#paperback #fiction #NoniCarter #BlackLiterature #BlackExpressionsBookClubSelection 

Paperback (1 to 2 lbs)

Indiana

Ayanna Bahati lives in a small African village when she is brutally kidnapped, along with her brother, and forced onto a slave ship to America. As Ayanna, renamed Anna, rises from the cotton fields to the master’s house, she finds the familial love she’s been yearning for in elderly Mary and Mary’s son Daniel—but she is also faced with more threats to her survival. Risking everything to escape the plantation, Anna manages to make it north and to freedom, eventually settling in the free black community of Hudson, Ohio, and educating herself to become a teacher. In the tradition of Copper Sun and Chains, this is the stirring tale of a girl’s journey from Africa to freedom and from youth to womanhood, as recounted in this dazzling debut novel.

Good Fortune

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Zora Neale Hurston

Mary Helen Washington

Minimal highlighting and a few notes in margins. Name in pencil on the cover page. 

Light Paperback (1 lb or less)

Florida

"Belongs in the category ... of enduring American literature." -- Saturday Review Fair and long-legged, independent and articulate, Janie Crawford sets out to be her own person -- no mean feat for a black woman in the '30s. Janie's quest for identity takes her through three marriages and into a journey back to her roots.

Their Eyes Were Watching God

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#hardcover #fiction #zadiesmith #culture #literaryfiction #historical #historicalfiction #blackliterature#botm #botm 

Hardcover (1 to 2 lbs)

Texas

An ambitious, exuberant new novel moving from North-West London to West Africa, from the multi-award-winning author of White Teeth and On Beauty Two brown girls dream of being dancers but only one, Tracey, has talent. The other has ideas: about rhythm and time, about black bodies and black music, what constitutes a tribe, or makes a person truly free. It's a close but complicated childhood friendship that ends abruptly in their early twenties, never to be revisited, but never quite forgotten, either. Tracey makes it to the chorus line but struggles with adult life, while her friend leaves the old neighborhood behind, traveling the world as an assistant to a famous singer, Aimee, observing close up how the one percent live. But when Aimee develops grand philanthropic ambitions, the story moves from London to West Africa, where diaspora tourists travel back in time to find their roots, young men risk their lives to escape into a different future, the women dance just like Tracey the same twists, the same shakes and the origins of a profound inequality are not a matter of distant history, but a present dance to the music of time."

Swing Time

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#hardcover #lorrainegansberry #drama #araisininthesun #blackauthors #blackliterature

Light Hardcover (1 lb or less)

California

When it was first produced in 1959, A Raisin in the Sun was awarded the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for that season and hailed as a watershed in American drama. A pioneering work by an African-American playwright, the play was a radically new representation of black life. "A play that changed American theater forever".--The New York Times. Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.

A Raisin in the Sun

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#hardcover #Africanamerican #blackliterature #inspiration

Heavy Hardcover (2 to 4 lbs)

Georgia

Black Men and Their Mothers

A collection of photographs and interviews with thirty-five Black men reveals how their connection with their mothers influenced how they look at race, education, relationships, and family

Sacred Bond

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Toni Morrison

Relates the story of Pecola Breedlove, an eleven-year-old Black girl growing up in an America that values blue-eyed blondes, and the tragedy that results from her longing to be accepted

The Bluest Eye

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New York

A Novel

Alice Andrews, a reporter in Newark, falls in love with handsome, Harvard-educated surgeon Jack Russworm, but class differences, especially his upper-crust African American background, threaten their romance

Good Hair

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Krystal Marquis

The Davenports delivers a totally escapist, swoon-worthy romance while offering a glimpse into a period of African American history often overlooked.

"A fresh, utterly enchanting read." --Ayana Gray, New York Times bestselling author of the Beasts of Prey trilogy

The Davenports are one of the few Black families of immense wealth and status in a changing United States, their fortune made through the entrepreneurship of William Davenport, a formerly enslaved man who founded the Davenport Carriage Company years ago. Now it's 1910, and the Davenports live surrounded by servants, crystal chandeliers, and endless parties, finding their way and finding love--even where they're not supposed to.

