9 Novels by Black Authors You Need to Read, Like, Yesterday
- Victoria
- Jun 3, 2020
- 5 min read
If you have been following my blog, you know that I have always been committed to promoting diversity in fiction. Fiction doesn't seem real if every single character is white.
You may be saying to yourself "But Tori, it's fiction, it doesn't have to be real!", to which I say that you are wrong. I simply do not buy that you have to be white to go on adventures or fall in love.
Now, you may be saying to yourself "Of course you don't. What an odd statement! Why even mention it?" And yes, it is an odd sentiment. However, due to the predominant portrayal of white people going on adventures and falling in love in TV and movies, if an explicit mention of someone's race or ethnicity is excluded, we tend to assume they're white.
(For a reference of this phenomenon, look no further than the outrage at casting a black actress to play Hermione Granger in the play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.)
So here is a list of books by black and biracial authors that I have loved (and cried over), in no particular order.
Children of Blood and Bone - Tomi Adeyemi
Children of Blood and Bone follows the story of Zélie Adebola, an Orïshan girl born with the power to raise the dead. She, along with the other gifted members of Orïshan society gifted with powers, the maji, are oppressed by the king and his forces after magic disappears from the land. When Zélie meets a runaway princess with an artifact that could bring back magic, Zélie must do everything possible to save her people.
The Wedding Date - Jasmine Guillory
In The Wedding Date, Alexa Monroe gets stuck in an elevator with a cute pediatric surgeon and agrees to be his plus-one to his ex's wedding on a whim. What she doesn't expect is that they might hit it off. The only problem - he's from LA. Will they be able to overcome their differences?
The Book of Negroes - Lawrence Hill
You have probably heard of this one - it was made into a CBC miniseries in 2015. The Book of Negroes is the story of Aminata, who was abducted from her village in Mali in 1755 and taken on a slave ship to South Carolina. It follows her life as she moves through the US, eventually being freed and moving to Nova Scotia. I can't summarize this book adequately, because it is a very emotional story. It's an important piece of our history (The Book of Negroes is a real historical document that is on display at the Kew National Archives) and this is one way to begin learning about Canada's history of slavery and racism. If it makes you uncomfortable, good, because it's meant to. I know that you will read this and think about your place in the world; I know that I did.
Opposite of Always - Justin A. Reynolds
Opposite of Always is your classic love story - boy meets girl, girl gets a terminal illness and dies, boy begins living the same 4 months of his life over and over to try to save her. My Goodreads review of this book was only "brb sobbing," and that's because it has everything that I love - a healthy romance and love story, a touch of the supernatural, great world-building and side characters that aren't totally flat.
The Hate U Give - Angie Thomas
You have probably heard of this one too, because it was made into a movie in 2018, starring the amazingly talented Amandla Stenberg. The Hate U Give is about police brutality, as witnessed by Starr, who becomes the only person around to advocate for her friend Khalil after he is shot and killed by a white police officer at a traffic stop. The aftermath of this incident threatens to tear Starr's extremely ordered life apart - will she be able to get justice for Khalil without sacrificing everything she cares about?
The Belles - Dhonielle Clayton
This is probably the most fun book I have read in a while. In The Belles, beauty is only possessed by the chosen few, girls who have been blessed by the Goddess of Beauty and trained to share their gifts with the damned citizens of Orléans, born grey with red eyes. Camille is one of the Belles being presented to Court, hoping to become the Queen's favourite so she can live in the opulence she has always dreamed of. But it just may turn out that Camille and her sisters are about to learn that nothing is as it seems in the Palais Royale, and that being the favourite may not be the gift they were promised.
Everything, Everything - Nicola Yoon
If this title sounds familiar, it's because it was also made into a movie starring the amazingly talented Amandla Stenberg. In Everything, Everything, Maddie is born with a rare autoimmune disease that means she could die at any time from even the smallest exposure to the outside world. She's mostly happy, living with her mother and chatting with her nurse, Carla. That is, until Olly moves next door, and Maddie begins to want more freedom than her tiny life can afford her.
The Sun Is Also A Star - Nicola Yoon
This is the last book on this list that may sound familiar to you - it was made into a movie starring Yara Shahidi in 2018. It follows Daniel, a good Korean boy who dreams of being a poet against his parents' wishes of him studying medicine, and Natasha, a decidedly earth-bound girl who is being deported in 12 hours. They meet randomly under the most inauspicious circumstances - but that doesn't stop Daniel from betting he can make Natasha fall in love with him in a day.
Pride - Ibi Zoboi
If you're like me and love every single incarnation of Pride and Prejudice, you will love Ibi Zoboi's Pride. Zuri is proud - proud to live in Brooklyn, proud of her family, proud to be Afro-Latina. When Darius Darcy moves in with his family across the street from Zuri's home in rapidly-gentrifying Bushwick neighbourhood, she wants nothing to do with him. This proves to be hard as her sister, Janae, falls for Darius' brother, Ainsley, and Zuri is forced to find common ground with him. Between drama with Darius, her three sisters, college applications, the changing landscape of Brooklyn, and the new attentions of her neighbour, Warren, Zuri must decide what is truly important to her - her pride, or finding herself a new place in her world.
Do you have a favourite book by a black author that you'd like to share? Have you read anything on this list? Let me know what you think, and give me some suggestions in the comments below!
#blackauthors #blackfiction #blackromance #new #blackfantasy #YAfantasy #YAromance #novels #reading #readingcommunity #books #diversefiction #diversity #angiethomas #nicolayoon #lawrencehill #justinareynolds
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