What’s the purpose of story? Do stories matter? And are there stories we can read that might just change the world?

Yes. Yes. And yes.

And today, I want to celebrate five stories by Black authors that matter a whole lot.

The Power of Story

I recently attended a community talk in response to the murder of George Floyd. We gathered to mourn, to understand, and to hear from Black leaders what we can do to create a more just world that reflects the truth that Black lives matter.

The word that came up over and over was empathy.

In order to understand the experiences of people different from us, in order to take action that truly benefits Black people, we must cultivate empathy.

There are so many nonfiction books that break down the historical context of present-day realities for Black people in America, and I’ve included links to find many of those later in this article.

But the incredible power of story is its ability to cultivate empathy. To give us a window into another person’s experiences. To transfer their thoughts and emotions into our own minds and hearts.

I believe that good stories can change lives. I suspect that you might believe that, too. Isn’t that some of what inspires you to write, to share your stories with the world?

And so, as the world responds to the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and so many Black lives before them, stories of Black people and novels by Black authors are well worth reading.

5 Books by Black Authors to Read Today

There’s an enormous wealth of Black literature to explore. If you’re not sure what to read, we suggest these books as a place to start. On this list you’ll find a children’s book, two young adult novels, and two adult novels, so there’s something for everyone.

Here are five books by Black authors we recommend:

1. Penelope the Pirate Princess by Selah Thompson

When Selah Thompson realized that many of her kindergarten classmates struggled to read, she knew she had to do something. Her passion for childhood literacy drove her to write a book, start a nonprofit, and lead a march (the March to 20Hundred Thousand Books: A Children’s March for Literacy).

With Penelope the Pirate Princess: The Search for the Magical Moon Pearl, Selah hopes to inspire her peers to love reading and telling their own stories.

Find Penelope the Pirate Princess here.

2. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Winner of the 2017 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award.

Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter’s world is turned upside down when Khalil, her childhood best friend, is fatally shot by police. Starr is the only witness—and as Khalil’s death gains national attention and protests mount, she must decide what truth she’s able to share and what risks she’s willing to take.

Angie Thomas’s story about Starr and Khalil is fictional, but the cycle of police brutality against Black people and the nationwide push for justice is not. The Hate U Give is a powerful glimpse of a community’s experience of injustice and their passionate response.

Find The Hate U Give here.

3. Dear Martin by Nic Stone

Justyce McAllister is on the path to success, at the top of his class, and headed to Yale. But when he’s arrested (though later released without charges), he’s deeply shaken. As he processes his experiences in letters to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., he explores his place in the world—a world soon complicated by another devastating police encounter.

In Dear Martin, Nic Stone explores whether and how Dr. King’s teachings apply today through the eyes of a Black teen experiencing how his identity impacts the ways he can move through the world.

Find Dear Martin here.

4. The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

Winner of the 2016 Hugo Award.

Every few centuries on the continent called Stillness, there is a season of catastrophic climate change in which many or even most humans die. To hold off these disasters, society relies on orogenes, people who can control seismic waves. However, these same orogenes are feared and discriminated against because of their immense power and the fact that when angered, they can unintentionally kill living things. The story follows three women, all orogenes of different ages, as they struggle to survive, with the threat of the worst season in history coming.

N.K. Jemisin says in an interview this story came to her in a dream when a furious woman came to her with a mountain trailing behind. “I remember being convinced . . . she was going to throw the mountain at me if I didn’t figure out why she was angry.” The Fifth Season becomes a fascinating exploration of discrimination, violence, hatred, and disaster.

Jemisin was the first African-American and first woman of color to win the Hugo Award for best novel. The next book in the series won the award as well.

Find The Fifth Season here.

5. Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

Winner of the NBCC's John Leonard First Book Prize.

Effia and Esi are half-sisters born in eighteenth-century Ghana, but their lives take vastly different paths. Effia becomes the wife of a wealthy Englishman in Ghana, while Esi is captured and sold into slavery in America. The novel follows the sisters and their descendants through seven generations, bearing witness to 250 years of history and the enduring impacts of the slave trade in both Ghana and America.

In Homegoing, her debut novel, Yaa Gyasi offers a riveting snapshot of Black experiences throughout history, culminating in Effia’s and Esi’s descendants seeking to understand their heritage today.

Find Homegoing here.

More to Explore

This list is one suggestion of where to start. It’s certainly not the end! Bookstores and libraries are full of stories by Black authors.

We Need Diverse Books advocates for—you guessed it—a diversity of voices in publishing, especially children’s publishing. They’ve gathered a list of places to find diverse books, including books by Black authors. They’ve also compiled resources on race, equity, anti-racism, and inclusion, including more book recommendations and Black-owned bookstores.

And if you’re looking for nonfiction recommendations, Ibram X. Kendi’s Anti-Racist Reading List is an excellent resource.

Support Black Authors and Black-Owned Businesses

N.K. Jemisin was the first African American and the first woman of color to win the Hugo Award for best novel, one of the most prestigious awards for science fiction. Here’s what she had to say about this “first”:

“People of color have always been here. Women have always been here. And for a genre that supposedly prides itself on, to quote Gene Roddenberry, infinite diversity in infinite combinations, and being more progressive than the rest of the world, though there are some that don’t think we should be, for a genre that prides itself on that to have never given the best-novel award to another black person, that’s just bizarre. It’s also indicative of a general tendency in literature. . . . If we don’t make the same effort at antiracist and anti-oppressive thought, we’re not going to be any better about it than anybody else, and I’m glad that this is changing.”

It’s easy to fill our bookshelves with books by White authors. But the world of literature is vast, and there are so many powerful stories being told by Black authors and other authors of color. We are less without this rich diversity of stories.

Wondering where to buy these books? You can support Black authors and Black-owned businesses when you buy from a Black-owned bookstore.

You can order online through their websites. If they don’t have a book in stock, you can call and request it, and many will be happy to order it for you.

We Need Diverse Books has this list of Black-owned bookstores. You can find more stores on this list, this list.

And of course, if there’s a Black-owned bookstore in your local community, they’d love to help you get your hands on great books!

Stories to Change the World

Humans communicate through story. Stories are the ways we share our experiences, pass on our values, remember our history, and inform our identity.

The stories we tell each other matter. The stories we choose to read matter.

That’s the beautiful danger of stories: they shape us, and they change us.

Will you pick up a story from a Black author and invite it to change you?

What are your favorite books by Black authors? Let us know in the comments!