By Leanna Florez
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This debut novel by author Eleanor Shearer follows a mother traveling the Caribbean to find her children post-slavery. It is a moving and powerful novel that emphasizes the importance of family when everything else is falling apart.
Goodreads Rating: 4.4/5
Genre: Historical Fiction
Written by journalist and human rights activist Goldie Taylor, this memoir is the story of preserving through trauma as a writer, finding comfort and support in the words of writers such as Toni Morrison and James Baldwin
Goodreads Rating: 4.35/5
Genre: Personal Memoir
Mahalia Harris is a sixteen-year-old who just wants to have a fun coming-out party and win the love of her crush, Siobhan, but finds herself drowning in debt and academics. This book celebrates the lives of black, queer youth in a sweet story about a teenage couple.
Goodreads Rating: 4.12/5
Genre: YA Romance
Mississippi in the early 1980’s is not the place an 11-year-old black girl and a middle-aged white woman would imagine forming a friendship, yet, the unthinkable happens in this heartwarming story.
Goodreads Rating: 4.19/5
Genre: Historical Fiction
This book tells the story of a mixed-race black girl adopted by white parents by splitting it into two characters. The stories of Erin Powers and Shannon Gibney are weaved seamlessly together to discuss the difficulty it is growing up without a solid sense of identity.
Goodreads Rating: 4.22/5
Genre: YA Fiction/Non-Fiction
Stephanie Saint-Clair is “Queenie”, the ruthless leader of Harlem’s Mafia and defender of black communities in the area. Her real story is told in this graphic novel in a stunning art style.
Goodreads Rating: 3.84/5
Genre: Historical Comic
Centered around a clean-cut athlete and an alternative girl, this debut novel follows this couple as they sign up for an outdoor survival course that tests their abilities and patience.
Goodreads Rating: 4.03/5
Genre: YA Romcom
When three siblings are found dead in their home in West Mills, North Carolina, the police seem uninterested in solving the case. With the town split on theories, one woman takes it upon herself to dig up the dirty secrets surrounding the seemingly innocent people around her.
Goodreads Rating: 3.95/5
Genre: Mystery
Whimsy and Faerry did not think that they’d meet while in a hospital for clinical depression, and they definitely didn’t think that it would lead them to a world more fantastical than they could ever imagine. Together, they can face their own pain through the magic that has connected them in the past and the present.
Goodreads Rating: 4.2/5
Genre: YA Fantasy
Professor Daniel Black at Clark Atlanta University discusses police brutality, AIDS, HBCUs, religion, and the LGBTQ+ community in his debut essay collection on marginalized communities.
Goodreads Rating: 4.7/5
Genre: Non-fiction
Set in San Francisco, this novel discusses the changes that occur in a mother’s expectations and a daughter’s dream in a rapidly moving world.
Goodreads Rating: 3.26/5
Genre: Historical Fiction