There is Olivia, the beautiful elder Davenport daughter, ready to do her duty by getting married . . . until she meets the charismatic civil rights leader Washington DeWight and sparks fly. The younger daughter, Helen, is more interested in fixing cars than falling in love--unless it's with her sister's suitor. Amy-Rose, the childhood friend turned maid to the Davenport sisters, dreams of opening her own business--and marrying the one man she could never be with, Olivia and Helen's brother, John. But Olivia's best friend, Ruby, also has her sights set on John Davenport, though she can't seem to keep his interest . . . until family pressure has her scheming to win his heart, just as someone else wins hers.

Inspired by the real-life story of the Patterson family, The Davenports is the tale of four determined and passionate young Black women discovering the courage to steer their own path in life--and love.

"Deftly written . . . A dazzling debut." --Kirkus (starred review)
"Stunningly wrought . . . Presents a cast of take-charge women." --PW (starred review)
"Compelling . . . distinct and satisfying." --BCCB
"Skilled . . . Well-written . . . Sure to please." --SLJ
"If this whole series existed right now, I'd tear through it to the exclusion of everything else in my life." --

The Davenports

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Ohio

#classic #blackliterature #historical #slavery #africanamerican

Minnesota

The story of Tom, Simon Legree, and oppressed slaves in the Antebellum South.

Uncle Tom's Cabin

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Pennsylvania

From award-winning and bestselling author, Jewell Parker Rhodes comes a powerful coming-of-age story about two brothers, one who presents as white, the other as black, and the complex ways in which they are forced to navigate the world, all while training for a fencing competition.


Framed. Bullied. Disliked. But I know I can still be the best.

Sometimes, 12-year-old Donte wishes he were invisible. As one of the few black boys at Middlefield Prep, most of the students don't look like him. They don't like him either. Dubbing him "Black Brother," Donte's teachers and classmates make it clear they wish he were more like his lighter-skinned brother, Trey.

When he's bullied and framed by the captain of the fencing team, "King" Alan, he's suspended from school and arrested.

Terrified, searching for a place where he belongs, Donte joins a local youth center and meets former Olympic fencer Arden Jones. With Arden's help, he begins training as a competitive fencer, setting his sights on taking down the fencing team captain, no matter what.

As Donte hones his fencing skills and grows closer to achieving his goal, he learns the fight for justice is far from over. Now Donte must confront his bullies, racism, and the corrupt systems of power that led to his arrest.

Powerful and emotionally gripping, Black Brother, Black Brother is a careful examination of the school-to-prison pipeline and follows one boy's fight against racism and his empowering path to finding his voice.

Black Brother, Black Brother

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#avasuvernay #memoir #Blackliterature #contemporary #paperback #autobiography

Claiming Space for Who You Are (No Matter What They Say)

A memoir from the revolutionary editor credited with bringing social consciousness to the pages of Teen Vogue and an inspiring exploration of what it means to be enough.

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

WINNER OF THE 2020 NAACP IMAGE AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING LITERARY WORK - BIOGRAPHY/AUTOBIOGRAPHY

In this part-manifesto, part-memoir, the revolutionary editor who infused social consciousness into the pages of Teen Vogue explores what it means to come into your own - on your own terms.

Elaine Welteroth has climbed the ranks of media and fashion, shattering ceilings along the way. In this riveting and timely memoir, the groundbreaking editor unpacks lessons on race, identity, and success through her own journey, from navigating her way as the unstoppable child of a unlikely interracial marriage in small-town California to finding herself on the frontlines of a modern movement for the next generation of change makers.

Welteroth moves beyond the headlines and highlight reels to share the profound lessons and struggles of being a barrier-breaker across so many intersections. As a young boss and the only black woman in the room, she's had enough of the world telling her - and all women - they're not enough. As she learns to rely on herself by looking both inward and upward, we're ultimately reminded that we're more than enough.

More Than Enough

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Brandy Colbert

From Stonewall Award winner Brandy Colbert comes a novel about first love and family that will stay with you long after turning the last page -- now in paperback! Dove "Birdie" Randolph works hard to be the perfect daughter and follow the path her parents have laid out for her: She quit playing her beloved soccer, she keeps her nose buried in textbooks, and she's on track to finish high school at the top of her class. But then Birdie falls hard for Booker, a sweet boy with a troubled past...whom she knows her parents will never approve of. When her estranged aunt Carlene returns to Chicago and moves into the family's apartment above their hair salon, Birdie notices the tension building at home. Carlene is sweet, friendly, and open-minded--she's also spent decades in and out of treatment facilities for addiction. As Birdie becomes closer to both Booker and Carlene, she yearns to spread her wings. But when long-buried secrets rise to the surface, everything she's known to be true is turned upside down.

