The Boston Public Library released its ‘Black Is…’ booklist for 2023. Here’s what’s on it.
Library staff compiled a list of 75 titles for celebrating Black History Month, ranging from poetry to picture books.
Black History Month is just around the corner and the Boston Public Library on Thursday kicked off its celebrations with the release of its annual “Black Is…” booklist, which this year features 75 titles published in 2022 that “commemorate the achievements, complexities, struggles, and culture of the Black experience.”
The books range from adult nonfiction and fiction to poetry to works for teens and children.
“The ‘Black Is…’ booklist is compiled by Boston Public Library staff from the Central Library in Copley Square, East Boston Branch, Fields Corner Branch, and Lower Mills Branch, and features selected books written either by Black authors or about Black history and culture,” the library said in a statement. “‘Black Is…’ includes fiction, nonfiction, and poetry for adults, teenagers, and children by authors such as Colin Kaepernick, Viola Davis, Alice Walker, Terry Crews, and more.”
In addition to the booklist, the Boston Public Library is celebrating Black History Month with a host of programming and events, including author talks, film screenings, and craft workshops. Among the range of activities organized by the library is a Feb. 2 online author talk with Matthew F. Delmont about his book “Half American: The Epic Story of African Americans Fighting World War II at Home and Abroad,” and a Feb. 7 screening of the documentary “The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975” by director Göran Olsson.
Below, check out the 75 titles compiled by Boston library staff for the 2023 “Black Is…” booklist.
Fiction
- “Something So Sweet” by Joy Avery
- “A Ghost in Shining Armor” by Therese Beharrie
- “Yinka, Where Is Your Huzband?” by Lizzie Damilola Blackburn
- “Business Not As Usual” by Sharon C. Cooper
- “The Final Strife” by Saara El-Arifi
- “These Impossible Things” by Salma El-Wardany
- “The Women Could Fly” by Megan Giddings
- “By the Book” by Jasmine Guillory
- “D’Vaughn and Kris Plan a Wedding” by Chencia C. Higgins
- “The Library of the Dead” by T.L. Huchu
- “I’m So (Not) Over You” by Kosoko Jackson
- “The Romantic Agenda” by Claire Kann
- “The Memory Librarian” by Janelle Monáe
- “My Government Means to Kill Me” by Rasheed Newson
- “Braking Day” by Adam Oyebanji
- “Sister Mother Warrior” by Vanessa Riley
- “The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks” by Shauna Robinson
- “In Search of a Prince” by Toni Shiloh
- “The Legacy of Molly Southbourne” by Tade Thompson
- “Blurred Lines” by Keith Thomas Walker
- “Fake It Till You Bake It” by Jamie Wesley
- “Black Cake” by Charmaine Wilkerson
- “Summoning Up Love” by Synithia Williams
Nonfiction
- “The Trayvon Generation” by Elizabeth Alexander
- “No Justice, No Peace” by Devin Allen
- “The Mamas” by Helena Andrews-Dyer
- “Justice of the Pies” by Maya-Camille Broussard
- “How to Have Difficult Conversations About Race” by Kwame Christian
- “Just Pursuit” by Laura Coates
- “Tough” by Terry Crews
- “Finding Me” by Viola Davis
- “Manifesto” by Bernardine Evaristo
- “Africa Is Not a Country” by Dipo Faloyin
- “Of Blood and Sweat” by Clyde W. Ford
- “AphroChic” by Jeanine Hays
- “Uphill” by Jemele Hill
- “Admissions” by Kendra James
- “Black Joy” by Tracy Michae’l Lewis-Giggetts
- “Black Ghost of Empire” by Kris Manjapra
- “The Catch Me If You Can” by Jessica Nabongo
- “Ain’t That A Mother” by Adiba Nelson
- “My America” by Kwame Onwuachi
- “South to America” by Imani Perry
- “Black Love Matters” by Jessica P. Pryde
- “Call Me Chef, Dammit!” by Andre Rush
- “Bird Brother” by Rodney Stotts
- “Watermelon and Red Birds” by Nicole A. Taylor
- “Koshersoul” by Michael W. Twitty
- “Gathering Blossoms Under Fire” by Alice Walker
- “A Way Out of No Way” by Raphael G. Warnock
- “Scenes from My Life” by Michael K. Williams
Poetry
- “The Study of Human Life” by Joshua Bennett
- “Girls That Never Die” by Safia Elhillo
Teen fiction
- “Batter Royale” by Leisl Adams
- “The Kindred” by Alechia Dow
- “Blood Scion” by Deborah Falaye
- “The Getaway” by Lamar Giles
- “Required Reading for the Disenfranchised Freshman” by Kristen R. Lee
- “Mirror Girls” by Kelly Mcwilliams
- “A Girl’s Guide to Love & Magic” by Debbie Rigaud
- “Seton Girls” by Charlene Thomas
- “Right Where I Left You” by Julian Winters
- “Nothing Burns as Bright as You” by Ashley Woodfolk
Teen nonfiction
- “Augusta Savage” by Marilyn Nelson
Children’s books
- “The Juneteenth Story” Alliah L. Agostini
- “Moonflower” by Kacen Callender
- “I Color Myself Different” by Colin Kaepernick
- “Freewater” by Amina Luqman-Dawson
- “Resistance” by Frantzy Luzincourt
- “Omari McQueen’s Best Bites Cookbook” by Omari McQueen
- “The Legend of Gravity” by Charly Palmer
- “Because of You, John Lewis” by Andrea Davis Pinkney
- “It’s the End of the World and I’m in My Bathing Suit” by Justin A. Reynolds
- “Be Real, Macy Weaver” by Lakita Wilson
- “The Year We Learned to Fly” by Jacqueline Woodson
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