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Staff Picks: Black History Month
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Updated February 19, 2025
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Sussex County Library System (NJ)
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James :
Everett, Percival L.
Paper Book
'Truly extraordinary books are rare, and this is one of them' - Roddy Doyle James is a profound and ferociously funny novel from one of our greatest living writers, Percival Everett. The Sunday Times Bestseller Winner of the...
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The love songs of W.E.B. Du Bois : a novel
Jeffers, HonoreÌe Fanonne
Paper Book
THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER AN OPRAH BOOK CLUB PICK 'Deeply moving' Sarah Winman, author of Still Life 'Remarkable' Afua Hirsch, author of Brit(ish) 'A sweeping epic ... Outstanding' Daily Mail Immerse yourself in a celebration of Black...
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Such a fun age : a novel
Reid, Kiley
Paper Book
**GET READY FOR COME AND GET IT - THE EXPLOSIVE NEW NOVEL FROM KILEY REID, AVAILABLE NOW** _______________ 'Essential. This year's hit debut' - Guardian 'A biting tale of race and class' - Sunday Times ...
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Black cake :
Wilkerson, Charmaine,
Paper Book
THE INSTANT NO. 2 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER **Featured on Barack Obama's Summer Reading List 2022** **A Grazia Instagram 'IT' book to watch out for****Soon to be a major Hulu series by Oprah Winfrey, Aaron Kaplan and Marissa Jo Cerar**...
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Sing, unburied, sing : a novel
Ward, Jesmyn
Paper Book
_______________ SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2018 WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD 2017 ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S BEST BOOKS OF 2017 SELECTED AS A BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES, THE NEW STATESMAN...
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Hell of a book :
Mott, Jason
Paper Book
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Finding me /
Davis, Viola,
Paper Book
THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 'A mind-blowing and emotionally honest tale of survival against all odds.' BERNARDINE EVARISTO'A breathtaking memoir...I was so moved by this book.' Oprah'It is startlingly honest and, at times, a jaw-dropping read, charting her rise...
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Leave the world behind : a novel
Alam, Rumaan
Paper Book
SOON TO BE A MAJOR GLOBAL NETFLIX ADAPTATION STARRING JULIA ROBERTS, KEVIN BACON, ETHAN HAWKE AND MAHERSHALA ALI *A THE TIMES #1 BESTSELLER* *THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER* *A BARACK OBAMA SUMMER READING PICK 2021* ...
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The city we became /
Jemisin, N. K.
Paper Book
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Stamped :
Kendi, Ibram X,
Paper Book
Don't miss this "fresh and conversational" (TIME Magazine), "potent and provocative" (The San Francisco Chronicle), #1 New York Times bestselling exploration of racism--and antiracism--in America. ...
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Red at the bone /
Woodson, Jacqueline
Paper Book
THE TIMES '100 BEST SUMMER READS' NEW YORK TIMES TOP 10 BESTSELLER LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE 2020 'Sublime' Candice Carty-Williams'An epic in miniature'...
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Beasts of prey /
Gray, Ayana,
Paper Book
Magic doesn't exist in the broken city of Lkossa anymore, especially for girls like sixteen-year-old Koffi. Indentured to the notorious Night Zoo, she cares for its fearsome and mythical creatures to pay off her family's debts and secure their freedom. But when her loved ones' safety is threatened...
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Legendborn /
Deonn, Tracy
Paper Book
SOME LEGACIES ARE MEANT TO BE BROKEN. "I love the feeling of a magical world existing just beneath the surface of our own and this story gave me everything I wanted: incredible characters, ancient lore and secret societies - all grounded in our very real, very flawed world...
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The light we carry :
Obama, Michelle,
Paper Book
The powerful, insightful follow-up to the critically acclaimed, multi-million #1 bestselling memoir Becoming In her inspiring follow-up to Becoming, former First Lady Michelle Obama shares practical wisdom and powerful strategies for staying hopeful and balanced in...
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Let us descend :
Ward, Jesmyn.
