Each February there is an opportunity to celebrate Black voices, both in the spoken and the written word. History is passed down in many ways, including storytelling.
Telling our stories is what makes us human, fueling and enriching our culture for generations to come. Explore your library’s collection this Black History Month to appreciate Black experience, both historic and modern, in contemporary literature.
Yonder
by Jabari Asim – Threaded between misery and hope is a tale of slavery on a southern plantation, and the search for love and freedom when everything has been taken from you.
Anywhere You Run
by Wanda M. Morris – This thriller features two sisters, one in Ohio and another in Georgia, fleeing Jim Crow justice in 1964.
Love Radio
by Ebony LaDelle – Three strikes and you’re out—that’s the dating policy for aspiring author Dani when she meets hip-hop DJ-in-training Prince and feels an immediate connection.
Don’t Cry For Me
by Daniel Black – In this moving tale of forgiveness, a father makes amends with his gay son through letters written on his deathbed.
Memphis
by Tara M. Stringfellow – These pages spill history through the saga of a family torn by violence, rage and grief as Joan, an artist, finds peace in the portraits she completes of the women in her life.
A Killer Sundae
by Abby Collette – This whimsical mystery is the third installment in the Ice Cream Parlor mystery series, where a delicious frozen treat turns deadly and it’s up to the young shop owner to solve the case.
On Rotation
by Shirlene Obuobi – For fans of Grey’s Anatomy, this engrossing novel explores what it’s like being a Ghanaian-American med student who’s trying to figure out what, and who, she wants in life.
Last Summer on State Street
by Toya Wolfe – This debut novel features a woman looking back on the friendships she forged during a fateful summer of her childhood in the housing projects of Chicago.
What the Fireflies Knew
by Kai Harris – In a poignant story of Black girlhood, KB and her sister Nia are sent to live with their grandfather after their father succumbs to a drug addiction that also costs the family their home.
Black Cake
by Charmaine Wilkerson – Estranged siblings are reconnected through a family recipe their mother left for them, along with a voice recording from which secrets are revealed.