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Black History Month is an annual acknowledgment of achievements by African Americans. One way to celebrate is by diversifying your bookshelf! Here are some books by Black authors to pick up not just this month, but anytime you’re looking for something good to read! 

 

The House of Eve by Sadeqa Johnson

A daring and redemptive novel, set in 1950s Philadelphia and Washington DC, that explores what it means to be a woman and a mother, and how much one is willing to sacrifice to achieve her greatest goal.

 

My Love Story by Tina Turner

Tina Turner—the long-reigning queen of rock & roll—sets the record straight about her illustrious career and complicated personal life in this eye-opening and compelling memoir.

 

The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore

The compassionate, startling, and moving true story of two kids with the same name. One went on to be a Rhodes Scholar, decorated combat veteran, White House Fellow and business leader. The other is serving a life sentence in prison.

 

Grown by Tiffany D. Jackson

This gripping young adult novel is a ripped-from-the-headlines mystery that exposes horrific secrets hiding behind the limelight and embraces the power of a young woman’s voice.

 

Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson

The Pulitzer Prize-winning author examines the unspoken caste system that has shaped America and shows how our lives today are still defined by a hierarchy of human divisions.

 

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

In 1972, when workers in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, were digging the foundations for a new development, the last thing they expected to find was a skeleton at the bottom of a well. Who the skeleton was and how it got there were two of the long-held secrets kept by the residents of Chicken Hill, the dilapidated neighborhood where immigrant Jews and African Americans lived side by side and shared ambitions and sorrows. As these characters’ stories overlap and deepen, it becomes clear how much the people who live on the margins struggle and what they must do to survive. 

 

Jen Pace Dickenson is the Youth Services Librarian for Polk County Public Libraries. For information about the library’s resources, programs, and other services, visit polklibrary.org or call (828) 894-8721.