My favorite thing about the book club I’m currently in is how diverse the book choices are. We read everything from fantasy to contemporary fiction. We read books set in different countries, and by authors of different ethnicities. We do this intentionally so that we experience diversity of thought and experiences. Here are some of my favorite books written by Black authors, that we’ve read recently.
Nickel Boys, Colson Whitehead
Colson Whitehead knows how to tell a story – often heartbreaking ones! The Nickel Boys is a coming of age story in the Jim Crow era … but that coming of age occurs in a school for boys in segregated Florida – where many atrocities are perpetuated. This book is based on the real story of a reform school in Florida that operated for one hundred and eleven years and warped the lives of thousands of children (the fact that the school continued to operate until 2011 is mind boggling). Colson Whitehead’s writing puts you into the story so you are living it with the characters and again, this is a tough one to read but it’s so engrossing I couldn’t put it down.
Elwood is about to enroll in the local black college. But for a black boy in the Jim Crow South in the early 1960s, one innocent mistake is enough to destroy the future. Elwood is sentenced to a juvenile reformatory called The Nickel Academy, whose mission statement says it provides “physical, intellectual and moral training” so the delinquent boys in their charge can become “honorable and honest men.” In reality, The Nickel Academy is a grotesque chamber of horrors, where the sadistic staff beats and sexually abuses the students, corrupt officials and locals steal food and supplies, and any boy who resists is likely to disappear “out back.”
The Reformatory, Tananarive Due
The Reformatory, Tananarive Due is set during slavery times, and the descriptions are graphic! It’s a horrific time, and the author’s skill with words makes for vivid imagery. But the story is also compelling, blending together injustice, death, hauntings, grief and so much more. This is a tough read, but so, so worth it. Empathy starts with seeing … and this book lays it bare.
Twelve-year-old Robbie Stephens, Jr., is sentenced to six months at the Gracetown School for Boys, a reformatory in Jim Crow Florida that is a chamber of terrors where he sees the horrors of racism and injustice, for the living, and the dead. Robbie also has a talent for seeing ghosts, or haints. But what was once a comfort to him after the loss of his mother has become a window to the truth of what happens at the reformatory. Boys forced to work to remediate their so-called crimes have gone missing, but the haints Robbie sees hint at worse things.
Razorblade Tears, S.A. Crosby
Shoutout to the audiobook narrator Adam Lazarre-White who brought the main characters to life! Unbelievable that he is the voice of both of them – he captured the essence of Derek and Buddy Lee perfectly. And of course, the book itself is brilliant. Wow did Cosby get it right with such a complex story – fathers regrets, race, homophobia, complex family dynamics, and action – lots and lots of action.
The last thing Ike expects to hear is that his son Isiah has been murdered, along with Isiah’s white husband, Derek. Ike had never fully accepted his son but is devastated by his loss. Derek’s father Buddy Lee was almost as ashamed of Derek for being gay as Derek was ashamed his father was a criminal. Buddy Lee still has contacts in the underworld, though, and he wants to know who killed his boy.
Ike and Buddy Lee, two ex-cons with little else in common other than a criminal past and a love for their dead sons, band together in their desperate desire for revenge. In their quest to do better for their sons in death than they did in life, hardened men Ike and Buddy Lee will confront their own prejudices about their sons and each other, as they rain down vengeance upon those who hurt their boys.
The Violin Conspiracy, Brendan Slocumb
I couldn’t put this book down. As soon as I started reading I knew I was going to be hooked. It’s about the theft of a violin … it’s about being a black violin player … or being black in spaces that don’t want you there … it’s about complicated relationships with family. Ooh this author had me in thrall – and – the way he describes when Ray was playing – simply beautiful! A+ for the plot and the pacing, A+ for the character development and A+ for the mystery. Two thumbs up for The Violin Conspiracy.
Ray McMillian loves playing the violin more than anything, and nothing will stop him from pursuing his dream of becoming a professional musician. Not his mother, who thinks he should get a real job, not the fact that he can’t afford a high-caliber violin, not the racism inherent in the classical music world. And when he makes the startling discovery that his great-grandfather’s fiddle is actually a priceless Stradivarius, his star begins to rise. Then with the international Tchaikovsky Competition—the Olympics of classical music—fast approaching, his prized family heirloom is stolen. Ray is determined to get it back. But now his family and the descendants of the man who once enslaved Ray’s great-grandfather are each claiming that the violin belongs to them. With the odds stacked against him and the pressure mounting, will Ray ever see his beloved violin again?
These books were riveting and polarizing, and will make excellent addition to your book club reading list.
