Ordinary People by Diana Evans
Summary: This novel follows two couples who, from the outside, are happily living their lives. In a Victorian neighborhood in London, Melissa and Michael are drifting apart after the birth of their first child. They start building their own interior walls that make the salvaging of their marriage hard. On the outskirts of London, Damian, Stephanie, and their three children seem very content — until Damian’s dad passes away, throwing the family into a spiral of self-destruction.
Ordinary People is set in 2008 at the time of Barack Obama’s election. It questions how people connect to one another and with themselves. With so many interesting topics being touched on—including grief, lust, and parenthood—Diana Evans has created an intriguing analysis of black Londoners’ lives.
You’ll like this book if… you regularly find yourself looking for novels that deal with personal growth and obstacles and enjoy narratives that explore human relationships.
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Why Young Men by Jamil Jivani
Summary: Twenty-year-old Jamil Jivani, a Canadian citizen, finds himself recognizing the suspected terrorists of the Paris 2015 attacks. Although he had never seen them in his life, he could see his life perfectly mirrored in that of the terrorists. Upon realizing that the communities, the challenges, and the struggles these incarcerated men had faced were the same he had gone through, Jamil traveled to Belgium to better understand what jihadist radicalization really is.
This is an enticing novel about opportunities, identity, and media portrayal. It’s a book not to be missed.
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You’ll like this book if…you’re interested in learning about why so many young men were radicalized in the outskirts of big Western cities.
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Wade in the Water: Poems by Tracy K. Smith
Summary: Tracy Smith’s poems relate the current American spirit and moments to the nation’s troubled history. They all vary in scale — while some depict small objects and documents, others capture the feel of entire decades and their most important figures. All subjects are tackled honestly and bravely; from the Civil War to immigrant narratives, Smith has managed to create a beautiful and emotive book.
You’ll like this book if…you’re a fan of poetry and the voices of women, and you want to experience compelling personal narratives such as the stories of immigrants.
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Rebound by Kwame Alexander
Summary: Charlie Bell is a teenager finding out how to cope with all the setbacks that life seems to throw at him. It’s 1988 and his father has passed, he can’t stop thinking about his best friend CJ, and trouble seems to find him a little too easily. When Charlie’s parents decide to send him to his grandparents’ house to straighten him up, he’s introduced to a whole new world by his cousin Roxie — basketball. As he trains more and more and finds a passion in the court, trouble seems to be slowly creeping up on him. A great coming-of-age story from a New York Times-bestselling author, Rebound is the perfect depiction of what it means to really be a teenager in the 80s and early 90s.
You’ll like this book if… coming-of-age stories are up your alley and you’re a fan of 80s culture.
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Dread Nation by Justina Ireland
Summary: Set in the middle of the American Civil War in the 1860s, zombies first appear and wreak havoc on the battlefield. Whites and Negros, united against a common enemy, band together to restore what America was like before the dead started to walk among the living. Jane, a Negro girl from Kentucky, prefers to stay out of the messy politics of the eastern cities and would rather get back home quietly and safely after graduating from Miss Preston’s School of Combat. However, once she notices people from around her school area going missing, Jane feels the need to fight for her life and defeat some very powerful enemies she has made along the way; enemies that make her question what’s more dangerous: the living or the dead.
Justina Ireland has written an incredibly interesting twist on the usual Civil War narrative, tackling race relations gracefully along the way.
You’ll like this book if… you enjoy reading from the perspective of a strong female character and like well-built dystopian or post-apocalyptic worlds.
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Things that Make White People Uncomfortable by Michael Bennett
Summary: In this book, Michael Bennett gives the reader a refreshingly new take on the conversations about race that have been going on in the United States over the last years. After having led on the fields as a Super Bowl champion and a three-time Pro Bowler defensive end, Bennett writes a little about everything — police brutality, the role of protest in history, black athletes and where they stand with the NFL and NCAA, and much more. This engaging and awakening book restates many of the conversations America has been having but adds its own twist.
Replicating former activist-athletes, such as Muhammad Ali, Michael Bennett takes to paper and comes up with a compelling race-relations manifesto.
You’ll like this book if… you are interested in modern American culture and would like to read about the ever-changing and messy American race-relations from a new point of view.
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The Souls of Black Folk: Essays and Sketches by W.E.B. Du Bois
Summary: This re-edition of one of America’s biggest classics is everything it promises to be — insightful, an excellent analysis of Afro-American life, and a wonderful work from one of the greatest voices in American history. Published first in 1903, Du Bois’s first influential collection of essays takes a look at racism and its consequences, namely the feeling African Americans got of being shunned and put aside in society.
W.E.B. Du Bois was a brilliant mind, and his genius really shines through in this edition. The beautiful sketches, when put together with the essays, elevate Du Bois’s work to the highest level.
You’ll like this book if… you’re a fan of W.E.B. Du Bois and want to add another beautiful edition to your collection of works by African-American scholars.
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Meaty: Essays by Samantha Irby
Summary: Samantha Irby’s debut collection of essays, now re-released, is her first attempt at publishing outside of the internet. After having created her very successful blog bitchesgottaeat.com, Samantha decided to put to print her stories of bad relationships, her struggle with Crohn’s and dieting. The result is a funny, laugh-out-loud and endearing mix of different essays, all tied well perfectly.
This is a strong collection of essays that will take you on an emotional rollercoaster, presenting sad and poignant moments followed by deeply funny stories.
You’ll like this book if… you’re looking for a few boisterous laughs and life lessons in good spirit and enjoy memoirs and personal essays.
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Black Lives, Black Words: 32 Short Plays by Reginald Edmund
Summary: Reginald Edmund’s compilation of these 32 plays comes to ask the question: “Do black lives matter today?” First performed in Chicago in July of 2015, this is an international project that brings together members of the African and black diaspora to truly illustrate what African-American life is like in the major multicultural cities of the world.
Black Lives, Black Words brings to the table what we desperately need: own-voice narratives.
You’ll like this book if… the theater is your passion and you want to imagine what a play dealing with the Black Lives Matter movement would be like onstage.
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Up the Garden Path & The Adventures of the Black Girl in Her Search for God by Lisa Codrington
Summary: These two plays have one thing in common: they both feature black young black women who are faced with unfamiliar situations they must overcome. In one, Rosa—a Barbadian seamstress—pretends to be her brother so she can work in Ontario. There she meets an odd cast of people and must come to terms with who she wants to be and not what everyone else wants her to become. In the other play, a white missionary abandons a black girl for being a nuisance. Not wanting to stay behind, the young girl sets off on her own in the quest for God.
You’ll like this book if… you like reading about strong female protagonists that are well built and complex.
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