February Recommendations Roundup
Author and illustrator Vashti Harrison made history this week as the first Black woman to receive a Caldecott medal for her book, Big. This moving book shares valuable lessons about fitting in, standing out, and the beauty of joyful acceptance. You can read more and get your copy here.
This first recommendation makes a great bridge read from February’s Black History Month to March’s Women’s History Month…
One Sunday afternoon in February 1977, Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, Ntozake Shange, and several other Black women writers met at June Jordan’s Brooklyn apartment to eat gumbo, drink champagne, and talk about their work. Calling themselves “The Sisterhood,” the group―which also came to include Audre Lorde, Paule Marshall, Margo Jefferson, and others―would get together once a month over the next two years, creating a vital space for Black women to discuss literature and liberation. The Sisterhood tells the story of how this remarkable community transformed American writing and cultural institutions. You can read more and get your copy here.
Myrlie Louise Beasley met Medgar Evers on her first day of college. They fell in love at first sight, married just one year later, and Myrlie left school to focus on their growing family. Medgar became the field secretary for the Mississippi branch of the NAACP, charged with beating back the most intractable and violent resistance to black voting rights in the country. Myrlie served as Medgar’s secretary and confidant, working hand in hand with him as they struggled against public accommodations and school segregation, lynching, violence, and sheer despair within their state’s “black belt.” They fought to desegregate the intractable University of Mississippi, organized picket lines and boycotts, despite repeated terroristic threats, including the 1962 firebombing of their home, where they lived with their three young children.On June 12, 1963, Medgar Evers became the highest profile victim of Klan-related assassination of a black civil rights leader at that time; gunned down in the couple’s driveway in Jackson. In the wake of his tragic death, Myrlie carried on their civil rights legacy; writing a book about Medgar’s fight, trying to win a congressional seat, and becoming a leader of the NAACP in her own right.In this groundbreaking and thrilling account of two heroes of the civil rights movement, Joy-Ann Reid uses Medgar and Myrlie’s relationship as a lens through which to explore the on-the-ground work that went into winning basic rights for Black Americans, and the repercussions that still resonate today. You can read more and get your copy here.
With a distinguished and diverse set of contributors, including Oprah Winfrey, Stacey Abrams, and Branford Marsalis, HBCU Made is the only book of its kind, illuminating and celebrating the experience of going to a historically Black college or university—for proud alumni, their loved ones, current students, and anyone considering an HBCU. In moving and candid essays about the schools that nurtured and educated them, a wide range of famous alums share their accounts of how they chose their HBCU, their first days on campus, the dynamic atmosphere of classes where students were constantly challenged to do their best, the professors who devoted themselves to the students, the marching bands and majorettes and how they were shaped by their rigorous training. You can read more and get your copy here.
Solenne Bonet lives in Texas where choice no longer exists. An algorithm determines a Black woman’s occupation, spouse, and residence. Solenne finds solace in penning the biography of Henriette, an ancestor who’d been an enslaved concubine to a wealthy planter in 1800s Louisiana. But history repeats itself when Solenne, lonely and naïve, finds herself entangled with Bastien Martin, a high-ranking government official. Solenne finds the psychological bond unbearable, so she considers alternatives. With Henriette as her guide, she must decide whether and how to leave behind all she knows. Perfect read for fans of Octavia Butler and Margaret Atwood. You can read more and get your copy here.
This next debut author is being called one of the most promising fiction writers of this year…
Every American waits with bated breath to see whether or not the country’s first female president will pass the Forgiveness Act. The bill would allow Black families to claim up to $175,000 if they can prove they are the descendants of slaves, and for ambitious single mother Willie Revel the bill could be a long-awaited form of redemption. A decade ago, Willie gave up her burgeoning journalism career to help run her father’s struggling construction company in Philadelphia and she has reluctantly put family first, without being able to forget who she might have become. Now she’s back living with her parents and her young daughter while trying to keep her family from going into bankruptcy. Could the Forgiveness Act uncover her forgotten roots while also helping save their beloved home and her father’s life’s work? It’s up to Willie to verify their ancestry and save her family—but as she delves into their history, Willie begins to learn just how complicated family and forgiveness can be. You can read more and get your copy here.
Studies show that nearly 70 percent of divorces are initiated by women—women who are tired, fed up, exhausted, and unhappy. We’ve all seen how the media portrays divorcées: sad, lonely, drowning their sorrows in a bottle of wine. Lyz Lenz is one such woman whose life fell apart after she reached a breaking point in her twelve-year marriage. But she refused to take part in that tired narrative and decided to flip the script on divorce. In this exuberant and unapologetic book, Lenz makes an argument for the advantages of getting divorced, framing it as a practical and effective solution for women to take back the power they are owed. This book comes out Tuesday - you can read more and get your copy here.
And here’s a related read…
In The Other Significant Others, NPR's Rhaina Cohen invites us into the lives of people who have defied convention by choosing a friend as a life partner―these are friends who are home co-owners, co-parents or each other’s caregivers. Their riveting stories unsettle widespread assumptions about relationships, including the idea that sex is a defining feature of partnership and that people who raise kids together should be in a romantic relationship. Platonic partners from different walks of life―spanning age and religion, gender and sexuality and more―reveal how freeing and challenging it can be to embrace a relationship model that society doesn't recognize. And they show that orienting your world around friends isn't limited to daydreams and episodes of The Golden Girls, but actually possible in real life. You can read more and get your copy here.
I’m in a bit of a True Crime Era when it comes to what I’m watching. These are two I’ve recently checked out.
HBO’s Murder in Boston is about the October 1989 murder of Carol Stuart. The murder was originally reported by her husband, Charles, as a carjacking by a Black assailant in which they had both been shot. The three-episode series explores the enduring, painful toll the case had on those involved, Boston race relations, and how a community can be affected in a rush to justice. You can watch the trailer here.
After a harrowing home invasion and kidnapping in 2015, a couple is accused of staging the ordeal when the woman reappears. The show is based on the harrowing abduction and kidnapping story of Denise Huskins and Aaron Quinn. The incident started on March 23, 2015, when the pair were woken by a home invader in their Vallejo, California home. You can watch the trailer here.
Family Secrets podcast is from our June 2019 author, Dani Shapiro. Shapiro’s book, Inheritance, explored her discovery of an explosive family secret. Her podcast features guests who have also discovered long-hidden secrets from their families’ past. Season 9 just launched - you can check it out here.
Finally, I hope you’ve been enjoying some of the content I’ve been sharing on Instagram from our February book! Stay tuned for details about an upcoming interview with the author!
