Monthly Book Recommendations & Dr. G’s Top Black Children’s Books

“If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.”– Toni Morrison

Books When You Just Need to Escape & Chill or When You Need Some Motivation (Updated Monthly)

December 2022

  • A Coastline is an Immeasurable Thing ~Mary-Alice Daniel
  • On Rotation ~Shirlene Obuobi
  • Black on Black: On our Resilience and Brilliance in America ~Daniel Black
  • The Sugar Jar: Create Boundaries, Embrace Self-Healing, and Enjoy the Sweet Things in Life ~Yasmine Cheyenne
  • Shot Clock ~Caron Butler & Justin A. Reynolds
  • An American Story ~Kwame Alexander
  • I’m Dreaming of Brown Christmas ~Steve Gray and Vernon D. Gibbs
  • Christmas Soul: African American Holiday Stories ~Allison Samuels
  • Mim’s Christmas Jam ~Andrea Davis Pinkney
  • Soulful Holidays: An inclusive rhyming story celebrating the joys of Christmas and Kwanzaa ~Ciara Hill

November 2022

  • The World We Make ~N.K. Jemisin
  • Extraordinary Women with Cameras ~Darcy Reed
  • Concentrate: Poems ~Courtney Faye Taylor
  • Someday Maybe ~Onyi Nwabineli
  • The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times ~Michelle Obama
  • Making Happy ~Sheetal Sheth

October 2022

  • find her. keep her ~Renaada Williams
  • Bittering the Wound ~Jacqui Germain
  • Black Women Will Save the World: An Anthem ~April Ryan
  • Love in the Age of Dragons ~Fatima R. Henson
  • Running to Fall ~Kalisha Buckhanon
  • Mr. Loverman ~Bernardine Evaristo

September 2022

  • Skye Falling ~Mia McKenzie
  • Cooking from the Spirit: Easy, Delicious, and Joyful Plant-Based Inspirations ~Tabitha Brown
  • Glory ~NoViolet Bulawayo
  • How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water ~Angie Cruz
  • The Chilean Kitchen ~Pilar Hernandez & Eileen Smith
  • What’s Coming to Me ~Francesca Padilla

August 2022

  • The Silent Twins ~Marjorie Wallace
  • Golden Ax ~Rio Cortez
  • How You Grow Wings ~Rimma Onoseta
  • The Witchery ~S. Isabelle
  • The Black Period ~Hafizan Augustus Geter
  • The Getaway ~Lamar Giles

July 2022

  • Woman of Light: A Novel ~Kali Fajardo Anstine
  • African Town ~Irene Latham & Charles Waters
  • Mademoiselle Revolution ~Zoe Sivak
  • Other Terrors: An Inclusive Anthology ~Edited by Vince A. Liaguno & Rena Mason
  • I Rise ~Marie Arnold
  • The Daughter of Doctor Moreau ~Silvia Morena-Garcia

June 2022

  • If They Come For Us ~Fatimah Asghar
  • My Monticello ~Jocelyn Nicole Johnson
  • Girl Gurl Grrrl: On Womanhood and Belonging in the Age of Black Girl Magic ~Kenya Hunt
  • The After Party ~A.C. Arthur
  • All Different Now: Juneteenth, the First Day of Freedom ~Angela Johnson
  • A First Time of Everything: A Story of a Black Woman Public Servant ~Sallie Peake
  • Watermelon & Red Birds: A Cookbook for Juneteenth and Black Celebrations ~Nicole A. Taylor
  • We Are Each Other’s Harvest: Celebrating African American Farmers, Land, and Legacy ~Natalie Baszile

May 2022

  • Jameela Green Ruins Everything ~Zarqa Nawaz
  • Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations ~Mira Jacob
  • Olga Dies Dreaming: A Novel ~Xochitl Gonzalez
  • The Other Madisons: The Lost History of a President’s Black Family ~Bettye Kearse
  • American Street ~Ibi Zoboi

April 2022

  • Take My Hand ~Dolen Perkins-Valdez
  • Bless The Daughter Raised By A Voice In Her Head ~Warsan Shire
  • A Girl is a Body of Water ~Jennifer Nansubuga Maxumbi
  • By The Book ~Jasmine Guillory
  • The Windows of Malabar Hill ~Sujata Massey

March 2022

  • Black Cake ~Charmaine Wilkerson
  • Carolina Built ~Kianna Alexander
  • The School for Good Mothers ~Jessamine Chan
  • Julián is a Mermaid ~Jessica Love
  • We Are Displaced: My Journey and Stories from Refugee Girls Around the World ~Malala Yousafzai
  • Girl Rising: Changing the World One Girl at a Time ~Tanya Lee Stone
  • Memphis ~Tara M. Stringfellow

February/Black History 2022

January 2022

December 2021

  • I Got the Christmas Spirit ~Connie Schofield-Morrison
  • The People Remember ~Ibi Zoboi
  • The Nutcracker in Harlem ~T.E. McMorrow
  • Butter Honey Pig Bread ~Frances Ekwuyasi
  • Moon Witch, Spider King ~Marlon James
  • Wahala ~Nikki May

