Kentucky with an unlikely modern-day friendship. Eighty-nine-year-old Isabelle ... (Goodreads)
Natchez Burning
by Greg Iles
Murder mystery spanning generations and examining the dark history of racism in the American South.
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Greg Iles comes the first novel in his Natchez Burning trilogy—which also includes The Bone Tree and the upcoming Mississippi Blood —an epic trilogy that ... (Barnes & Noble)
If Beale Street Could Talk
by James Baldwin
A young African-American couple must confront the injustices of racism while trying to reunite.
In this honest and stunning novel, James Baldwin has given America a moving story of love in the face of injustice. Told through the eyes of Tish, a nineteen-year-old girl, in love with Fonny, a ... (Goodreads)
Behold the Dreamers
by Imbolo Mbue
A Cameroonian family’s struggle to build a better life in America.
The novel opens in fall 2007 with the interview of an immigrant from Cameroon, Jende Jonga, who is hoping to be hired as a chauffeur for Clark Edwards, a Lehman Brothers executive. Jonga's job allows ... (Wikipedia)
Citizen: An American Lyric
by Claudia Rankine
Poetic exploration of racial injustice, highlighting the everyday experiences of racism.
A provocative meditation on race, Claudia Rankine's long-awaited follow up to her groundbreaking book Don't Let Me Be Lonely: An American Lyric. Claudia Rankine's bold new book recounts mounting ... (Goodreads)
Wide Sargasso Sea
by Jean Rhys
A woman's journey of self-discovery in the Caribbean, her story of emancipation from the shadows of colonialism.
The novel, initially set in Jamaica, opens a short while after the Slavery Abolition Act 1833 ended slavery in the British Empire on 1 August 1834. , The protagonist Antoinette relates the story of ... (Wikipedia)
Noughts & Crosses
by Malorie Blackman
Exploring racism and prejudice in a world where the races are divided between Noughts and Crosses.
Two young people are forced to make a stand in this thought-provoking look at racism and prejudice in an alternate society. Sephy is a Cross – a member of the dark-skinned ruling class. Callum is a ... (Goodreads)
Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race
by Reni Eddo-Lodge
A critical exploration of the UK's relationship with race and racism.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER, "This is a book that was begging to be written. This is the kind of book that demands a future where we’ll no longer need such a book. Essential." —Marlon James “The most ... (Barnes & Noble)
The Known World
by Edward P. Jones
A story of a former slave turned landowner navigating the complex social dynamics of Antebellum America.
One of the most acclaimed novels in recent memory, The Known World is a daring and ambitious work by Pulitzer Prize winner Edward P. Jones. The Known World tells the story of Henry Townsend, a black ... (Goodreads)
The Power of One
by Bryce Courtenay
A young man's journey of self-discovery, overcoming the odds and finding strength in adversity.
The Power of One follows an English-speaking South African boy named Peekay from 1939 to 1951. The story begins when Peekay's mother has a nervous breakdown, and Peekay ends up being raised by a Zulu ... (Wikipedia)
A Brief History of Seven Killings
by Marlon James
A fictionalized account of the attempted assassination of Bob Marley, exploring the history of Jamaica.
On December 3, 1976, just before the Jamaican general election and two days before Bob Marley was to play the Smile Jamaica Concert, gunmen stormed his house, machine guns blazing. The attack nearly ... (Goodreads)
The Last Black Unicorn
by Tiffany Haddish
A humorous, honest account of the comedian's personal life, struggles and successes.
NEW YORK TIMES, BESTSELLER “An inspiring story that manages to be painful, honest, shocking, bawdy, and, hilarious.” ,—The New York Times Book Review, From stand-up comedian, actress, and breakout ... (Barnes & Noble)
Sula
by Toni Morrison
Story of two childhood friends, exploring social and racial issues in a small Ohio town.
The novel begins when the construction of a golf course is announced, the site being the destroyed remnants of what used to be the Bottom. The Bottom is a black neighborhood on the hill above the ... (Wikipedia)
Roots: The Saga of an American Family
by Alex Haley
A multigenerational saga tracing the journey of an African American family in the U.S.
