Non-Fiction - Culture Perth and ...

Available on RB Digital Culture Perth and Kinross
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As part of this year’s celebration of Black History Month we have put together this book list to
showcase some brilliant ethnic minority authors. From prize winning contemporary fiction to some
of the most respected classic novels. From Black British history to award winning journalism
confronting issues of race and class.
(This list is not exhaustive and the focus in the main is on British authors who have published work in
recent years.)

                                             Non-Fiction
        Brit(ish) : on Race, Identity and Belonging / Afua Hirsch (ebook, eaudiobook,
        physical book)

You're British. Your parents are British. You were raised in Britain. Your partner, your children and
most of your friends are British. So why do people keep asking you where you are from? 'Brit(ish)' is
about a search for identity. It is about the everyday racism that plagues British society. It is about our
awkward, troubled relationship with our history. It is about why liberal attempts to be 'colour-blind'
have caused more problems than they have solved. It is about why we continue to avoid talking
about race. Afua Hirsch explores a very British crisis of identity. We are a nation in denial about our
past and our present. We believe we are the nation of abolition, but forget we are the nation of
slavery. We are convinced that fairness is one of our values, but that immigration is one of our
problems. 'Brit(ish)' is the story of how and why this came to be, and an urgent call for change.

        Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race / Reni Eddo Lodge (ebook
        and physical book)
In February 2014, Reni Eddo-Lodge wrote about her frustration with the way discussions of race and
racism in Britain were constantly being led by those who weren't affected by it. She posted the piece
on her blog, and gave it the title: 'Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People about Race'. Her
powerful, passionate words hit a nerve. The post went viral, and comments flooded in from others
desperate to speak up about their own, similar experiences. Galvanised by this response, she
decided to dig into the source of these feelings; this clear hunger for an open discussion. The result
is a searing, illuminating, absolutely necessary exploration of what it is to be a person of colour in
Britain today.

        Another Day in the Death of America / Gary Younge (ebook and physical book)
On Saturday 23 November 2013 ten children were shot dead. The youngest was nine; the oldest was
nineteen. They fell in suburbs, hamlets and ghettos. None made the national news. It was
just another day in the death of America, where on average seven children and teens are killed by

guns daily. Younge picked this day at random, searched for their families and tells their stories. What
emerges is a sobering, searing, portrait of youth and guns in contemporary America.

        Black and British: A Forgotten History / David Olusoga (ebook and physical book)
David Olusoga's 'Black and British' is a rich and revealing exploration of the extraordinarily long
relationship between the British Isles and the people of Africa. Drawing on new
genetic and genealogical research, original records, expert testimony and contemporary
interviews, Black and British reaches back to Roman Britain, the medieval
imagination and Shakespeare's Othello. Unflinching, confronting taboos and revealing hitherto
unknown scandals, Olusoga describes how black and white Britons have been intimately entwined
for centuries.

        Homecoming: Voices of the Windrush Generation / Colin Grant (ebook and physical
        book)

When Colin Grant was growing up in Luton in the 1960s, he learned not to ask his Jamaican parents
why they had emigrated to Britain. 'We're here because we're here', his father would say, 'You have
some place else to go?'. But now, seventy years after the arrival of ships such as the Windrush,
this generation of pioneers are ready to tell their stories. 'Homecoming' draws on over a hundred
first-hand interviews, archival recordings and memoirs by the women and men who came to Britain
from the West Indies between the late 1940s and the early 1960s.

        Lovers and Strangers : An Immigrant History of Post-war Britain / Clair Wills (book)

The battered and exhausted Britain of 1945 was desperate for workers - to rebuild, to fill the
factories, to make the new NHS work. From all over the world and with many motives, thousands of
individuals took the plunge. Most assumed they would spend just three or four years here, sending
most of their pay back home, but instead large numbers stayed - and transformed the country.
Drawing on an amazing array of unusual and surprising sources, Clair Wills' book brings to life the
incredible diversity and strangeness of the migrant experience. She introduces us to lovers,
scroungers, dancers, homeowners, teachers, drinkers, carers, and many more to show the
opportunities and excitement as much as the humiliation and poverty that could be part of the new
arrivals' experience.

