Supporting Black Lives Matter (Giveaway)

Posted June 13, 2020 by Lisa Mandina in discussion post, giveaway / 24 Comments

I wanted to do something to show my support on the blog. One thing I try to do in my job as a school librarian is make sure that I keep our collection of fiction diverse, fitting to the population of our school, as well try to keep the nonfiction books up to date and well stocked on books that are thought provoking or just important. While I know I’ve worked hard at it, my work is not over and I will continue with this as long as I am there. I decided something I could do was make a post of black authors that I have read and can recommend. I have mostly YA authors, but have recently started reading more adult romance books by black authors that I want to share as well. For today’s post I’ll share the YA authors, and look for an adult romance post coming soon as well!

First though, if you want a little taste of 16 different black authors to see which one might be right up your reading alley, you should pick up the anthology A Phoenix First Must Burn.

I reviewed this one earlier this year, you can read my review HERE. There are 16 great authors in this book. Some I’d already read books by and will mention them separately below, others that I had heard of but had yet to read outside of this book. I’ll list those authors below along with a link to their website of social media so you can connect with them.

  • Elizabeth Acevedo – I’m somewhat ashamed to admit I have yet to read anything other than the story in this book. Even though the author has actually visited schools in my district and we have her books and I promote them! But after this story, I know I must get to her books and soon! Clap When You Land is one I really am excited to get to soon.
  • Amerie – She is actually a singer and song-writer as well! This story was my first foray into her writing, and it was very interesting.
  • Patrice Caldwell – Not only did she have a story in this, but she was the editor of the book, and she is also a literary agent.
  • J. Marcelle Corrie – I don’t see a lot of other books listed for her, but her sci-fi story in this anthology was very good!
  • Somaiya Daud – While her story in this book wasn’t my type of story, I know plenty of my students who would devour it!
  • Justina Ireland – Another author I’m ashamed to admit that I have yet to read. I have a copy of Dread Nation sitting on my TBR shelf. I really need to pick it up!
  • Alaya Dawn Johnson – Now, I’ve read one other short story by her, in the Zombies vs. Unicorns anthology, but have yet to read a book by her. And it looks like she has some stories in other anthologies I’m interested in, so I need to get my hands on those as well.
  • Danny Lore – I loved this story in the book!
  • Rebecca Roanhorse – I’ve read another short story by this author, in the anthology Hungry Hearts, and enjoyed it as well as the one in this book.
  • Karen Strong – Her story in this anthology was good, with a twist, and it left me wanting more!
  • Ibi Zoboi – While I’ve read another short story by this author, in the anthology, Meet Cute, I’m ashamed to once again say that I own a copy of her book Pride, and like many other ARCs from when it came out, it is still sitting on my TBR shelf. You see now that I’m good about scheduling ARCs, I tend to get them all read. It’s just fitting in the ones from before that I have to figure out. I have made sure to keep all her books on the shelves at school and do recommend them all the time though!

My next author I want to recommend is Danielle Paige.

As someone who lives in Missouri, but right on the border of Kansas, The Wizard of Oz has always had a special place in my heart and love of stories. So when Dorothy Must Die came out, I could not wait to read it! Suffice it to say that I have yet to finish the series, need to read the last book, but one day I will! I also got to meet this author with a bunch of other authors one year at the bookstore where I work, or used to work before all this COVID craziness.

Next I’d like to recommend Dhonielle Clayton, author of The Belles.

I was lucky enough to get an ARC of this and it was one I just loved! I mean not only was the cover beautiful, but the way the author described things within the story was so vivid and it really caught my attention, the sequel, The Everlasting Rose was also really good. The author also had a short story in A Phoenix Must Burn.

The next author is Charlotte Nicole Davis, author of The Good Luck Girls.

This was a really good dystopian story. And I also liked her short story in A Phoenix First Must Burn.

Now a bit of a excitement for me about this next author, L. L. McKinney, author of the series that started with A Blade So Black.

You see, she is a graduate of the high school where I am a librarian. While she graduated before I ever got there, it is still so exciting to have her as a distinguished alum and she even came back and saw the students! I cut the students out of the picture for privacy sake though. Since this isn’t a school approved blog, but a personal one.