Roots tells the story of Kunta Kinte —a young man taken from the Gambia when he was seventeen and sold as a slave—and seven generations of his descendants in the United States. Kunta, a Mandinka ... (Wikipedia)
Native Son
by Richard Wright
A young African American man's exploration of his identity, facing the harsh realities of systemic racism.
Right from the start, Bigger Thomas had been headed for jail. It could have been for assault or petty larceny; by chance, it was for murder and rape. Native Son tells the story of this young black ... (Goodreads)
Binti
by Nnedi Okorafor
A journey of self-discovery for a young African girl as she confronts xenophobia, racism, and alien cultures.
A young woman named Binti is the first member of the Himba ethnic group on Earth (closely modeled on the Himba people ) , to be accepted into the prestigious intergalactic university Oomza Uni. Upon ... (Wikipedia)
All American Boys
by Jason Reynolds
Two high school boys, one black, one white, navigate race, justice and friendship.
Rashad is absent again today. That’s the sidewalk graffiti that started it all… Well, no, actually, a lady tripping over Rashad at the store, making him drop a bag of chips, was what started it all. ... (Goodreads)
Indian Horse
by Richard Wagamese
A story of survival, resilience, and redemption as an Indigenous Canadian boy finds his own path in life.
In 1961, the Indian Horse family—an Ojibway family consisting of eight-year-old Saul, his grandmother Naomi, and his Christian parents John and Mary—live in the wilderness of Northern Ontario , ... (Wikipedia)
The Souls of Black Folk
by W.E.B. Du Bois
An exploration of the African-American experience and the struggle for racial equality.
This landmark book is a founding work in the literature of black protest. W. E. B. Du Bois (1868–1963) played a key role in developing the strategy and program that dominated early 20th-century black ... (Goodreads)
Henry's Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad
by Ellen Levine
A slave's courageous escape to freedom via the Underground Railroad.
A stirring, dramatic story of a slave who mails himself to freedom by a Jane Addams Peace Award-winning author and a Coretta Scott King Award-winning artist. Henry Brown doesn't know how old he is. ... (Barnes & Noble)
Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever
by Bill O'Reilly
A detailed account of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln and its impact on the nation.
A riveting historical narrative of the heart-stopping events surrounding the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, and the first work of history from mega-bestselling author Bill O'Reilly, The anchor of, ... (Goodreads)
Yellow Crocus
by Laila Ibrahim
A story of courage and resilience in the face of slavery and racism in the Antebellum South.
Moments after Lisbeth is born, she’s taken from her mother and handed over to an enslaved wet nurse, Mattie, a young mother separated from her own infant son in order to care for her tiny charge. ... (Goodreads)
A Piece of Cake
by Cupcake Brown
A woman's raw story of resilience and survival in the face of hardship and trauma.
The story begins in January 1975 when the female protagonist gives a short account of why her mother named her Cupcake Brown. Brown's mother died in 1976, when Brown was age 11. Since her biological ... (Wikipedia)
Perfect Match
by Jodi Picoult
A young woman's struggle to reconcile her religious beliefs with her own moral convictions.
The story begins with a prologue, in which an unnamed female character enters a courtroom and inexplicably shoots and kills the defendant after shooting him four times as he approaches his defense ... (Wikipedia)
Glory Over Everything: Beyond The Kitchen House
by Kathleen Grissom
A slave's story of freedom and its unexpected complications.
The latest New York Times bestseller from the author of the beloved book club favorite The Kitchen House is a heart racing story about a man’s treacherous journey through the twists and turns of the ... (Barnes & Noble)
Dances with Wolves
by Michael Blake
A Civil War soldier discovers a newfound respect and understanding for Native American culture.
Ordered to hold an abandoned army post, John Dunbar found himself alone, beyond the edge of civilization. Thievery and survival soon forced him into the Indian camp, where he began a dangerous ... (Goodreads)
The House Girl
by Tara Conklin
A story of two women, a present-day lawyer and a 19th Century slave, and the search for justice in a complex world.
A stunning debut novel of love, family, and justice that intertwines the stories of an escaped house slave in 1852 Virginia and ambitious young lawyer in contemporary New York Virginia, 1852. ... (Goodreads)
Mom & Me & Mom
by Maya Angelou
A powerful memoir of a daughter's journey to understand her complex relationship with her mother.
