While your days of assigned reading might be long gone, a good book is still the quickest way to explore the world, contemplate new ideas, or discover the life lessons of sages both past and present, especially around the holiday season.
Whether you crave the traditional experience of turning a page or prefer the help of the latest technology- reading is still fundamental. According to the Pew Center for Research, three out of every four adults read a book in some format within the last 12 months. And if you find yourself to be the odd man out, the list of 2016 page-turners from astounding African-American authors will undoubtedly pull your interest.
For the Kids
“Whoosh” by Chris Barton
If you’ve ever had a water fight on the block you know the person with the Super-Soaker wins. But did you know the power in your hands was invented by a Black man?
Open up the world of engineering for your home’s little innovator with Chris Barton’s “Whoosh,” the incredible life story of Lonnie Johnson, who created the first Super-Soaker as he experimented with using water and air to cool down machines.
“We Came to America” by Faith Ringgold
Change the traditional history book narrative about America’s less-than-humble beginnings with this children’s book by Faith Ringgold. In a time where immigrants around the world are being shunned, it’s easy to forget that aside from indigenous peoples, the United States of America was built with the blood, sweat, and tears of immigrants and slaves.
Help your child understand their own story with Ringgold’s text, which delves into the many different cultures woven into the American tapestry.
Fiction
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
Even in a time where the masses are proclaiming to be “tired of the slave story,” Colson Whitehead’s “The Underground Railroad” is a game-changer. Whitehead unfolds the complex tale of a Georgia slave girl named Cora, who risks her life to become a free woman via a literal Underground Railroad.
Whitehead intricately merges fact and fiction as Cora finds herself in a series of fictional situations reminiscent of very real modern-day disgraces and triumphs, such as the Tuskegee Syphilis and Port Royal Experiments.
Though the book puts the brutal facts of chattel slavery on full display, more important is the story of invincible strength and courage inherent in Cora and in each of our real-life ancestors who dared to seek freedom.
Whitehead’s twist on history comes highly recommended from Oprah’s Book Club and further justified its’ spot on the list of 2016 bestsellers with the National Book Award for Fiction.
Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson
Jacqueline Woodson’s return to the realm of adult fiction is not to be confused with “a comeback-” she did, after all, just take the title of Young People’s Poet Laureate and win the 2014 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature with “Brown Girl Dreaming.”
She is back with an in depth examination of four girls careening towards womanhood in her latest novel, “Another Brooklyn.”
Woodson carefully captures the growing pains of August and her three friends Sylvia, Angela and Gigi, as they come of age in the Brooklyn of the 1970s and 80s. Switching effortlessly between past and present, Woodson explores how the hurts of our past indelibly shape the future.
Financial Literacy, Career, and Self- Help
“The Power of Broke: How Empty Pockets, a Tight Budget, and a Hunger for Success Can Become Your Greatest Competitive Advantage” by Daymond John
“Let’s face it, when you’re up against all odds, when you’ve exhausted every opportunity, when you’re down to your last dime…that’s when you’ve got no choice to succeed.”
Daymond John gets straight to the point in his latest book, “The Power of Broke: How Empty Pockets, a Tight Budget, and a Hunger for Success Can Become Your Greatest Competitive Advantage.”
The entrepreneur, consultant, and co-founder of the 1990’s hit FUBU clothing line highlights the importance of failure, the need for innovation, sincerity, flexibility, and resilience needed to “survive and thrive” in the business world.
Throughout the book John gives doses of encouragement and advice with “Power Facts” dealing with all topics such as digital marketing and longevity. In addition to his literary efforts, John can be seen giving advice to budding business owners around the country as an investor on CNBC’s “Shark Tank.”
“Draw What Success Looks Like: The Coloring and Activity Book for Serious Businesspeople” by Sarah Cooper
Who says coloring books are for kids? The woman who helped us identify acceptable “faces to make in a meeting,” Sarah Cooper, is back to help us color success into our adult lives- or at least break our brains out of cubicle prison.
The book is complete with the “Get Out of Your Comfort Zone” Maze, Venn diagrams for success, and opportunities to add weight on the right side of the “Work Life Balance” seesaw. Cooper brilliantly uses the trend of adult activity books to bring us the “meeting survival guide,” and if need be, a sample resignation letter.
“Whoa, Baby!: A Guide for New Moms Who Feel Overwhelmed and Freaked Out (and Wonder What the #*$& Just Happened)” by Kelly Rowland, Laura Moser, and Tristan Brickman, M.D.
The baby is here. Now what? If you find yourself lost in the wave of challenges that washes over every woman entering motherhood, consider yourself in good company. It’s been two years since the award-winning songstress Kelly Rowland welcomed the birth of her first son, Titan Jewell Weatherspoon. However, upon reaching motherhood, Rowland found more questions than answers for what was happening with her body, her emotions, and her child.
With the help of her own OB-GYN, Dr. Tristan Emily Brickman, Rowland delves into the many aspects of womanhood that change- both mentally and physically- when one becomes a mother. Catch Rowland’s jewels of wisdom for mothers struggling to find answers, balance, or sanity in early 2017.
Non-Fiction
“The Meaning of Michelle: 15 Writers on the Iconic First Lady and How her Journey Inspires Our Own” Edited by Veronica Chambers
Moving day is approaching all too quickly for the first Black family to ever call the White House “home.” Whether you agree with her public stances or not- the truth is that the most educated and accomplished woman to ever hold the title of First Lady of the United States is a Black woman from Chi-town.
“She was the first woman I’d ever seen in The New York Times- or any majority media outlet- with whom I completely identified,” writes award-winning author Benilde Little, in her own homage to the first lady. “She was part of my tribe.”
Over the last eight years the world has watched as First Lady Obama tackled childhood obesity with the “Let’s Move” initiative, successfully advocated for the education of girls internationally with the “Let Girls Learn” campaign, supported military families with “Joining Forces,” and encouraged higher education with the “Reach Higher” initiative.
Join 15 of today’s most enthralling writers as they dissect the true impact of First Lady Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama.
“My Life with Earth, Wind & Fire” by Maurice White and Herb Powell
Though legendary singer-songwriter and producer Maurice White is longer with us, his songs, his music, and his words are forever in our hearts.
Released just months after his death in February 2016 from Parkinson’s Disease, “My Life with Earth, Wind, and Fire” is White’s deeply moving memoir that begins against the backdrop of The Great Migration.
Journey through time with White as he details how humble beginnings in Memphis, Tenn. turned into international fame- complete with royal spoils, challenges, and triumphs.
“Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race” by Margot Lee Shetterly
Hollywood and history will finally pay their respects to the work of the four Black female scientists who helped put a man into outer space.
For decades the names Christine Darden, Katherine Johnson, Mary Jackson, and Dorothy Vaughan have been relatively unknown to the general public. However, all of that is about to change.
Margot Lee Shetterly’s book “Hidden Figures” eloquently delves into the story of Black excellence behind not only the country’s premier space exploration- but in the STEM fields in general.
“My father’s best friend was an aeronautical engineer. Our next-door neighbor was a physics professor,” writes Shetterly, in a statement about the book- turned-film. “There were mathematicians at our church, sonic boom experts in my mother’s sorority and electrical engineers in my parents’ college alumni associations.”
On Christmas Day the lives of these four dynamic women will be splashed onto the silver screen, and next month Shetterly’s book about their life’s work will appear on bookshelves across the country.
