In February, we honor and recognize Black Legacy Month at Buncombe County Public Libraries. We will be celebrating throughout February through several online events, staff-curated booklists, and a collection of online resources and exhibits.
Virtual book clubs will discuss On Girlhood by Glory Edim and The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. You can register for either book club on the library calendar.
When you visit your library, look for special Black Legacy Month displays and book selections.
Below, you will find our Librarians’ reading list highlighting Black authors that include selections for all ages.
We look forward to seeing you at the library!
Black Legacy Month Reading List
Books for Families to Share
My Heart Flies Open by Omileye Achikeobi-Lewis
The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander
The Electric Slide and Kai by Kelly J. Baptist
Soul Food Sunday by Winsome Bingham
This Is Your Time by Ruby Bridges
Legacy: Women Poets of the Harlem Renaissance by Nikki Grimes
Born on the Water by Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renee Watson
The Oldest Student: How Mary Walker Learned to Read by Rita Hubbard
Recognize! An Anthology Honoring and Amplifying Black Life Edited by Wade Hudson and Cheryl Willis Hudson
Going Down Home with Daddy by Kelly Starling Lyons
My Hair Is Magic by M.L. Marroquin
M is for Melanin by Tiffany Rose
Exquisite: the Life of Gwendolyn Brooks by Suzanne Buckingham Slade
Nina: a Story of Nina Simone by Traci N. Todd
Dream Street by Tricia Elam Walker
Chapter Books For Older Kids
Isaiah Dunn is My Hero by Kelly J. Baptist
Blended by Sharon Draper
The Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson
Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi
New Kid by Jerry Craft
From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks
Black Boy Joy: 17 Stories Celebrating Black Boyhood edited by Kwame Mbalia
Betty Before X by Ilyasah Shabazz
Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
Books for Teens
The Skin I’m In by Sharon G. Flake
Dread Nation by Justina Ireland
All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson
You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson
March by John Lewis and Andrew Ayden
Revolution in Our Time: the Black Panther’s Promise to the People by Kekla Magoon
Loving vs. Virginia by Patricia Powell
Dear Martin by Nic Stone
On the Come Up by Angie Thomas
Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi
Books for Adults
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennet
The Yellow House by Sarah Broom
I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown
You Are Your Best Thing edited by Tarana Burke
Call Us What We Carry by Amanda Gorman
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
Soul City: Race, Equality, and the Lost Dream of an American Utopia by Thomas Healy
All About Love by bell hooks
Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women that Movement Forgot by Mikki Kendall
400 Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019 edited by Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain
The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Disha Philyaw
How the Word is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America by Clint Smith
The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead