Whether you’re sitting under the dryer at the hair salon, riding in the car toward your family’s weekend beach trip, or passing time in class after finishing your assignments early, there’s nothing better than delving into a good book — especially a good book filled with vibrant characters and stories of people who look like you.
Not sure where to start? No prob. We’ve created a list of 21 books — in no particular order — every Black girl should read to help get you started.
Read on, girl.
1. Copper Sun by Sharon M. Draper
2. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
3. Native Son by Richard Wright
4. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
5. The Skin I’m In by Sharon G. Flake
6. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
7. Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self by Danielle Evans
9. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl Written by Herself by Harriet Jacobs
11. Cane River by Lalita Tademy
12. 145th Street by Walter Dean Meyers
14. The Watsons Go to Birmingham –1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis
15. The Ways of White Folks by Langston Hughes
16. The Known World by Edward P. Jones
18. Who is Carrie? by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
19. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
20. Naughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman
21. The Mis-Education of the Negro by Carter G. Woodson
BONUS #22: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Did we miss any of your favorites? Add them in the comments below! And don’t forget to check out Sesi TV contributor, Russia, break down a few of her favorites from this list here!
The Girl Who Fell From the Sky by Heidi Durrow.
Reblogged this on mycrazytaxworld.
Great list and great additions. And Ntozake’s For Colored Hirls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf
Assata Shakur bio “Assata”
“Brown Girl, Brownstone” by Paule Marshall is awesome.
I like “Brown Girl Dreaming” and “Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry.”
The Coldest Wonter Ever by Sistah Souljah is definitely a must Read. I would also add Toni Morrison The Bluest Eye.
We’ve heard of that, too! Thanks for adding to the list! 🙂
The is a wonder ful book called “The Ditch Diggers Daughters” by Yvonne Thornton. It was so inspiring to me.
That is a good one! We have a copy of that one in our office, too!
The Bondwoman’s Narrative. By Hannah Crafts