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BLACK LIVES MATTER - READ SOME GREAT ADULT & CHILDREN'S BOOKS BY BLACK AUTHORS!

Happy Summer Everyone!

I’m sure that, within the last two weeks, you have all heard about (or participated in) BLACK LIVES MATTER protests to end Police Brutality after the death of George Floyd and countless other black people. There are many ways to support this massive movement. One way is to read books written by Black authors. The books listed below are timeless classics that everyone should read at some point in their life. I’ll also include a list for a young adult audience. You may surprise yourself, but most of the books you may have already read! Sometimes large summaries give the plot away, so I’ll try to keep them as short and as spoiler free as possible. 

• Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston: Published in 1937, the story follows Janie Crawford as she recalls her life, starting with her spiritual and sexual awakening. She alludes to it by describing a pear tree visited by bees. Janie continues her recollection about her life, exploring her marriages and her journey to what she feels is the ideal love.
• Beloved by Toni Morrison: Published in 1987, Sethe is a former slave living in Denver with her daughter in 1873 in Cincinnati, Ohio. She is haunted by her past life as a slave and what she felt she had to do in order to escape as well as a malicious spirit in her home. Beloved is told through flashbacks.
• I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou: Published in 1969, this was the first of seven autobiographies by Maya Angelou. This book follows her life from 3 years old until 16 years old. Angelou writes about her childhood, the racism she faced, the memory of her rape and about running away.
• Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin: This 1955 nonfiction book reprints essays written by Baldwin that had been featured in various magazines. It includes ten essays about race in American and Europe through the lens of his memories.
• Kindred by Octavia Butler: Last on the classics list is Kindred. Published in 1987, this science fiction novel tells the story of Dana, a young African-American woman being shunted between her modern day (1976) home in California and a pre-Civil War plantation in Maryland where she meets her ancestors.

Books for Youths/Young Adult

• Slam by Walter Dean Meyers: Any Walter Dean Meyers book is a pretty good book for a youngster. Slam, published by Scholastic, follows the story of “Slam” Harris, a high school basketball player. He navigates going to a predominately white school, his family issues and life on a basketball court.
• The Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi: The first of three books in the Legacy of Orisha, Adeyemi was inspired by other fantasy novels, Yoruba culture and West African mythology. It takes place in the fictional land of Orisha and follows Zélie Adebola as she maneuvers through the land of Orisha fighting for her life and those of the Maji. I really don’t want to spoil this book, so I’ll leave it at that. The sequel Children of Virtue and Vengeance came out last year.
• The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas: You’ve probably read or heard of this book because it was the featured “Hostos Reads” selection last year as well as the basis for a 2018 movie adaptation. The story follows sixteen year old Starr Carter as she navigates living in a poor neighborhood and commuting to a mostly white, elite school. When her childhood friend is killed by a police officer, Starr witnesses the act. Her two worlds begin to merge when she tries to keep her witness status hidden, but instead starts to find her voice when she speaks out about it.
• SLAY by Brittney Morris: Seventeen year old Keira Johnson, one of the only black students at Jefferson Academy, balances her life as the seemingly perfect student during school and the developer of the secret Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG) SLAY. No one knows her identity as the developer. It isn’t until a murder over a dispute in SLAY rockets the game into fame that Keira must fight to keep her identity secret, her game safe, and herself as a person whole.

Hope everyone is staying safe!

Your Friendly Tech Tutor, Arianna

Arianna