Last month, I was perusing the shelves of my local bookstores (shout-out to black-owned Baldwin & Co. and woman-owned Blue Cypress Books!) for some new YA finds that I could cover with my students for Black History Month. I frequently conduct book talks in my English class, so celebrating new Black authors and their experiences was on my mind.
I had a few criteria, though. I tried to find engaging books for both kids and adults, since I’m always urging families to read together. I also only wanted to showcase Black authors writing about Black characters (I think I mostly accomplished this). Finally, I tried to grab titles from a variety of topics and genres so I could appeal to as many interests as possible. The following recommendations are all books that meet the aforementioned criteria. Please note: While the books listed here are all considered YA, I encourage and advise your personal research and discretion. I’ve included an asterisk next to those with content warnings (i.e., foul language, suggestive scenes, etc.).
How to Be A (Young) Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi & Nic Stone
Acclaimed author Nic Stone (Dear Martin) reshapes Kendi’s famous text by the same name for student readers (hence the addition of the word “young”) interested in affecting antiracist change. Readers can appreciate the conversational tone Stone utilizes, as well as her student-friendly definitions and sticky-note asides that serve to set the context for major historical events. Another interesting aspect of this book is the structure, composed of three parts: “Inside” (facing yourself, reflecting on your own biases), “Outside” (facing the world, examining the biases around you), and “Upside Down” (making the change, in yourself and out in the world). This is a reflective piece of literature and one from which adults and kids can unlearn and relearn together.
*Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender (they/them)
In an interview, author Kacen Callender spoke to their own experiences as a Black, queer individual, among other intersectionalities. It’s refreshing to see this combination of identities represented in literature. When Callender didn’t see themselves in literature, though, they wrote parts of themselves into this text. The book follows Felix, a high-school senior whose aspirations to attend an expensive art institute seem out of reach given his limited means. Felix has his friends and his art, but one day as he enters school, an unwelcome surprise greets him: enlarged photographs of his pre-transition body hanging over plates bearing his deadname for his entire school’s viewing. He vows revenge on the anonymous person who publicly outed him, but in the process learns more about himself and his feelings than he ever expected.
*The Awakening of Malcolm X by Ilyasah Shabazz & Tiffany D. Jackson
I think this is one of my favorites from the list: it is beautifully written. Also, the jumps in time between past and present are so seamless that you feel like you’re watching a carefully edited film as you read. Co-author Shabazz is Malcolm X’s daughter, so the novel is full of biographical details about the famous human rights activist in novelized form. Malcolm X quotes introduce each chapter and serve as food for thought. The story follows a young Malcolm Little–also known as “Detroit Red”–as he serves a prison sentence for the theft of a broken watch. As he reflects on his previous offenses, he must also befriend and oftentimes avoid a number of inmates. It isn’t until our lead enters the prison library that he finds hope for a better life. He may enter his incarceration as “Malcolm Little,” but he ultimately discovers himself and emerges anew with the moniker we all know: “Malcolm X.”
The Boy in the Black Suit by Jason Reynolds
Matt needs a job to help his single father pay the bills, but he never expected to get a job working at the local funeral home, especially since his mother recently passed. After losing his mom to cancer–the woman who taught him how to cook and whose independence inspired those around her–Matt feels both too young and too old for the trifles of high-school life. Then, on his first day of work, he attends a stranger’s funeral and realizes this odd job may have more to teach him about life, death, grief, and the human experience than he ever could have imagined.
*A Blade So Black by L. L. McKinney
This fresh take on Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland is the first in The Nightmare-Verse trilogy. It involves protagonist Alice learning skills in magic, combat, and self-confidence. After her father dies, she must take notes from her mentor Addison Hatta–an homage to Carroll’s Mad Hatter–on how to defeat Nightmares, creatures born of humans’ worst fears and trauma. If you enjoy world-building or role-playing games such as DnD (Dungeons & Dragons), this book has a wealth of creative details and fun fight scenes threaded throughout.
