68 books like The Sisterhood of Blackberry Corner

Once upon a time, I was the founder and president of a book club, Literary Ladies Alliance. Many moons ago, LLA chose Sugar as our monthly reading selection. I was absolutely floored by this unlikely, unconventional heroine of the same name as the novel set in a small southern town that wasn’t ready for this seductive storm, i.e. Sugar. I found her shockingly bold and beautifully unapologetic despite her disreputable past and “questionable morals.” She hungered for love, endured dangerous risks and scandal; and yet for me, Sugar moved with an air of voluptuous freedom that captivated my church girl imagination and respect. While Dianne McKinney Whetstone is my favorite author, Sugar is undoubtedly my favorite novel! I’ve read the book twice and would readily devour it again for its captivating journey back in time and its uncharacteristic, boldly unforgettable heroine. 

Part coming-of-age story, part slice of adult drama and misbehavior, this book impressed itself on my memory with its deceptive sweetness and heart-wrenching likability. It touches on teenaged pregnancy while examining infidelity stemming from a faulty marriage between a likable man and a bitter woman. I loved its honest examination of problematic, complex relationships—husband to wife, and child to adult. It is beautifully drawn, complex, and definitely on my "Books I can Re-Read Endlessly” list.

Clearly, I’m a fan of small, southern town tales depicting amazing African American females who make magic out of the injustices stacked against them. Well, meet Maggie Wiggins. She and her best friend, Hubert, turn life tragedies and situations into a “perfectly suited” marriage of deception. Outwardly, they live an enviable existence; but only they know the cost of their happiness. I love Mary Monroe’s ability to infuse humor into the most chilling situations, as well as her small town cosmoses and complicated, “countrified” characters. They frustrate me to no end, yet I find myself rooting for them, just as I rooted for Maggie to win. She does in the end but at such a horrific cost that I’ll never look at a bowl of gumbo the same way again. 

I’ve always been an avid reader despite not having peer-aged characters who resembled or represented me when I was a child. Fast forward to when my children were little: suddenly, there existed a plethora of African-American children’s literature. With pure delight, I indulged my little ones in magnificent books featuring characters that reflected them. Want to know a secret? I read those books for myself as well as for them. Recently, when finding a young African American girl at the center of Looking for Hope, I felt a delightful connection with my inner child. Make no mistakes. The young protagonist, Hannah “Mouse” Maynard, endures a horrific life event that alters her existence, interrupts her innocence, and thrusts her into a perilous, mature journey that fails to diminish her abiding sweetness. 

A true story of a young Black woman who chooses to protect the privacy of her family and friends in her writing. Born in 1961, and raised in the South. Facing years of brutal abuse from the man she knew as "Daddy," she seemed to be headed along a long and bumpy path.

Gal managed to complete high school. After further difficulties with drugs, alcohol, and men, she was finally able to turn her life around.  An inspiring story of inner strength and the healing effects of love.

It is a riveting story of heroism triumphing over adversity as a South Carolina slave appropriates a Confederate transport ship and sails it out of Charleston Harbor, ferrying his fellow enslaved crewmen and their families to freedom. And that’s just the opening act, as he goes on to serve as a pilot in the Union Navy and later as a newspaper publisher and U.S. Congressman.

I came away from this book very impressed with Smalls and the level of research that went into telling his story. The Civil War was full of unsung heroes like this, and it’s great to see some of them finally getting their due.

Varian Johnson’s story alternates between modern and historical timelines to create a mystery that is explored from different eras and perspectives.

In the current day, Candice and her friend Brandon play detective, trying to solve the puzzle of a fortune alluded to in a note they find in Candice’s grandma’s attic. We also get flashes from the 1950s of the small Southern town where the story is set.

This a great family read that allows readers to test their detective-solving savvy while exploring meatier issues such as racism and prejudice.

I am an absolute sucker for origin stories about American subjects, and especially origin stories that I should know and don’t. Plus, I love anything and everything that Floyd Cooper illustrated, so that book hits all the right notes for me.

I was taken right away by the young narrator, who participates in America’s first Memorial Day, and astonished to hear that like so many things that matter in America—including the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier—Memorial Day came about by popular acclaim.

That the first one was organized by former slaves in South Carolina not even a month after the Civil War ended, well, that really makes Memorial Day a day for rememberin’. I loved America more when I finished this book than I did before I opened its cover. 

I so loved and continue to love this book because I love heroines who embody wisdom and pass it on to others. Isn’t this really the whole point of life? Any chunk of learning needs to be shared, especially by women for women who come after them.

As far as heroines are concerned, there are so many to choose from in this book. It begins with Lily, a girl, who decides to run away to find out about her mother; she has reason to leave her violent home with an abusive father. But then Lily has the opportunity to safeguard Rosaleen, her ‘stand-in’ black mother, who has made the serious mistake of standing up to legendary racist bullies. Lily is white but understands Rosaleen's peril in terms of danger. Lily is hardly fierce. This is when real courage becomes poignant…taking action in spite of immense fear. 

I feel that every… show more.

A desperate mother gives her child all she can before they are separated: a cotton sack with a handful of nuts, a tattered dress, and a braid of hair. Little Ashley was sold away from her mother but somehow held onto and cherished that bag. Later, her granddaughter embroidered that story of a mother’s love onto the bag.

I never knew where this story would take me because it’s not a history book or a family story like any other. The author takes this one sad and beautiful object and asks us to think about motherhood, Black hair, women’s art, nuts, and the history of food for enslaved Americans. She even asks us to think about girlhood itself.

Could I ever see that much in one object? Could you? This is a gorgeous and inspiring reminder of how history works for different people and in different ways if we look… show more.