November 2021

October 2021

  • The 1619 Project: Born on the Water ~Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renée Watson
  • Until I Am Free: Fannie Lou Hamer’s Enduring Message to America ~Keisha N. Blain
  • Harlem Shuffle ~Colson Whitehead
  • Abolition for the People: The Movement for a Future Without Policing & Prisons ~Edited by Colin Kaepernick
  • Becoming Abolitionists: Police, Protest, and The Pursuit of Freedom ~Dereck Purnell

September 2021

August 2021

  • Maya and the Robot ~Eve L. Ewing
  • Island Queen: A Novel ~Vanessa Riley
  • The Son of Mr. Suleman ~Eric Jerome Dickey
  • Mexican Gothic ~Silvia Moreno-Garcia
  • Black Buck ~Mateo Askaripour

July 2021

  • Luster: A Novel ~Raven Leilani
  • Carefree Black Girls: A Celebration of Black Women in Pop Culture ~Zeba Blay
  • On Girlhood: 15 Stories from the Well-Read Black Girl Library ~Glory Edim
  • Leaving Breezy Street: A Memoir ~Brenda Myers-Powell w/ April Reynolds
  • The Poison Heart ~Kalynn Bayron

June 2021

  • A Chorus Rises ~Bethany C. Morrow
  • Ace of Spades: How Do You Stop An Unknown Enemy? ~Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
  • When Life Gives You Mangoes ~Kereen Getten
  • Bamboozled by Jesus: How God Tricked me into the Life of My Dreams ~Yvonne Orji
  • Punch Me Up To The Gods: A Memoir ~ Brian Broome

May 2021

  • Summer on the Bluffs ~Sunny Hostin
  • Sure, I’ll Be Your Black Friend: Notes from the Other Side of the Fist Bump ~Ben Philipe
  • Somebody’s Daughter: A Memoir ~Ashley C. Ford
  • When Stars Rain Down ~Angela Jackson-Brown
  • Black Leopard, Red Wolf ~Marlon James

April 2021

  • Libertie: A Novel ~Kaitlyn Greenidge
  • The Man Who Lived Underground ~Richard Wright
  • Deacon King Kong: A Novel ~James McBride
  • The Gilded Ones ~Namina Forna
  • The Black Flamingo ~Dean Atta

March 2021

  • Black Girl, Call Home ~Jasmine Mans
  • The City We Became: A Novel ~N.K. Jemisin
  • Surviving the White Gaze ~Rebecca Carroll
  • When No One is Watching: A Thriller ~ Alyssa Cole
  • Shame Proof Parenting: Find Your Unique Parenting Voice, Feel Empowered, And Raise Whole Healthy Children ~Mercedes Samudio, LCSW

February 2021

  • Crosshairs ~Catherine Hernandez
  • Raybearer ~Jordan Ifueko
  • Purposeful Perspectives: Empowering Black Women Towards Spiritual Alignment, Self-Mastery & Joy ~Nichomi Higgins
  • Chronicling Stankonia: The Rise of the Hip-Hop South ~Regina N. Bradley
  • With the Fire on High ~Elizabeth Acevedo

January 2021

  • How Long ‘Til Black Future Month? ~N.K. Jemisin
  • Power & Magic: The Queer Witch Comics Anthology ~Edited by Joamette Gil
  • Children of Blood and Bone ~Tomi Adeyemi
  • Children of Virtue and Vengeance ~Tomi Adeyemi
  • Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good ~adrienne maree brown

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Dr. G’s Top Black and Brown Children’s Books

  • Lullaby ~Langston Hughes (Illustrated by Sean Qualls)
  • Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters ~John Steptoe
  • Maya and the Robot ~Eve L. Ewing (Illustrated by Christine Almeda)
  • Ada Twist, Scientist ~Andrea Beaty
  • Skin Like Mine ~Latashia M. Perry (Illustrated by Bea Jackson)
  • Sulwe ~Lupita Nyong’o (Illustrated by Vashti Harrison)
  • Don’t Touch My Hair ~Sharee Miller
  • All Because You Matter ~Tami Charles
  • Happy to Be Nappy ~bell hooks (Illustrated by Chris Raschka)
  • Hair Love ~Matthew A. Cherry (Illustrated by Vashti Harrison)
  • Dream Big, Little One; Think Big, Little One; Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History; Little Legends: Exceptional Men in Black History ~Vashti Harrison
  • Amazing Grace & Boundless Grace ~Mary Hoffman (Illustrated by Caroline Binch)
  • She Persisted: Wilma Mankiller ~Traci Sorell
  • I Am Every Good Thing ~Derrick Barnes
  • Parker Looks Up: An Extraordinary Moment ~Parker Curry & Jessica Curry (Illustrated by Brittany Jackson)

If there’s a book that you think should be added to one of my lists, make sure to drop a note in the comments!!