- When Kambia Elaine Flew In From Neptune, by Lori A. Williams (X)
- Every Time A Rainbow Dies, by Rita Williams-Garcia
- No Laughter Here, by Rita Williams-Garcia (X)
- Jumped, by Rita Williams-Garcia
- If You Come Softly, by Jacqueline Woodson
- The House You Pass On The Way, by Jacqueline Woodson
- Flygirl, by Sherri L. Smith (#)
- From The Notebooks of Melanin Sun, by Jacqueline Woodson
- Sold, by Patricia McCormick (X)
- A Step From Heaven, by An Na (!)
- The Parable of The Sower, by Octavia E. Butler
- Purple Hibiscus, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- Persepolis, by Majane Satrapi
- The Rock and The River, by Kekla Magoon
- Secret Keeper, by Mitali Perkins (!)
- Mare’s War, by Tanita S. Davis (#)
- A Wish After Midnight, by Zetta Elliott
- Down To The Bone, by Mayra Lazara Dole
- Don’t Get It Twisted, by Paula Chase
- Jason & Kyra, by Dana Davidson
- Forged by Fire, by Sharon Draper (X)
- Kendra, by Coe Booth (#)
- Shine, Coconut Moon, by Neesha Meminger
- Does My Head Look Big In This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah (X)
- Born Confused, by Tanuja Desai Hidier (!)
- Skunk Girl, by Sheba Karim
- The Meaning of Conseulo, by Judith Ortiz Cofer
- In The Time of the Butterflies, by Julia Alvarez (X)
- Kindred, by Octavia E. Butler
- First Part Last, by Angela Johnson (X)
- Pemba’s Song, by Marilyn Nelson
- Wanting Mor, by Rukhsana Khan
- M + O 4EVR, by Tonya Hegamin
- Lucy The Giant, by Sherri L. Smith (X)
- The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros (X)
- Throwaway Piece, by Jo Ann Hernandez
- White Bread Competition, by Jo Ann Hernandez
- Across A Hundred Mountains, by Reyna Grande
- Silver Phoenix, by Cindy Pon
- The Skin I’m In, by Sharon G. Flake (!)
Posted by
MotherReader
at
10:46 PM
I saw this at Archimedes Forgets and thought that it was well worth promoting (and an easy post to write). The list comes from Color Online. X means read, # means on the TBR list, and ! means loved.
Susan’s Unofficial List of Great YA By or About Women of Color:
10 comments:
This is a great list--and there are a lot of books to add to my own reading pile--but I'm not seeing a lot of fantasy on it. Cindy Pon's, really, is the only one I recognize as fantasy(though I haven't read a good half of the list, so I might be missing several). I'm actually working on putting together a list of fantasy/science fiction for YA & kids by authors of color (of either gender) or featuring characters of color, in response to another challenge by Color Online, and so far I'm coming up with a pretty short list (and hence haven't yet posted the list, because I'm still trying to build it). If you know any of the others on the list are fantasy, I'd love to hear about them. :)
Hi Mother Reader,
Thanks so much for posting this. I never expected to see it posted elsewhere.
Stacy,
Regarding fantasy, in my community (I run a library at non-profit in Detroit), science fiction and fantasy aren't popular and as you mentioned finding sci-fi/fantasy by poc of color is a challenge.
The other factor in creating the list was listing books that were hits in my library and books I've read.
Thanks for doing the Diversity Roll Call Challenge. I'm putting up my own response on Monday.
Butler's Parable of the Sower falls under science fiction, but it isn't a YA title but suitable for the older reader.
I'll be adding Shadow Speaker by Nnedi Okorafor-mbachu. She has a second title.
A Wish After Midnight by Zetta Elliott is similar to Kindred by Octavia Butler and includes time travel. This self-published title (several mainstream publishing houses passed it over) has been gaining a lot of traction. Colleen Mondor at Chasing Ray reviews it at BookSlut and the reviews are growing.
MR,
In the original post I asked for recommended titles.
Would love to hear what you'd add. I decided to stop to leave room for readers' recommendations.
I'm surprised that only one of Sharon Draper's books is on the list. And I would include all of Janet McDonald's books.
Hi Cindy,
I love Ms. Draper's work. She is an established, well loved author. She isn't hard to find. How many of the other authors have you read? So often I'm told, "I don't know any AA writers. My aim is to promote those who aren't as well known like Ms. Draper for example.
Personally, I did not care for Off-Color but I have said I'll revisit Ms. McDonald's work. Which title would you recommend?
I am ASHAMED at myself. (I'd barely read any on this list.) Rectifying that with putting many on my TBR list, and requesting a few. Thanks for posting the list.
Thanks for posting this. I need this for when I go back into the classroom.
Thanks for sharing such great information.
Hi Thank you so much for including my books, The Throwaway Piece and White Bread Competition. Here are a few tidbits: I had no say on the cover art. Jewel doesn't have tattoos or studs. Also the last two lines of the book were deleted and replaced by the publisher. If anyone would like to know the Real Last Line, after they read the book, please go to my blog and email me and I'll send it to you.
Thank you again for including me. I appreciate your support and am indebted to you.
Jo Ann Hernandez
BronzeWord Latino Authors
http://authorslatino.com/wordpress
Nancy and Okibum,
I'm glad to hear you're impressed with the list.
MR, thanks again for posting it. If any is interested in more books by people of color, please join us at Color Online. We'd love to have you.
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