        Black Britain : A Photographic History / Paul Gilroy ; preface by Stuart Hall
        (book)
Spanning over 200 years, this unprecedented collection features images of Black Britons at work, at
war, on stage and on the playing field.

        Afropean / Johny Pitts (ebook, eaudiobook and physical book)
'Afropean' is an on-the-ground documentary of areas where Europeans of African descent are
juggling their multiple allegiances and forging new identities. Here is an alternative map of the
continent, taking the reader to places like Cova Da Moura, the Cape Verdean shantytown on the
outskirts of Lisbon with its own underground economy, and Rinkeby, the area of Stockholm that is
eighty per cent Muslim. Johny Pitts visits the former Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow, where
West African students are still making the most of Cold War ties with the USSR, and Clichy Sous Bois
in Paris, which gave birth to the 2005 riots, all the while presenting Afropeans as lead actors in their
own story.

Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire / Akala (book)

From the first time he was stopped and searched as a child, to the day he realised his mum was
white, to his first encounters with racist teachers - race and class have shaped Akala's life and
outlook. In this book he takes his own experiences and widens them out to look at the social,
historical, and political factors that have left us where we are today. Covering everything from the
police, education, and identity to politics, sexual objectification and the far right, 'Natives' will speak
directly to British denial and squeamishness when it comes to confronting issues of race and class
that are at the heart of the legacy of Britain's racialised empire.

        The Good Immigrant / edited by Nika Shukla (ebook, eaudiobook and physical book)

We're told that we live in a multicultural melting pot - that we're post-racial. Yet, studies show that
throughout the UK, people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic groups are much more likely to live
in poverty than white British people (Institute of Race Relations). It's a hard time to be an immigrant,
or the child of one, or even the grandchild of one. 'The Good Immigrant' brings together twenty
emerging British Black, Minority Ethnic writers, poets, journalists, and artists to confront this issue.
In these essays about race and immigration, they paint a picture of what it means to be 'other' in a
country that wants you, doesn't want you, doesn't accept you, needs you for its equality monitoring
forms and would prefer you if you won a major reality show competition.

        It's Not About the Burqa : Muslim women on Faith, Feminism, Sexuality and Race /
        edited by Mariam Khan (book)

When was the last time you heard a Muslim woman speak for herself without a filter? In 2016,
Mariam Khan read that David Cameron had linked the radicalization of Muslim men
to the 'traditional submissiveness' of Muslim women. Mariam felt pretty sure she didn't know a
single Muslim woman who would describe herself that way. Why was she
hearing about Muslim women from people who were neither Muslim, nor female? Years
later the state of the national discourse has deteriorated even further, and Muslim women's voices
are still pushed to the fringes - the figures leading the discussion are white and male. Taking one
of the most politicized and misused words associated with Muslim women and Islamophobia,
'It's Not About the Burqa' is poised to change all that.

        The Stopping Places : A Journey Through Gypsy Britain / by Damian Le Bas (book)

Damian Le Bas grew up on a diet of gypsy history. His great-grandmother, Nan, would tell him stories
of her childhood in the ancient Romany language; the places her family stopped and
worked, the ways they lived, the superstitions and lores of their people. But his own experience of
life on the road was limited to Ford Transit journeys from West Sussex to Hampshire to sell flowers.
Longing to better understand his gypsy heritage, the history of the Romany in Britain
and the rhythms of their life today, Damian set out on a journey to discover the old encampment
sites known only to Travellers. From winter frost to summer dawns, he travels the country to visit
horse fairs, urban lay-bys and hidden gypsy churches. 'The Stopping Places' shines a light on a group
of people and a way of life that has been often hidden and much maligned.

        Pilgrims of the Mist : The Stories of Scotland's Travelling People / by Sheila Stewart
        (book)

Sheila Stewart, singer, storyteller and author, is one of the last in the line of Scotland's travelling
people. Here, she gathers from family and friends this collection of travellers' tales. These
are the stories that she and her parents used to listen to by the camp fire as the shadows of night
clustered around.