*On The Come Up by Angie Thomas
Author of The Hate U Give brings readers a new story, one of sixteen-year-old Bri, an aspiring young rapper. She juggles the pressures of satisfying her mom’s dreams of college for her while striving to get out from behind her late rap-legend father’s shadow to make a name for herself. The rap battles are some of my favorite scenes in the book because I enjoy reading someone’s clever use of language and punch lines, also known as takedowns. Later, one of Bri’s songs becomes an infamous hit, surrounding her with controversy–another added pressure she must face in her quest to stardom.
*All American Boys by Jason Reynolds & Brendan Kiely
What would you do if you were walking through a grocery store and saw a white cop viciously beating a Black sixteen-year-old, mistakenly thought to be stealing a bag of chips? That is the situation to which Quinn–a white high-schooler–must stand witness. Not only does he experience this horror first-hand, but there are also stakes involved: Quinn personally knows both the officer–his best friend’s older brother–and the Black teen–Rashad, an impressive artist and ROTC classmate from his school. Readers learn the disparity between perception versus reality when racism and prejudice are allowed to thrive, as evidenced by the book’s shifts between Quinn’s and Rashad’s unique accounts.
Booked by Kwame Alexander
I read this title at the recommendation of a friend/school librarian. What’s really cool about this title is that both a novel and graphic-novel version exist, depending on your preference. Both are beautiful in different ways: the novel is written in a series of short, stylized poems, while the graphic novel paints a pop-art abridged version of the text in green, black, and white. Also, this is a short read, perfect for those reluctant readers. The book follows high-school soccer player Nick Hall, whose parents’ impending separation threatens to change life as he knows it. Up to now, his life’s cares merely involved playing the sport he loves, staying up late on his video games with his best friend, and admiring his crush from afar.
*Pet by Akwaeke Emezi (they/them)
This book first introduced me to a selectively mute protagonist named Jam; she frequently uses sign language when she doesn’t wish to speak. As with Felix Ever After, it was refreshing to see this kind of representation in media. Jam and her best friend Redemption were born after the revolution, supposedly after their city had completely eradicated corrupted individuals known as “monsters”–or so people thought. The pre-revolution world feels eerily familiar to our world now: corrupted individuals–or “monsters”–wrought havoc on society, overpopulating both the police force with bad cops and the prisons with hapless inmates, committing mass shootings, and denying people their health care, among other heinous acts. Now, a new creature named Pet emerges from a painting Jam’s mother created. Its mission is to hunt a monster that threatens the city yet again. Jam is determined to protect her loved ones through it all. In its own fresh way, Pet reminds us that to forget the monsters of our past invites them back into our present and future. If you enjoy this read, the companion novel is entitled Bitter, after the name of Jam’s mother.
*The Black Kids by Christina Hammonds Reed
The setting is 1992 Los Angeles. High-school senior Ashley is persevering through her growing pains into womanhood, reexamining her friend group that frequently utters racially charged microaggressions toward her, and surviving race riots, wildfires, and family dysfunction. Rodney King’s murder has set LA ablaze, as have the fires on the hillside of Ashley’s home. Current climate aside, she tries to carry on as normal. However, the life of privilege she has enjoyed while some of her Black peers have struggled is about to dissipate, a difficult pill for her to swallow as she considers where she fits in: “us” or “them.”
Though February has come to an end, your reading of Black authors should certainly extend beyond Black History Month! This recommended reading list is only the beginning. I urge you to patronize your local bookstore, particularly your black-owned bookstore, if you have one. By patronizing Black business owners and Black authors, by sharing stories of Black experiences, these acts can only work to deepen readers’ worldview, empathy, and enjoyment of literature as a whole.
But what about you, dear reader? What titles are you reading this month? Share with us in the comments below or on social media at @LaurelAcademics. Happy reading!
Samantha Eroche is an educator, theatre artist, writer, and founder of Laurel Academics, an online tutoring company. Learn more at LaurelAcademics.co.
Comments