For the first time, Angelou reveals the triumphs and struggles of being the daughter of Vivian Baxter, an indomitable spirit whose petite size belied her larger-than-life presence—a presence absent ... (Goodreads)
Dear Martin
by Nic Stone
An African American student's reflections on racial injustice, sparked by the shooting of an unarmed black teen.
Raw, captivating, and undeniably real, Nic Stone joins industry giants Jason Reynolds and Walter Dean Myers as she boldly tackles American race relations in this stunning debut. Justyce McAllister is ... (Goodreads)
Long Way Down
by Jason Reynolds
A young boy's journey of grief and redemption, as he seeks retribution for his brother's death.
William Holloman is ready to exact vengeance on the person who murdered his older brother, Shawn. As Will rides the elevator down from his 8th-floor apartment at each floor a new person, who is dead, ... (Wikipedia)
Everything That Rises Must Converge: Stories
by Flannery O'Connor
A collection of stories that explore themes of race, faith, and morality in the South.
Flannery O'Connor was working on Everything That Rises Must Converge at the time of her death. This collection is an exquisite legacy from a genius of the American short story, in which she ... (Goodreads)
Ghost
by Jason Reynolds
A teenage boy must confront his past and overcome adversities to find his own path.
Running. That's all that Ghost (real name Castle Cranshaw) has ever known. But never for a track team. Nope, his game has always been ball. But when Ghost impulsively challenges an elite sprinter to ... (Goodreads)
The Lords of Discipline
by Pat Conroy
A young man's struggle to survive the brutal hazing rituals of a Southern military college.
Will McLean, returning to the Carolina Military Institute in Charleston, South Carolina an unknown number of years after his graduation, tells the story of his life at the Institute. In 1966, Will ... (Wikipedia)
The Last Runaway
by Tracy Chevalier
A young Quaker woman's struggle to find her place in a new country and a changing world.
New York Times, bestselling author of, Girl With a Pearl Earring, Tracy Chevalier makes her first fictional foray into the American past in, The Last Runaway, bringing to life the Underground ... (Goodreads)
The Pecan Man
by Cassie Dandridge Selleck
A woman's journey of self-discovery, as she uncovers the truth about her family's past.
The Pecan Man is a work of Southern fiction whose first chapter was the First Place winner of the 2006 CNW/FFWA Florida State Writing Competition in the Unpublished Novel category. In the summer of ... (Goodreads)
Faceless Killers
by Henning Mankell
A Swedish detective investigates a murder and uncovers a complex web of secrets and lies.
It was a senselessly violent crime: on a cold night in a remote Swedish farmhouse an elderly farmer is bludgeoned to death, and his wife is left to die with a noose around her neck. And as if this ... (Goodreads)
Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?
by Beverly Daniel Tatum
Exploration of racial identity and the role of schools in creating and maintaining racial divides.
Walk into any racially mixed high school and you will see Black, White, and Latino youth clustered in their own groups. Is this self-segregation a problem to address or a coping strategy? Beverly ... (Goodreads)
The Lions of Little Rock
by Kristin Levine
A 12-year-old girl faces the racial tensions of 1958 Arkansas during the Little Rock Nine integration crisis.
Two girls separated by race form an unbreakable bond during the tumultuous integration of Little Rock schools in 1958 Twelve-year-old Marlee doesn't have many friends until she meets Liz, the new ... (Goodreads)
Men We Reaped
by Jesmyn Ward
A memoir examining the death of five young African-American men, and the societal issues that contributed to their demise.
Named one of the Best Books of the Century by, New York, Magazine, Two-time National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward (,Salvage the Bones, Sing, Unburied, Sing,) contends with the deaths of five young ... (Barnes & Noble)
الأسود يليق بك
by أحلام مستغانمي
A journey of self-discovery, exploring identity and culture through the eyes of a young girl.
ما من قصة حب إلا و تبدأ بحركة موسيقية ، قائد الأوركسترا فيها ليس قلبك، إنما القدر الذي يخفي عنك عصاه . بها يقودك نحو سلم موسيقي لا درج له، مادمت لا تملك من سيمفونية العمر لا ((مفتاح صول)) ..ولا ... (Goodreads)
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