Black History Month
Enjoy these selected titles by black authors.

FICTION ALLEN
Black girls must die exhausted : a novel / Jayne Allen
After learning she might not be able to have children, a 33 year old black woman planning to “have it all,” watches her dreams dissolve and must rely on her two best friends to get through.

FICTION HARRIS
The sweetness of water / Nathan Harris
In the spirit of The Known World and The Underground Railroad comes a story about the unlikely bond between two freedmen who are brothers and the Georgia farmer whose alliance will alter their lives, and his, forever. (Also available as an eBook and Downloadable Audio from Libby/OverDrive.)

Libby/OverDrive Downloadable Audio
Palmares / Gayle Jones
Intricate and compelling, Palmares recounts the journey of Almeyda, a Black slave girl who comes of age on Portuguese plantations and escapes to a fugitive slave settlement called Palmares. (Available as an Downloadable Audio from Libby/OverDrive.)

Libby/OverDrive eBook and Downloadable Audio
Skye falling / Mia McKenzie
Then a twelve-year-old girl tracks Skye down during one of her brief visits to her hometown of Philadelphia and informs Skye that she’s “her egg.” Skye’s life is thrown into sharp relief and she decides that it might be time to actually try to have a meaningful relationship with another human being. (Available as an eBook and Downloadable Audio from Libby/OverDrive.)

FICTION MINNICKS
Moonrise over New Jessup : a novel / Jamila Minnicks
It’s 1957, and after leaving the only home she has ever known, Alice Young steps off the bus into the all-Black town of New Jessup, Alabama, where residents have largely rejected integration as the means for Black social advancement. She falls in love with Raymond Campbell, whose clandestine organizing activities challenge New Jessup’s status quo and could lead to the young couple’s expulsion-or worse-from the home they hold dear. But as Raymond continues to push alternatives for enhancing New Jessup’s political power, Alice must find a way to balance her undying support for his underground work with her desire to protect New Jessup from the rising pressure of upheavals both in and out of town.

FICTION REID
Such a fun age / Kiley Reid
Seeking justice for a young black babysitter who was wrongly accused of kidnapping by a racist security guard, a successful blogger finds her efforts complicated by a video that reveals unexpected connections. (Also available in Large Print and as an eBook and Downloadable Audio from Libby/OverDrive.)

FICTION RYAN
Before I let go : a Skyland novel Kennedy Ryan
After a devastating tragedy, a married couple, Yasmen and Wade, discover that love isn’t enough to save their marriage, but it eventually might be enough to bring them back together for a second time around.

Hoopla Downloadable Audio
Saving Ruby King / Catherine Adel Wes
Set in the South Side of Chicago, an epic, enthralling story of a young woman determined to protect her best friend while a long-buried secret threatens to unravel both their families.

BH: February 2023