We have compiled a list of fiction books suited for students and adult readers that discuss Black history, current events, and ways to fight racism and injustice. This is one step in our commitment to work for justice, outlined by Headmaster Dennis Manning in his Headmaster's Statement — Creating a Just Society, sent to our community on June 4, and reflected in multiple aspects of the school's strategic plan, Creating a Just Society: Integrity, Leadership, and Pluralism.
The books are recommendations from a variety of sources, including our school librarians and faculty, media sources such as the New York Times (a list created by Ibram Kendi), Smithsonian Magazine, and Coretta Scott King Book Awards.
Books are broken down by appropriate school levels, though some may be suitable for a wider range. Some for younger children are poetry or picture books. The links provide reviews, interviews, and additional information about the authors and books.
Books with asterisks are available as e-books from the Batten Library Sora Collection. Although the library is closed because of the pandemic, Middle and Upper School students may log in with their school email addresses to access these titles.
Upper School
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo*
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Invisible Man by Ralph W. Ellison
Lost in the City by Edward P. Jones
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison (Morrison won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1993. The Bluest Eye, published in 1970, was her first novel. Song of Solomon (1977) won the National Book Critics Circle Award and Beloved (1987) won the Pulitzer Prize and was made into a film in 1998.)
Monster by Walter Dean Myers*
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
The Stars and the Blackness Between Them by Junauda Petrus
All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely
I’m Not Dying With You Tonight by Gilly Segal and Kimberly Jones
Dear Martin by Nic Stone
On The Come Up by Angie Thomas
Ink Knows No Borders: Poetry of the Immigrant and Refugee Experience, edited by Patrice Vecchione*
Piecing Me Together by Renee Watson
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead (This novel, which won the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award, is also a summer reading choice for Norfolk Academy faculty and staff.)
American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
Black Enough by Ibi Zoboi*
Middle School
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler
Finding Langston by Lesa Cline-Ransome
New Kid by Jerry Craft
Garvey’s Choice by Nikki Grimes
The Parker inheritance by Varian Johnson
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai
The Lions of Little Rock by Kristin Levine
What Lane? by Torrey Maldonado
Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia
Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan
The First Rule of Punk by Celia C. Pérez
A Good Kind of Trouble by Lisa Moore Ramee*
Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Genesis Begins Again by Alicia D. Williams
One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
Lower School
I Am Enough by Grace Byers
The Blacker the Berry: Poems by Joyce Carol Thomas
Something Happened in Our Town by Marianne Celano, Marietta Collins, and Ann Hazzard
Let the Children March by Monica Clark-Robinson
The Watsons Go to Birmingham by Christopher Paul Curtis
Stella by Starlight by Sharon M. Draper
Midnight Teacher: Lily Ann Granderson and Her Secret School by Janet Halfmann
I, Too, Am America by Langston Hughes
IntersectionAllies: We Make Room for All by Chelsea Johnson, LaToya Council, and Carolyn Choi
The Colors of Us by Karen Katz
Can I Touch Your Hair? Poems of Race, Mistakes and Friendship by Irene Latham and Charles Waters
What Is Given from the Heart by Patricia McKissack, illustrated by April Harrison
Sulwe by Lupita Nyong'o
The Bell Rang by James E. Ransome
Say Something! by Peter Reynolds
Tar Beach by Faith Ringgold
You Matter by Christian Robinson
Follow the Drinking Gourd by Jeanette Winter
The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson
We have previously posted a list of nonfiction books and news articles and websites that address racism and Creating a Just Society.