The Yellow on the Broom : The Early Days of a Traveller Woman / Betsy Whyte
        (book)

Betsy Whyte was born into a family of travellers who roamed the Scottish countryside
between the wars. This vivid description of a childhood on the road amidst a misunderstood people
is a rich evocation of a vanishing world.

        Safe : On Black British men Reclaiming Space / edited by Derek Owusu (book)

What is the experience of black men in Britain? With continued conversation around British identity,
racism and diversity, there is no better time to explore this question and give black British men a
platform to answer it. This title is that platform. Including essays from top poets, writers, musicians,
actors and journalists, this timely and accessible book brings together a selection of powerful
reflections exploring the black British male experience and what it really means to reclaim and
hold space in the landscape of our society.

        Slay in Your Lane / Yomi Adegoke (ebook and physical book)

Black women in 2018 are well past making waves - they're currently creating something of a
tsunami. From authors to politicians, to entrepreneurs to artists, black women in the UK continue to
thrive against all odds and well outside of the world's expectations. This inspirational, honest and
provocative book explores how black British women - including Amma Asante, Charlene White,
Jamelia, Denise Lewis, Malorie Blackman and Dawn Butler MP - have achieved success in their
respective fields.

        Familiar Stranger: A Life Between Two Islands / Stuart Hall (ebook and physical
        book)

Stuart Hall grew up in a middle-class family in 1930s Jamaica, still then a British colony. He found
himself caught between two worlds: the stiflingly respectable middle class in Kingston, who, in their
habits and ambitions, measured themselves against the white planter elite; and working-class and
peasant Jamaica, neglected and grindingly poor, though rich in culture, music and history. But as
colonial rule was challenged, things began to change in Kingston and across the world. When, in
1951, a scholarship took him across the Atlantic to Oxford University, Hall encountered other
Caribbean writers and thinkers, from Sam Selvon and George Lamming to V.S. Naipaul. He also
forged friendships with the likes of Raymond Williams and E.P. Thompson, with whom he worked in
the formidable political movement, the New Left.

        My Name is Why / Lemn Sissay (ebook and physical book)
At the age of seventeen, after a childhood in a foster family followed by six years in care homes,
Norman Greenwood was given his birth certificate. He learned that his real name was not Norman. It
was Lemn Sissay. He was British and Ethiopian. And he learned that his mother had been pleading
for his safe return to her since his birth. Here Sissay recounts his life story. It is a story of neglect and
determination. Misfortune and hope. Cruelty and triumph. Sissay reflects on a childhood in care,
self-expression and Britishness, and in doing so explores the institutional care system, race, family
and the meaning of home. Written with all the lyricism and power you would expect from one of the
nation's best-loved poets, this moving, frank and timely memoir is the result of a life spent asking
questions, and a celebration of the redemptive power of creativity.

        Black listed / Jeffrey Boakye (book)

Who is a roadman really? What's wrong with calling someone a 'lighty'? Why do people think black
guys are cool? These are just some of the questions being wrestled with in 'Black, Listed', an
exploration of 21st century black identity told through a list of insults, insights, and everything in-
between. Taking a panoramic look at global black history, interrogating both contemporary and
historical culture, 'Black, Listed' investigates the ways in which black communities (and individuals)
have been represented, oppressed, mimicked, celebrated, and othered. Part historical study, part
autobiographical musing, part pop culture vivisection, it's a comprehensive attempt to make sense
of blackness from the vantage point of the hilarious and insightful psyche of Jeffrey Boakye.

                                                Fiction
        Girl, Woman, Other / Bernardine Evaristo (available as ebook and physical book)
This is Britain as you've never seen it. This is Britain as it has never been told. From Newcastle to
Cornwall, from the birth of the twentieth century to the teens of the twenty-first, Girl Woman Other
follows a cast of twelve characters on their personal journeys through this country and the last
hundred years. They're each looking for something - a shared past, an unexpected future, a place to
call home, somewhere to fit in, a lover, a missed mother, a lost father, even just a touch of hope . . .

