6 Awesome Fiction Books Written By African American Authors

This book empowers African American girls to love their natural hair in spite of what others may think. It explores the harsh realities of bullying and how children can navigate it through boosting their self esteem and confidence.

A beautiful and thrilling debut novel for fans of Marie Lu and Veronica Roth. Its a sci-fi fantasy book interspersed with what our future could look like, and how two different races can explore the possibility of survival.

I love this book because it weaves fate, love, heritage, assimilation, and race–all complicated topics within themselves–into a compelling time-travel narrative. It raises the questions Who am I? and How far am I willing to go to preserve both my dignity and heritage?

This story challenges the idea of post-racialism in twenty-first-century America. I recommend this book because it explores the nuances of race, class, and upward mobility from the perspective of an often ignored population: the black, female teenager.

This is a beautiful and heart-wrenching tale of family, friendship, and forgiveness. Most novels I’ve read set during slavery take place in America, usually on a cotton plantation. This story takes place in Barbados on a sugar plantation. It’s an insightful glimpse into the Caribean slave culture.

This is a fantastically paced and beautifully written thriller about two sisters, one who is a serial killer. Braithwaite writes a fresh and unique story about what it means to kill, and what it means to protect. Each character feels like somebody I’ve never read about before (and I’ve read a lot of books). I was gripped from the first sentence to the last, hooked by the question, “How far will each character go for love?”