100 Must-Read Books About #carefreeblackfolks
Obviously, the hashtag #carefreeblackfolks cannot completely apply to a book someone would want to read; a book about a carefree person is going to be pretty boring. A book’s protagonist still needs a conflict, but their troubles do not have to be race related, or about, as we tend to refer to it, The Struggle.
Intersectional, representational literature is significant and important in publishing, but sometimes everyone wants to put race and racism in the backseat and see the stories that unite us in the human experience. These are rarely stories that completely remove the idea of race as it is addressed in daily life (perhaps with the exception of the picture books, usually starring one adorable child being excited about their day); they simply do not make race and the struggle of American Blackness the story. These are love stories, and stories of redemption. They’re stories of intrigue, terror, and the future. They’re stories of the ordinary and extraordinary. They are our stories.
adult fiction
Bring on the Blessings by Beverly Jenkins
Tell Me Something Good by Jamie Wesley
Love On My Mind by Tracey Livesay
Rumor Has It by Cheris Hodges
The Mothers by Brit Bennett
Loving Day by Mat Johnson
Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson
The Tempest Tales by Walter Mosley
The Strange Fate of Capricious Jones by Robert Roman
When Washington Was in Vogue by Edward Christopher Williams
Radio Silence by Alyssa Cole
Busted by Shiloh Walker
Field of Pleasure by Farrah Rochon
Holding Holly by Julie Brannagh
Sister Mine by Nalo Hopkinson
The Coyote Kings of the Space-Age Bachelor Pad by Minister Faust
The Root by Na’amen Gobert Tilahun
Ascension by Jacqueline Koyangi
32 Candles by Ernessa T Carter
What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day by Pearl Cleage
Dancing on the Edge of the Roof by Sheila Williams
Madam President Jerry Beller
B-Boy Blues by James Earl Hardy
Bliss by Fiona Zedde
The Women of Brewster Place by Gloria Naylor
YA
Living Violet by Jaime Reed
Keeping Her Secret by Sarah Nicolas
Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon
Everything Leads to You by Nina LaCour
Gone, Gone, Gone by Hannah Moskowitz
The Broken Bridge by Philip Pullman
Love is the Drug by Alaya Dawn Johnson
Jason and Kyra by Dana Davidson
What They Found: Love on 145th Street by Walter Dean Myers
Pointe by Brandy Colbert
The First Part Last by Angela Johnson
Liar by Justine Larbalestier
Neverlove by Angela Brown
Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor
Shadowshaper by Daniel Jose Older
Not Otherwise Specified by Hannah Moskowitz
This Side of Home by Renee Watson
Tiny Pretty Things by Sona Charaipotra and Dhonielle Clayton
Endangered by Lamar Giles
Niko by Kayti Nika Raet
Indigo Summer by Monica McKayhan
The Summer Prince by Alaya Dawn Johnson
The Boy in the Black Suit by Jason Reynolds
Tyrell by Coe Booth
Show and Prove by Sofia Quintero
Tankborn by Karen Sandler
The Blazing Star by Imani Josey (December 2016)
American Street by Ibi Zoboi (February 2017)
Middle reader and chapter books
Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper
Pinned by Sharon G. Flake
The Kayla Chronicles by Sherri Winston
Twintuition: Double Vision by Tia and Tamera Mowry
The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex
Shadows of Sherwood by Kekla Magoon
President of the Whole Fifth Grade by Sherri Winston
The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan
The Encyclopedia of Me by Karen Rivers
Close to Famous by Joan Bauer
Plum Fantastic by Whoopi Goldberg, Deborah Underwood, and Maryn Roos
Bayou Magic by Jewell Parker Rhodes
The Jumbies by Tracey Baptiste
Finding Someplace by Denise Lewis Patrick
From the Notebooks of a Middle School Princess by Meg Cabot
Picture books
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
Do Not Bring Your Dragon to the Library by Julie Gassman and Andy Elkerton
Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters by John Steptoe
Grace For President by Kelly DiPucchio and LeUyen Pham
Little Robot by Ben Hatke
The Rain Stomper by Addie Boswell and Eric Velasquez
I Got the Rhythm by Connie Schofield-Morrison, Frank Morrison
Cleo Edison Oliver, Playground Millionaire by Sundee T. Frazier
Come On, Rain! By Karen Hesse and Jon J. Muth
Honey, I Love by Eloise Greenwood
Anna Hibiscus’ Song by Atinuke
Dancing in the Wings by Debbie Allen
I Had a Favorite Dress by Boni Ashburn
Ada Twist, Scientist by Andrea Beaty
Hank’s Big Day: The Story of a Bug by Evan Kuhlman and Chuck Groenink
Cendrillon: A Caribbean Cinderella by Robert D. San Souci and Brian Pinkney
Please, Puppy, Please by Spike Lee, Tonya Lewis Lee and Kadir Nelson
Comics
Goldie Vance, Vol 1 by Hope Larson and Brittney Williams
Princess Princess Ever After by Katie O’Neill
Princeless, Vol 1: Save Yourself by Jeremy Whitley
Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, Vol 1: BFF by Amy Reeder, Brandon Montclare and Natacha Bustos
Storm, Vol 1: Make it Rain by Greg Pak, Victor Ibanez, and Matteo Buffagni
Cleopatra in Space, Book One: Target Practice by Mike Maihack and Cassandra Pelham
Aya by Marguerite Abouet, Clément Oubrerie, Alisia Grace Chase, Helge Dascher, and Tom Devlin
Watson and Holmes Vol 1: A Study In Black by Karl Bollers, Justin Gabrie, and Rick Leonardi
Prince of Cats by Ronald Wimberly
Nonfiction
The Black WashingtoniansWhen Harlem Was in Vogue by David Levering Lewis
Kid President’s Guide to Being Awesome by Robby Novak and Brad Montague
Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes
You Can’t Touch My Hair: And Other Things I Still Have to Explain by Phoebe Robinson
Around the Way Girl by Taraji P. Henson
Have a favorite that’s not on this (very much non-exhaustive) list? Share it in the comments!