The Revolution of Birdie Randolph

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#abuse #precious #booktomovie #oppression #invisible #pregnancy #harlem #teacherstudent #blackliterature For similar 🔖Bookmark Journey 📚 titles, click #bookmarkjourneyfiction 

Illinois

A courageous and determined young teacher opens up a new world of hope and redemption for sixteen-year-old Precious Jones, an abused young African-American girl living in Harlem, who was raped and left pregnant by her father. Reprint. 75,000 first printing.

Push

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A family tries to unravel the secrets of their new home which was once a stop on the Underground Railroad in this Edgar Award-winning book from Virginia Hamilton.

The house held secrets, Thomas knew, even before he first saw it looming gray and massive on its ledge of rock. It had a century-old legend--two fugitive slaves had been killed by bounty hunters after leaving its passageways, and Dies Drear himself, the abolitionist who had made the house into a station on the Underground Railroad, had been murdered there. The ghosts of the three were said to walk its rooms...

The House of Dies Drear

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Virginia

"A collection of humorous essays on what it's like to be unabashedly awkward in a world that regards introverts as hapless misfits, and Black as cool ... [from] Issa Rae, the creator of the Shorty Award-winning ... series The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl"--

The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl

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#paperback #africanamerican #blackliterature #fiction 

Colorado

Richard Wright's powerful and bestselling masterpiece reflects the poverty and hopelessness of life in the inner city and what it means to be black in America.

Native Son

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Anita Kopacz

Read once in a smoke-free home. Excellent condition. Description: ““Spellbinding...A captivating debut.” —Harper’s Bazaar ​

​​In this stirring and lyrical debut novel—perfect for fans of The Water Dancer and the Legacy of Orïsha series—the Yoruba deity of the sea, Yemaya, is brought to vivid life as she discovers the power of Black resilience, love, and feminine strength in antebellum America. 

Shallow Waters imagines Yemaya, an Orïsha—a deity in the religion of Africa’s Yoruba people—cast into mid-1800s America. We meet Yemaya as a young woman, still in the care of her mother and not yet fully aware of the spectacular power she possesses to protect herself and those she holds dear.

The journey laid out in Shallow Waters sees Yemaya confront the greatest evils of this era; transcend time and place in search of Obatala, a man who sacrifices his own freedom for the chance at hers; and grow into the powerful woman she was destined to become. We travel alongside Yemaya from her native Africa and on to the “New World,” with vivid pictures of life for those left on the outskirts of power in the nascent Americas.

Yemaya realizes the fighter within, travels the Underground Railroad in search of the mysterious stranger Obatala, and crosses paths with icons of our history on the road to freedom. Shallow Waters is a nourishing work of ritual storytelling from promising debut author Anita Kopacz.”

“Spellbinding...A captivating debut.” —Harper’s Bazaar ​ ​​In this stirring and lyrical debut novel—perfect for fans of The Water Dancer and the Legacy of Orïsha series—the Yoruba deity of the sea, Yemaya, is brought to vivid life as she discovers the power of Black resilience, love, and feminine strength in antebellum America. Shallow Waters imagines Yemaya, an Orïsha—a deity in the religion of Africa’s Yoruba people—cast into mid-1800s America. We meet Yemaya as a young woman, still in the care of her mother and not yet fully aware of the spectacular power she possesses to protect herself and those she holds dear. The journey laid out in Shallow Waters sees Yemaya confront the greatest evils of this era; transcend time and place in search of Obatala, a man who sacrifices his own freedom for the chance at hers; and grow into the powerful woman she was destined to become. We travel alongside Yemaya from her native Africa and on to the “New World,” with vivid pictures of life for those left on the outskirts of power in the nascent Americas. Yemaya realizes the fighter within, travels the Underground Railroad in search of the mysterious stranger Obatala, and crosses paths with icons of our history on the road to freedom. Shallow Waters is a nourishing work of ritual storytelling from promising debut author Anita Kopacz.