        Nightingale Point / Luan Goldie (available as ebook and physical book)
On an ordinary Saturday morning in 1996, the residents of Nightingale Point wake up to their normal
lives and worries. Mary has a secret life that no one knows about, not even Malachi and Tristan, the
brothers she vowed to look after. Malachi had to grow up too quickly. Between looking after Tristan
and nursing a broken heart, he feels older than his twenty-one years. Tristan wishes Malachi would
stop pining for Pamela. No wonder he's falling in with the wrong crowd, without Malachi to keep
him straight. Elvis is trying hard to remember to the instructions his care worker gave him, but
sometimes he gets confused and forgets things. Pamela wants to run back to Malachi but her
overprotective father has locked her in and there's no way out. It's a day like any other, until
something extraordinary happens. When the sun sets, Nightingale Point is irrevocably changed and
somehow, through the darkness, the residents must find a way back to lightness, and back to each
other.

        Remembered / Yvonne Battle-Felton (book)
'Most of what I'm about to tell you ain't in no history book, no newspaper article, no encyclopaedia.
There's a whole heap of stories don't ever get told' It is 1910 and Philadelphia is burning. The last
place Spring wants to be is in the rundown, coloured section of a hospital surrounded by the groans
of the sick and the ghost of her dead sister. But as her son Edward lies dying, she has no other
choice. There are whispers that Edward drove a streetcar into a shop window. Some people think it
was an accident; the police are certain that he was part of a darker agenda. Did he do it? And if so,
why? All Spring knows is that time is running out. With the help of her dead sister, she must find a
way to get through to Edward. This could be her last chance to tell him the story of their family, and
the truth of how he came to be.

        Queenie / Candice Carty Williams (book)
Meet Queenie. She just can't cut a break. Well, apart from one from her long term boyfriend, Tom.
That's just a break though. Definitely not a break up. Stuck between a boss who doesn't seem to see
her, a family who don't seem to listen (if it's not Jesus or water rates, they're not interested), and

trying to fit in two worlds that don't really understand her, it's no wonder she's struggling. She was
named to be queen of everything. So why is she finding it so hard to rule her own life? A darkly
comic and bitingly subversive take on life, love, race and family, Queenie will have you nodding in
recognition, crying in solidarity and rooting for this unforgettable character every step of the way.

        Golden Child / Claire Adam (available as ebook and physical book)
It's dark now; the bats are out. Insects knock against the light on the patio and the dog sits at the
gate. A boy has not returned home and a family anxiously awaits. A father steps out into the night to
search for his son. As the hours turn into days, this man will learn many things. He will learn about
being a father to twin boys who are in no way alike. He will learn how dangerous hopes and dreams
can be. He will learn truths about Trinidad, about his family, and himself. He will question received
wisdom and question his judgement. He will learn about sacrifice and the nature of love - and he will
be forced to act.

        My Sister, the Serial Killer / Oyinkan Braithwaite (eaudiobook and physical book)
When Korede's dinner is interrupted one night by a distress call from her sister, Ayoola, she knows
what's expected of her: bleach, rubber gloves, nerves of steel and a strong stomach. This'll be the
third boyfriend Ayoola's dispatched in, quote, self-defence and the third mess that her lethal little
sibling has left Korede to clear away. She should probably go to the police for the good of the
menfolk of Nigeria, but she loves her sister and, as they say, family always comes first. Until, that is,
Ayoola starts dating the doctor where Korede works as a nurse. Korede's long been in love with him,
and isn't prepared to see him wind up with a knife in his back: but to save one would mean
sacrificing the other.

        Tell me Your Secret / Dorothy Koomson (book)
Pieta has a secret. Ten years ago, Pieta was kidnapped by a man calling himself The Blindfolder who
said he wouldn't kill her if she kept her eyes closed for 48 hours. She never told anyone what
happened to her, vowing to move on with her life. But when The Blindfolder starts hunting down his
past victims, Pieta realises she may finally be forced to tell her deepest secret to stay alive. Jody has
a secret. Fifteen years ago, policewoman Jody made a terrible mistake that resulted in a serial killer
known as The Blindfolder escaping justice. When Jody discovers journalist Pieta survived an attack
by him, she realises she may finally have found a way to catch him. But that would mean
endangering at least two innocent people.