Paper Book
* AN OPRAH'S BOOK CLUB PICK * 'A spectacular achievement' ANTHONY DOERR 'Extravagantly beautiful' DAILY MAIL 'One of the greatest writers of all time' JACQUELINE WOODSON 'Extraordinary' GUARDIAN'The...
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The Nickel boys :
Whitehead, Colson,
Paper Book
'RaMell Ross's transcendentally moving and frightening film' (Guardian, New York Film Festival) now a major motion picture and shortlisted for a Golden Globe. WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR FICTION 2020 WINNER OF THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL FICTION...
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Seven days in June :
Williams, Tia,
Paper Book
A REESE WITHERSPOON BOOK CLUB PICK THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER (JUNE 2021) 'A sexy, modern love story' Reese Witherspoon 'I absolutely loved it' Jodi Picoult ...
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The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store
McBride, James,
Paper Book
WATERSTONES FICTION BOOK OF THE MONTH FOR OCTOBER 2024 THE MILLION-COPY BESTSELLER BARACK OBAMA'S BOOK OF THE YEAR PICK AMAZON.COM NO.1 BOOK OF THE YEAR 'I loved this book' BONNIE GARMUS 'A generous, compassionate book about the...
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New kid
Craft, Jerry,
Paper Book
Winner of the Newbery Medal, Coretta Scott King Author Award, and Kirkus Prize for Young Readers' Literature! Perfect for fans of Raina Telgemeier and Gene Luen Yang, New Kid is a timely, honest graphic novel about starting over at a new school where diversity is low...
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The cutting season :
Locke, Attica.
Paper Book
Just after dawn, Caren walks the grounds of Belle Vie, the historic plantation house in Louisiana that she has managed for the past four years. Today she sees nothing unusual, apart from some ground that has been dug up by the fence bordering the sugar cane fields. Assuming an animal has been out...
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The reformatory :
Due, Tananarive,
Paper Book
A gripping, page-turning novel set in Jim Crow Florida that follows Robert Stephen Jones as he's sent to a segregated reform school that is a chamber of terrors where he sees the horrors of racism and injustice, for the living, and the dead.
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Ours /
Williams, Phillip B.,
Paper Book
An epic, spellbinding novel of rebellion, redemption, power and humanity, and of a Black community finding freedom to live an ordinary life of love and pain in America's darkest days.
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All the sinners bleed /
Cosby, S. A.,
Paper Book
***GUARDIAN BEST CRIME AND THRILLERS OF 2023*** THE TIMES - THRILLER OF THE MONTH*** *** MAIL ON SUNDAY - BEST NEW FICTION*** FINANCIAL TIMES - BEST NEW CRIME BOOKS*** 'A crackling good police procedural....fresh and exhilarating'...
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Kindred /
Butler, Octavia E.
Paper Book
**MAJOR TV SERIES COMING SOON TO DISNEY+** Octavia E. Butler's ground-breaking masterpiece, with an original foreword by Ayòbámi Adébáyò. 'A marvel of imagination, empathy and detail' NEW YORK TIMES 'The marker you should judge all other...
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Beloved :
Morrison, Toni
Paper Book
Discover Toni Morrison's most iconic work in this Pulitzer-prize winning novel that exemplifies her powerful and important place in contemporary American literature. 'An American masterpiece' AS Byatt It is the mid-1800s and as slavery looks to be coming to...
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River sing me home /
Shearer, Eleanor,
Paper Book
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Night wherever we go :
Peyton, Tracey Rose,
Paper Book
Shortlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize 2023 'A hugely impressive debut' SARAH WATERS '[A] haunting and moving story' SUNDAY TIMES 'A powerful and inspired achievement. This one is not to be missed' NATHAN HARRIS 'A haunting, powerful and utterly...
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Sorrowland
Solomon, Rivers
Paper Book
"A fantastical, fierce reckoning... Sorrowland is gorgeous." Roxanne Gay "Dark, magical and incredibly satisfying." Independent "An exhilarating journey to the outer limits of science fiction." Guardian. "Epic!"...