Shallow Waters

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David Walker

Social Studies

An Add

The whites want slaves, and want us for their slaves, but some of them will curse the day they ever saw us. As true as the sun ever shone in its meridian splendor, my colour will root some of them out of the very face of the earth. They shall have enough of making slaves of, and butchering, and murdering us in the manner which they have.-from Walker's Appeal in Four ArticlesThe rage of blacks in slavery-era America is not something we today must merely imagine: we can read their angry words in documents like these. David Walker, born to a free black woman, was by the 1820s a leading black intellectual and a proponent of black unity as a necessary precursor to throwing off the shackles of slavery. His Appeal, published in 1829, warned of a violent and bloody slave insurgency, and startled even abolitionists with its vehemence. He was rehabilitated by Henry Highland Garnet two decades later, when he-a runaway slave since childhood-republished it, in the single 1848 volume of which this is a replica, along with his own Address to the Slaves of the United States of America. Garnet's call for massive slave uprisings had been similarly rebuffed several years earlier, but worsening tensions between the North and the South, and between slave owners and abolitionists, created an atmosphere in which rising militancy was more welcome.In their passionate writings, the bitter wrath of Walker and Garnet echoes across the decades, reminders of the shameful past that continues to haunt America as a nation to this day.DAVID WALKER (c. 1780s-1830) was a contributor to Freedom's Journal, the first black newspaper in America.HENRY HIGHLAND GARNET (1815-1882) was editor of the black newspaper The Clarion, and, after the Civil War, served as the president of Avery College and as an advisor to President James Garfield.

Walker's Appeal in Four Articles

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#paperback #nonfiction #humor #blackliterature #blackauthor #issarae #insecure #newyorktimesbestseller 

In good condition, with small imperfections on the cover and a red line on the binding. #paperback #fiction #blackauthors #blackliterature #historical #historicalfiction #jamesbaldwin #literature 

Stories

Contains eight short fiction stories about men and women who are struggling in their own ways to survive the traumas of life.

Going to Meet the Man

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Issa Rae

New, never-read copy!

The “brilliantly wry” (Lena Dunham) and “lovably awkward” (Mindy Kaling) New York Times bestseller from the creator of HBO’s Insecure.

In this universally accessible New York Times bestseller named for her wildly popular web series, Issa Rae—“a singular voice with the verve and vivacity of uncorked champagne” (Kirkus Reviews)—waxes humorously on what it’s like to be unabashedly awkward in a world that regards introverts as hapless misfits and black as cool.

I’m awkward—and black. Someone once told me those were the two worst things anyone could be. That someone was right. Where do I start?

Being an introvert (as well as “funny,” according to the Los Angeles Times) in a world that glorifies cool isn’t easy. But when Issa Rae, the creator of the Shorty Award-winning hit series The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl, is that introvert—whether she’s navigating love, the workplace, friendships, or “rapping”—it sure is entertaining. Now, in this New York Times bestselling debut collection written in her witty and self-deprecating voice, Rae covers everything from cybersexing in the early days of the Internet to deflecting unsolicited comments on weight gain, from navigating the perils of eating out alone and public displays of affection to learning to accept yourself—natural hair and all.

The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl is a book no one—awkward or cool, black, white, or other—will want to miss.

Save this search

Noni Carter

Good Fortune

Zora Neale Hurston; Mary Helen Washington

Their Eyes Were Watching God

Zadie Smith

Swing Time

Lorraine Hansberry; Holt, Rinehart and Winston Staff (Prepared for Publication by)

A Raisin in the Sun

Keith Michael Brown; Adger W. Cowans (Photographer); James McBride (Foreword by)

Sacred Bond

Toni Morrison

The Bluest Eye

Benilde Little

Good Hair

Krystal Marquis

The Davenports

Toni Morrison

The Bluest Eye

Harriet Beecher Stowe; Keith Carabine (Contribution by, Intro and Notes by)

Uncle Tom's Cabin

Jewell Parker Rhodes

Black Brother, Black Brother

Toni Morrison

The Bluest Eye

Toni Morrison

The Bluest Eye

Elaine Welteroth

More Than Enough

Brandy Colbert

The Revolution of Birdie Randolph

Sapphire

Push

Virginia Hamilton

The House of Dies Drear

Issa Rae

The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl

Richard Wright; John Reilly (Afterword by)

Native Son

Anita Kopacz

Shallow Waters

David Walker

Walker's Appeal in Four Articles

Issa Rae

The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl

James Baldwin

Going to Meet the Man

Issa Rae

The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl