Black Authors

Great reads by Black authors.

Updated January 14, 2025
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1

Poemhood, our black revival : history, folklore & the Black experience: a young adult poetry anthology
McBride, Amber
Paper Book
"A rich, thoughtful anthology exploring centuries of Black poetry." --Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "This deep and complex assemblage of Black poetry culminates in a joyful, painful, and emotionally rich experience." --Publishers Weekly (starred review) "An eclectic mix of Black...

Also available in eBook format.

2

The vanishing half
Bennett, Brit
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF THE YEAR NAMED A BEST BOOK OF 2020 BY THE NEW YORK TIMES * THE WASHINGTON POST * NPR * PEOPLE * TIME MAGAZINE * VANITY FAIR * GLAMOUR New York Times<...

Des jumelles inseparables choisissent de vivre dans deux mondes etrangers : celui des Blancs et celui des Noirs.

Aussi disponible en format numerique et large vision.

3

Out there screaming : an anthology of new Black horror
Peele, Jordan
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * The visionary writer and director of Get Out, Us, and Nope, and founder of Monkeypaw Productions, curates this groundbreaking anthology of all-new stories of Black horror, exploring not only the terrors of the supernatural but the chilling...
Also available in eBook format.

4

I rise
Arnold, Marie
Paper Book
"A love letter to Harlem and hope. I Rise is smart and funny and full of heart.*" Fourteen-year-old Ayo who has to decide whether to take on her mother's activist role when her mom is shot by police. As she tries to find answers, Ayo looks to the wisdom of her ancestors and...
Also available in eBook and eAudiobook formats.

5

The vanishing half
Bennett, Brit
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF THE YEAR NAMED A BEST BOOK OF 2020 BY THE NEW YORK TIMES * THE WASHINGTON POST * NPR * PEOPLE * TIME MAGAZINE * VANITY FAIR * GLAMOUR New York Times<...
Also available in eBook, eAudiobook and Large Print formats.

6

Caste : the origins of our discontents
Wilkerson, Isabel
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * NEW YORK TIMES READERS PICK: 100 BEST BOOKS OF THE 21st CENTURY * OPRAH'S BOOK CLUB PICK * "An instant American classic and almost certainly the keynote nonfiction book of the American century thus far."--Dwight Garner, The New York Times

Also available in eBook, eAudiobook and Large Print formats.

7

Black girls
Furukawa, Dominique
Paper Book
A joyful love letter to every Black girl everywhere. In an upbeat and rhythmic ode, Dominique Furukawa and Erika Lynne Jones celebrate Black girls in all their beauty and joy. Black Girls uplifts girls of every shade, size, and walk of life, reminding them that they are perfectly...

8

Viola Desmond won't be budged!
Warner, Jody Nyasha
Paper Book
Finalist for the 2011 Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children's Non-Fiction "On behalf of the Nova Scotia government, I sincerely apologize to Mrs. Viola Desmond's family and to all African Nova Scotians for the racial discrimination she was subjected to by the justice system ... We...
Canadian author.

9

Viola Desmond won't be budged!
Warner, Jody
Paper Book
Finalist for the 2011 Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children's Non-Fiction "On behalf of the Nova Scotia government, I sincerely apologize to Mrs. Viola Desmond's family and to all African Nova Scotians for the racial discrimination she was subjected to by the justice system ... We...
Auteure canadienne.

10

The fire next time
Baldwin, James
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * The book that galvanized the nation, gave voice to the emerging civil rights movementin the 1960s--and still lights the way to understanding race in America today. * "The finest essay I've ever read." --Ta-Nehisi Coates At once a powerful evocation of James...

Also available in eBook, eAudiobook, and Audiobook formats.

11

Salvage : readings from the wreck
Brand, Dionne
Paper Book
One of Literary Hub's most anticipated books of 2024. Winner of the 2025 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature. Dionne Brand explores English and American literature, and the colonial aesthetic that shaped her sense of self and the world, of what was...

Also available in eBook and eAudiobook formats.

Canadian author.

12

Rage : on being queer, black, brilliant... and completely over it
Fabian Brathwaite, Lester
Paper Book
A debut book from Entertainment Weekly writer and former Out magazine editor Lester Fabian Brathwaite, Rage is a darkly comedic exploration of Blackness, queerness, and the American Dream, at a time when creative anger feels like the best response to inequality.

Also available in eBook format.

13

Dear Black girls : how to be true to you
Wilson, A'ja
Paper Book
THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "Through honest stories and inspiring lessons from her life, A'ja Wilson reminds us to never doubt who we are or apologize for being true to ourselves. Dear Black Girls is a must-read for every Black girl out there." &...

Also available in eBook format.

14

Snowy mittens : a winter adventure
Grant, Shauntay
Paper Book
The picture bookSnowy Mittens: A Winter Adventure isa celebration of Black joy and the simple pleasures of a day in the snow from award-winning poet and picture book author Shauntay Grant. Follow along as a young boy spends the day sledding and ice...

Canadian author.

15

The reckoning
Hudson, Wade
Paper Book
A powerful contemporary novel about an aspiring 12 year-old filmmaker whose world is turned upside down when his grandfather is slain in a senseless and racist act of violence. From the author of the award-winning memoir, Defiant- Growing Up in the Jim Crow South and co-editor of...

Also available in eBook format.

16

Inheritance : a visual poem
Acevedo, Elizabeth
Paper Book
They tell me to "fix" my hair. And by fix, they mean straighten, they mean whiten; but how do you fix this shipwrecked history of hair? In her most famous spoken-word poem, author of the Pura Belpré-winning novel-in-verse The Poet X Elizabeth Acevedo embraces all the...

Also available in eBook format.


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