My Favorite Books by Authors of Color

Here are some of my favorite books by authors of color, some of which, are my favorite books period.

The Color Purple by Alice Walker is one of my all-time favorite books. A story of friendship, sisterhood, and self-discovery. I’ve read it three times and cried every time.

Born a Crime is one of my favorite memoirs. Trevor Noah’s book is wildly entertaining, vividly descriptive, heartbreakingly honest, and deeply inspiring.

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi is one of my favorite works of historical fiction and one of the best books I’ve ever read. I love multi-generational family sagas and this one is fantastic.

I pretty much love anything by Toni Morrison and Maya Angelou, especially The Bluest Eye and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (but many of their books are on loan to friends and family).

As a former literacy specialist, I always read the works of Christopher Paul Curtis to my third and fourth grade students (and my own children).

I met the illustrator Vanessa Brantley Newton of The Youngest Marcher at a Society for Children’s Book Authors and Illustrators conference. She gave a wonderful speech about her path to success as a woman of color in the book business. She was simply fabulous!

I am currently listening to The Girl with the Louding Voice on Audible and so far, it is wonderful. I recently read The Hate U Give and Sing, Unburied, Sing is next up in the TBR.

Black Lives Matter! Read books by Authors of Color!