The Best African-American Fiction Books
Discover the best African-American fiction books with our curated list of top-rated novels. Explore powerful stories, celebrated authors, and must-read classics in Black literature.
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Push
by Sapphire
"Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire," directed by Lee Daniels and written by Damien Paul GRAND JURY PRIZE and AUDIENCE AWARD winner at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival Relentless, remorseless, and inspirational, this "horrific, hope-filled story" (Newsday) is certain to haunt a generation of readers. Precious Jones, 16 years old and pregnant by her father with her second child, meets a determined and highly radical teacher who takes her on a journey of transformation and redemption.
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The Sisters of Theta Phi Kappa
by Kayla Perrin
Jessica, Ellie, Shereen, and Yolanda were the brightest stars of the Theta Phi Kappa Sorority at Howard University. Now, ten years later, they seem to have it all. Jessica is in the limelight, a TV personality whose star is on the rise. Ellie is an optimist, happily engaged in the quest for love. Shereen is a stunning and powerful executive, and Yolanda, the strong-willed leader of the group, has defied her roots to capture her vision of the American dream. But years before, these four women banded together to keep a devastating secret-and now, ten years later, someone will do anything to see the secret brought to light. None of them anticipated the consequences of keeping the secret-and now, someone is trying to shatter all their lives. Intense, powerful, page-turning, and emotional, The Sisters of Theta Phi Kappa will keep you guessing and will make you think about the depths of friendship, the price of loyalty, and the bonds of sisterhood.
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The First Part Last
by Angela Johnson
Bobby's carefree teenage life changes forever when he becomes a father and must care for his adored baby daughter.
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Ladies First
by Queen Latifah
Queen Latifah is a sensation. At nineteen, she was the first female solo rapper to have a major record deal. Four years later she had become a top television actress and movie star. She earned a Grammy, started a record label, and became the president of her own company. Today she is rap music's most enduring female force. But how did Dana Owens, a young girl from Newark, New Jersey, become Queen Latifah and make it to the top of the charts? The most powerful voice in rap has always been quiet about her life. Until now. At once autobiographical and inspirational, Ladies First is the story of a young woman, making tough decisions and terrible mistakes -- about sex and drugs and about who was real and who wasn't -- before she was old enough to drive. It is about the reign of depression that descended on her after her brother's tragic death and how she found a sustaining love in God when it seemed the world was trying to break her. Ladies First is about being confident and sensual in a big, strong body and about blocking out the junk to let in the good. It is about how anyone -- whether from the poorest means or the richest -- can hold her head high in a world full of attitude. In a queen's universe, each experience is a lesson. Keeping it real and making no excuses, Queen Latifah shares her truth about what's important in life. Full of wisdom and revelations, Ladies First will instill in you the same self-esteem, respect, and courage that brought Queen Latifah peace and her independent edge. Allow her to guide you to discover who you are -- inside and out-as you discover who she is. Ladies First is one woman's journey to find the riches that were in her life all along, and it is a message of majesty for everyone.With Ladies First, the queen who lives within all of us will rise.
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Flyy Girl
by Omar Tyree
As a young black woman motivated by material things, Tracey plunges into a world of violence, gratuitous sex, and lies, until heartbreak forces her to take a closer look at her own life, sexuality, and dreams.
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Men Cry in the Dark
by Michael Baisden
The mass-market edition of the first novel by the author of the popular The Maintenance Man, this is a gripping novel that gives a man's perspective on relationships, fatherhood, and interracial dating, through the lives of four childhood friends. Originally self-published, sales in hardback and trade paperback have already topped 130,000 copies in the US.
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Genevieve
by Eric Jerome Dickey
Learn exactly why Eric Jerome Dickey was renowned for his novels starring “bold, smart women oozing sexuality and vulnerability” (The Atlantic) in this New York Times bestseller. Genevieve is brilliant and beautiful. Her husband has a thriving career. Together, they have a beautiful home in Los Angeles. Together, they're crazy in love. Then one day a family tragedy brings Genevieve back to her Alabama hometown, back to a past she hoped her husband would never discover, and back to secrets shared by her sister Kenya—mysterious, teasing, and dangerously irresistible. Soon, Genevieve's husband will discover the truth about his wife and her family. Something he was never meant to know—and a desire he was never meant to explore.