The best books by Black authors to give you all the feels

I was first captivated by the stunning cover, but stayed because I love stories about groups of friends and the emotions and connections that bind them for better or worse. Deep in Providence showcases this beautifully through the lenses of Miliani, Inez, and Natalie, three girls whose lives are shattered when their friend Jasmine is killed by a drunk driver. The girls turn to Filipino spells and folklore in an attempt to bring Jasmine back from the dead. Desperation and yearning bleed through these pages, and by the end, I was sobbing. This book is a beautiful exploration of grief, told in the tenderest way.

I try to limit the amount of physical books I purchase because my apartment is already overflowing with them. But there are some books so good, I need a copy of my own—The Weight of the Stars is one of those. Told in short, micro-fiction style chapters is the story of Ryann, a girl who dreams of traveling to space but doesn’t see a way out her trailer park on the “wrong” side of town. But then she meets Alexandria, a mysterious loner who is angry at the world because her own mother is an astronaut who volunteered for a one-way trip to the edge of the solar system. Lush and heartbreaking, this queer, big-hearted book cemented Ancrum as one of my must-read authors.

I love books that make me feel like a teenager again. That makes me remember the swoon of first love and how vulnerable it can be figuring out who you are. In the Key of Us not only accomplishes this once, but twice through the dual-POV narration of Andi and Zora, two of the only Black girls at a summer music camp. This middle grade novel tackles topics such as death and anxiety and mental health with such delicacy and warmth. This book felt like a crackling bonfire, lighting up young aches that I’d forgotten were there.

I love adult sci-fi, but as a mostly contemporary reader, sometimes I can find the language and length a little daunting. I picked up this book intrigued by the premise—multiverse travel is finally possible, but you can’t visit a world in which your counterpart is still alive. Our main character, Cara, is a skilled traveler with the ability to visit hundreds of worlds because so many of her parallel selves are dead. But when one of her last remaining doppelgängers dies under mysterious circumstances, Cara is tasked with uncovering what happened in this high-stakes, action-packed page-turner. Steeped with searing class commentary and characters that leap off the page, this book made me want to live in any world Micaiah Johnson creates.

I have to spotlight a 2023 release that completely blew me away when I read an advanced reader’s copy. Shannon Gibney’s part memoir, part speculative fiction novel about growing up as a mixed-raced Black transracial adoptee is stunning and should be on everyone’s radar. Interwoven are letters, family photos, adoption documents, and the fictional story of Erin Powers—the name Shannon was given at birth. As a mixed Black & white person, I related so much to Shannon (and Erin’s) inner thoughts navigating mostly-white spaces. This book is a unique, genre-bending exploration of the complexities of the adoptee experience, and is one of the best things I’ve read all year.