Black History in FictionLike this list

20 items

• Carolina Built

  a Novel

  Alexander, Kianna,

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  This “exuberant celebration of Black women’s joy as well as their achievements” (Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author) novelizes the life of real estate magnate Josephine N. Leary in a previously untold story of passion, perseverance, and…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Nickel Boys

  a Novel

  Whitehead, Colson, 1969-

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  This follow-up to The Underground Railroad brilliantly dramatizes another strand of American history through the story of two boys unjustly sentenced to a hellish reform school in Jim Crow-era Florida.

• Sister Mother Warrior

  a Novel

  Riley, Vanessa,

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  Acclaimed author of Island Queen Vanessa Riley brings readers a vivid, sweeping novel of the Haitian Revolution based on the true-life stories of two extraordinary women: the first Empress of Haiti, Marie-Claire Bonheur, and Gran Toya, a West…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Libertie

  a Novel

  Greenidge, Kaitlyn,

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  Inspired by the life of one of the first Black female doctors in the United States, critically acclaimed and Whiting Award–winning author Kaitlyn Greenidge returns with an unforgettable and immersive novel that will resonate with readers eager to…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Monsters We Defy

  Penelope, L., 1978-

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  The Monsters We Defy is a timely and dazzling historical fantasy that weaves together African American folk magic, history, and romance.

• Things Past Telling

  a Novel

  Williams, Sheila (Sheila J.),

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  Inspired by a 112-year-old woman the author discovered in an 1870 U.S. Federal census report for Ohio, loosely based on the author’s real-life female ancestors, spanning more than a hundred years, from the mid-eighteen-century to the end of…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Thread Collectors

  a Novel

  Edwards, Shaunna J.,

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  Loosely inspired by the authors’ family histories, The Thread Collectors offers a Civil War era story of resilience, love, and friendship forged in the unlikeliest of conditions.

• Black Cloud Rising

  a Novel

  Wright Faladé, David, 1964-

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  Told by Sgt. Richard Etheridge, the son of an enslaved woman and her former master, Black Cloud Rising is based on the true story of the African Brigade, an all-Black regiment led by General Edward Augustus Wild, a one-armed white abolitionist who…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Unsettled

  Mathis, Ayana,

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  From the best-selling author of The Twelve Tribes of Hattie, a searing multi-generational novel—set in the 1980s in racially and politically turbulent Philadelphia and in the tiny town of Bonaparte, Alabama—about a mother fighting for her sanity and…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Take My Hand

  Perkins-Valdez, Dolen,

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  Inspired by true events that rocked the nation, a searing and compassionate new novel about a Black nurse in post-segregation Alabama who blows the whistle on a terrible injustice done to her patients, from the New York Times bestselling author of…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Personal Librarian

  Benedict, Marie,

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  A remarkable novel about J. P. Morgan’s personal librarian, Belle da Costa Greene, the Black American woman who was forced to hide her true identity and pass as white in order to leave a lasting legacy that enriched our nation, from New York Times…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Conjure Women

  a Novel

  Atakora, Afia,

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  Conjure Women is a sweeping story that brings the world of the South before and after the Civil War vividly to life. Spanning eras and generations, it tells of the lives of three unforgettable women: Miss May Belle, a wise healing woman; her…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• River Sing Me Home

  Shearer, Eleanor,

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  This beautiful redemptive story of a mother’s gripping journey across the Caribbean to find her stolen children and piece her family back together is a “celebration of motherhood and female resilience."

• James

  a Novel

  Everett, Percival

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  A brilliant, action-packed reimagining of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, both harrowing and darkly humorous, told from the enslaved Jim's point of view.

• The Davenports

  Marquis, Krystal,

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  The Davenports delivers a totally escapist, swoon-worthy romance while offering a glimpse into a period of African American history often overlooked. Inspired by the real-life story of the Patterson family, The Davenports is the tale of four…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Black Was the Ink

  Coles, Michelle,

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  Through the help of a ghostly ancestor, sixteen-year-old Malcolm is sent on a journey through Reconstruction-era America to find his place in modern-day Black progress.

• All the Days Past, All the Days to Come

  Taylor, Mildred D.,

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  The saga of the Logan family of Mississippi–made famous in the Newbery Medal-winning Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry–concludes in a deeply fulfilling story set against the backdrop of the civil rights movement in America of the 20th century.

• The Awakening of Malcolm X

  a Novel

  Shabazz, Ilyasah,

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  The Awakening of Malcolm X is a powerful narrative account of the activist's adolescent years in jail, written by his daughter Ilyasah Shabazz along with 2019 Coretta Scott King-John Steptoe award-winning author, Tiffany D. Jackson.

• Homegoing

  a Novel

  Gyasi, Yaa

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  Homegoing follows the parallel paths of two half sisters and their descendants through eight generations: from the Gold Coast to the plantations of Mississippi, from the American Civil War to Jazz Age Harlem. Yaa Gyasi’s extraordinary novel…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Shadow King

  a Novel

  Mengiste, Maaza,

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  Set during Mussolini’s 1935 invasion of Ethiopia, The Shadow King takes us back to the first real conflict of World War II, casting light on the women soldiers who were left out of the historical record. At its heart is orphaned maid Hirut, who…Read moreRead more of this annotation