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Take my hand
Perkins-Valdez, Dolen.
Paper Book
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Washington Black /
Edugyan, Esi,
Paper Book
Escape is only the beginning ... Inspired by a true story, Washington Black is an extraordinary tale of a world destroyed and made whole again.
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The sweetness of water
Harris, Nathan,
Paper Book
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Homegoing /
Gyasi, Yaa,
Paper Book
A BBC Top 100 Novels that Shaped Our World Effia and Esi: two sisters with two very different destinies. One sold into slavery; one a slave trader's wife. The consequences of their fate reverberate through the generations that follow. Taking us from the Gold Coast of Africa to...
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The color purple /
Walker, Alice,
Paper Book
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The shadow king :
Mengiste, Maaza.
Paper Book
SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2020 A BOOK OF THE YEAR IN THE NEW YORK TIMES, GUARDIAN, ELLE, TIME, SPECTATOR 'DEVASTATING' Marlon James, 'BRILLIANT' Salman Rushdie, 'MAGNIFICENT' Aminatta Forna, 'WONDERFUL' Laila Lalami, 'UNFORGETTABLE' The Times<...
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The vanishing half /
Bennett, Brit,
Paper Book
THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP BESTSELLER #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE LONGLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE 'An utterly mesmerising novel..I absolutely loved this book' Bernardine Evaristo, winner...
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The Underground Railroad :
Whitehead, Colson,
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR FICTION 2017 WINNER OF THE ARTHUR C. CLARKE AWARD 2017 LONGLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2017 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER 2016 AMAZON.COM #1 BOOK OF THE YEAR 2016 ...
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Harlem shuffle
Whitehead, Colson,
Paper Book
FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD (Now a major Amazon Prime TV show) 'Dazzling' Guardian 'Gloriously entertaining' Evening Standard 'A rich, wild book' New York Times '<...
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Crook manifesto :
Whitehead, Colson,
Paper Book
'Glorious' New York Times Book Review 'The compelling energy of a crime thriller and the sharp wit of social satire' Guardian 'Whitehead's crime series is one of the most enjoyable streaks in recent fiction' Telegraph 'This novel has...
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Transcendent kingdom /
Gyasi, Yaa,
Paper Book
As a child Gifty would ask her parents to tell the story of their journey from Ghana to Alabama, seeking escape in myths of heroism and romance. When her father and brother succumb to the hard reality of immigrant life in the American South, their family of four becomes two - and the life Gifty...
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Piecing me together /
Watson, Renâee.
Paper Book
2018 Newbery Honor Book and Coretta Scott King Author Award Winner: a beautiful, powerful coming of age story 'Important and deeply moving' JOHN GREEN 'Timely and timeless' JACQUELINE WOODSON Jade is a girl striving for success in a...
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Long way down /
Reynolds, Jason.
Paper Book
'A masterpiece from beginning to end.' Angie Thomas, author of The Hate U Give
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Dear Martin /
Stone, Nic,
Paper Book
'Absolutely incredible, honest, gut-wrenching! A must-read!' Angie Thomas, author of The Hate U Give 'Painfully timely and deeply moving, this is the novel the next generation should be reading' Jodi Picoult 'Justyce's story...
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Booked /
Alexander, Kwame.
Paper Book
Like lightning/you strike/fast and free/legs zoom/down field/eyes fixed/on the checkered ball/on the goal/ten yards to go/can't nobody stop you/can't nobody cop you... Twelve-year-old Nick is a football-mad boy who absolutely hates books. In this follow-up to the Newbery-winning novel The Crossover,...
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The crossover /
Alexander, Kwame.
Paper Book
'With a bolt of lightning on my kicks . . . The court is SIZZLING. My sweat is DRIZZLING. Stop all that quivering. Cuz tonight I'm delivering'12-year-old Josh and his twin Jordan have basketball in their blood. They're kings of the court, star players for their school team. Their father used to be a...
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