Another author in the anthology above that I have read other books by and will recommend is Ashley Woodfolk.

I chose to share the paperback cover for The Beauty that Remains because I think it does a much better job for the book than the original hardcover one did. Even though the hardcover was beautiful, this one just fits better.

Now the next author is Brittney Morris, and her book caught my attention because it has my city in the synopsis, Kansas City.

This book was so incredible! I loved the whole premise behind it, even when I was disappointed that the bit about Kansas City wasn’t actually that big of a part in the whole story. I definitely recommend Slay very highly!

A book co-written by a black author and a white author has really stood out to me as one that is an important read and has a lot of similarities to events in the news righ tnow is I’m Not Dying With You Tonight.

Kimberly Jones is one of the authors and I think she did a great job with this and look forward to reading more by her in the future.

Of course I’d be remiss not to mention Angie Thomas.

I had to read the book before the movie, but I did not get it read before I got to see her speak at a panel at the ALA convention in NOLA a couple years ago. I didn’t get to meet her there, as you would expect, her lines were long. But The Hate U Give really gave me so much to think about, and I learned so much about a perspective that I did not have before, but one that I need to know because I work with young black girls every day in my library job, and I want to do the best I can to help them be successful and grow up in a better world.

Finally the author I’m going to leave you with is one that had a story that had some parts I could connect with, even if once again it wasn’t my own perspective. And that author is Claire Kann.

I really enjoyed If It Makes You Happy a lot. Of course every time I read the title the song starts going through my head too. But I can see that this is an author I’d read more of. And I know she is one I have her books in my library as well.

Giveaway:

To help spread my love of these authors, I have a giveaway to go with this post. You can have my ARC of A Phoenix First Must Burn if you are US and would like it. Or, I can order you any book by any of these authors from The Book Depository to ship to you, even internationally, if you are US I may ship from either Barnes and Noble or Amazon based on cost, all I ask is that you choose one under $20. All you have to do is leave me a comment below and click that choice on the Rafflecopter! There are some other options for extra entries, but nothing has to be done other than leave me a comment about this post or your favorite black author.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
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24 responses to “Supporting Black Lives Matter (Giveaway)

  1. Danielle Hammelef

    I highly recommend Alechia Dow (debut Sound of Stars–so awesome), Jason Reynolds, Kwame Alexander, and Kelly McWilliams.

    • Lisa Mandina

      I haven’t heard of the first or last one you listed, the others are ones that are popular at my school. I did notice as I was creating this post that I don’t read a lot of male authors, of any color, these days. Thanks for visiting!

    • Lisa Mandina

      It is a really good one, maybe you’ll win my giveaway and I can send you a copy! Thanks for stopping by!

  2. _Sandra_

    Great post with great books and authors. I’ve actually read most of them from your list. Also you should definitely jump on reading Elizabeth Acevedo books, they’re just perfect. And if you are fan of audiobooks, she narrated all her books and that was an amazing experience.
    I always recommend my favorite black authors – Jason Reynolds, Nic Stone, Tiffany D. Jackson, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Nnedi Okorafor – just to name a few.

    • Lisa Mandina

      Thank you for a list of more authors to check out! I try to make sure I have them all in my school library for my students to read, I just wish I had more time to get to all of them myself! Thanks for visiting!

  3. Samantha D

    Dia Reeves is a talented author! Her horror novels are creepy cute! I have read her Slice of Cherry novel several times!

  4. Megan S.

    I love this – this is so wonderful! One black author I love and recommend is N. K. Jemison 🙂

    • Lisa Mandina

      Yes, I’ve heard of that author, and know that I do need to read her books! Thanks for visiting and sharing!

  5. Amanda

    I see she’s already been recommended, but Elizabeth Acevedo is amazing. Also, Nic Stone, especially Dear Martin.

  6. Beth L

    As an Alice in Wonderland fan, I keep meaning to pick up A Blade So Black. This seems like a good time to finally get to it. Thanks for highlighting these authors so I can add to my TBR pile.

    • Lisa Mandina

      It’s Alice in Wonderland/Buffy the Vampire Slayer, so really good! Check it out when you get a chance. Thanks for stopping by!

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