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Mar 1, 2022 · From the Highlander clan named Douglas, Johnson suggested a new name. Frederick liked the name’s sound and strength as a word, and he quickly accepted, adding an s for distinction. Thus began the long process of the most famous self-creation of an African American identity in American history.
- Soraya Nadia Mcdonald
- The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin. Essun comes home one day to find her husband has killed their son and kidnapped their daughter. She must journey through a broken and war-torn world to find and save her daughter, all during the collapse of the all-powerful empire that has ruled over the world for a thousand years.
- Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi. Set in ’92 Los Angeles, Ella has what she calls a "Thing" — an ability to see things that haven't yet happened. Her older brother Kev wants to protect Ella from herself — but after he ends up incarcerated, she struggles with her ability to confront the past and the future, knowing that a revolution might be the only way toward progress.
- Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora, edited by Sheree Thomas. This anthology gathers fiction and essays from classic writers of Black science fiction, fantasy, and speculative fiction like Octavia Butler, Samuel R. Delany, Nalo Hopkinson, Walter Mosley, and more.
- Dawn by Octavia E. Butler. The first novel in the Xenogenesis series, Dawn, introduces us to Lilith, a woman whose son and husband died in the fires that destroyed Earth.
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Jan 30, 2020 · Also, it’s sometimes difficult to understand the history of black science fiction without reference to the history of black fantasy. Keeping in mind how inextricably the two genres are interwoven, I include works of fantasy in this history of black science fiction crash course reading list, though I’m careful to note their presence with a ...
- Nnedi Okorafor
- N.K. Jemisin
- L.A. Banks
- Tracey Baptiste
- Colson Whitehead
- L.L. Mckinney
- Justina Ireland
- Tracy Deonn
Okorafor is an author whose talent spreads in all areas of SFF. From Akata Witch to the Binti series, she has a strong presence in this field and isn’t going anywhere. She has also won awards from Hugo, Nebula, Lodestar Awards, Locus, and World Fantasy. Additionally, her debut novel Zarah the Windseeker was the winner of the prestigious Wole Sayink...
Jemisin is the first Black author to have ever won the Hugo Award in the ‘Best Novel Category’, as well as the first to have done it three years in a row. I was recently gifted The City We Became and am super excited to read it. I’m taking my time with it though. After reading the first chapter, I realize that Jemisin is an author that you want to ...
The late Leslie Esdaile Banks Peterson used this pen name for her paranormal novels. The Vampire Huntress series put a unique spin on vampire folklore in an urban setting. What sets this apart from others is that a Black female is the lead vampiric character. In the past, whenever there were Black vampire stories, it was a man who was the lead (see...
Baptiste began her career as a teacher and then a textbook editor. One of the first books she wrote was Minecraft: The Crash which debuted on The New York Times Best Seller list in 2018. Her most well-known book is The Jumbies, which is now a middle school series. It takes place place on a Caribbean island and incorporates the folklore that the Car...
Since his first book The Intuitionist in 1999, Whitehead has been a force to be reckoned with in the literary world. He is this year’s recipient for the Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction. This makes him the youngest winner for this accolade. All of his books have a mythical or magical feel to them. From the dystopian society of the afo...
A twisted version of Wonderland with an urban setting and a Black butt-kicking Alice? Yes please. While McKinney is relatively new to publishing—although not for lack of trying—A Blade So Black slammed into the book world in 2018. It made readers eager to learn more not only about the author, but also her spin on Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. T...
Ireland may be mostly known for Dread Nation,an alternative reality zombie filled novel that takes place after the Civil War. She has written other things in SFF, including books in the Star Wars franchise. Like Due, she also dabbles in horror. She penned a series of books for younger kids that take place in the why-would-you-even-live-there town D...
Okay so this one is cheating just a little bit, since Legendbornwon’t be out until September. But it is already generating quite a buzz with some of us Rioters. And, looking at the synopsis, who could blame us? A King Arthur and Merlin spin with a young, strong, and Black female protagonists? Sign me up! Another recommendation is A Phoenix First Mu...
The Forever Tree. The Forever Tree is a short film described by its creators as “an Indiana Jones like female driven adventure story, steeped in black history, about family, love and the pursuit ...
Without further ado, check out these 30 must-read African American literature books. 1. Cane by Jean Toomer (1923) Buy on Amazon. Add to library. The versatile, lyrical writer Jean Toomer produced only one novel during his long and varied career, which ranged from poetry to essays about his Quaker faith.
Feb 8, 2021 · The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store. by James McBride. A 2023 bestseller from the author of 2013’s National Book Award winner The Good Lord Bird, McBride’s latest is set in the 1920s and ’30s in the fictionalized neighborhood of Chicken Hill, Pennsylvania, where Jewish and Black Americans live side by side. When a skeleton is found at the ...