        Homegrown hero / Khurrum Rahman (book)
After preventing the most devastating terrorist attack in recent history, Jay Qasim is back home in
West London. And, despite invitations to go back undercover, all he wants is a quiet life. He's got a
job in a call centre, has blocked MI5's number, and has put his brief career as an under-cover jihadist
behind him. But the game is far from over. And Jay's about to learn that - no matter how hard he
tries - it's going to be hard to keep his head down now there's a price on it.

        Bantam / Jackie Kay (book)
Jackie Kay's first collection as Scottish Makar is a book about the fighting spirit - one, the poet
argues, that we need now more than ever. Bantam brings three generations into sharp focus - Kay's
own, her father's, and his own father's - to show us how the body holds its own story. Kay shows
how old injuries can emerge years later; how we bear and absorb the loss of friends; how we
celebrate and welcome new life; and how we embody our times, whether we want to or not.

Bantam crosses borders, from Rannoch Moor to the Somme, from Brexit to Bronte country. Who are
we? Who might we want to be?

        The Memory of Love / Aminatta Forna (eaudiobook)
Sierra Leone: civil war has left an entire population with terrible secrets to keep. In the capital's
hospital Kai, a gifted young surgeon, is plagued by demons. Elsewhere in the hospital lies Elias Cole,
a university professor who recalls the love that drove him to acts that are far from heroic. As past
and present intersect, Kai and Elias are drawn unwittingly closer and into the path of one woman at
the centre of their stories.

        The Golden Legend / Nadeem Aslam (book)
When shots ring out on the Grand Trunk Road, Nargis's life begins to crumble around her. Her
husband, Massud - a fellow architect - is caught in the crossfire and dies before she can confess to
him her greatest secret. Under threat from a powerful military intelligence officer, who demands
that she pardon her husband's American killer, Nargis fears that the truth about her past will soon
be exposed. For weeks someone has been broadcasting people's secrets from the minarets
of the city's mosques and, in a country where the accusation of blasphemy is a currency to be
bartered, the mysterious broadcasts have struck fear in Christians and Muslims alike. Against this
background of violence and fear, two outsiders - the young Christian woman Helen
and the mysterious Imran from Kashmir - try to find an island of calm in which their love can grow.

        Grand Union : Stories / Zadie Smith (book)

In 'Feel Free', pop culture, high culture, social change, and political debate all get
the Zadie Smith treatment, dissected with razor-sharp intellect, set brilliantly against the context of
the utterly contemporary, and considered with a deep humanity and compassion. This electrifying
new collection showcases its author as a true literary powerhouse, demonstrating once again her
credentials as an essential voice of her generation.

        The Confessions of Frannie Langton / Sara Collins (ebook, physical book and large
        print book)

1826, and all of London is in a frenzy. Crowds gather at the gates of the Old Bailey to watch
as Frannie Langton, maid to Mr and Mrs Benham, goes on trial for their murder. The testimonies
against her are damning - slave, whore, seductress. And they may be the truth. But they are
not the whole truth. For the first time Frannie must tell her story. It begins with a girl learning to
read on a plantation in Jamaica, and it ends in a grand house in London, where a beautiful woman
waits to be freed. But through her fevered confessions, one burning question
haunts Frannie Langton: could she have murdered the only person she ever loved?

        10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World / Elif Shafak (ebook and physical book)
'In the first minute following her death, Tequila Leila's consciousness began to ebb, slowly and
steadily, like a tide receding from the shore...' For Leila, each minute after her death recalls a
sensuous memory: spiced goat stew, sacrificed by her father to celebrate the birth of a yearned-for
son; bubbling vats of lemon and sugar to wax women's legs while men are at prayer; the cardamom
coffee she shares with a handsome student in the brothel where she works. Each fading memory
brings back the friends she made in her bittersweet life - friends who are now desperately trying to
find her . . .

Bird Summons / Leila Aboulela (book)
Salma, happily married, tries every day to fit into life in Britain. When her first love contacts her, she
is tempted to risk it all and return to Egypt. Moni gave up a career in banking to care for her disabled
son, but now her husband wants to move to Saudi Arabia - where she fears her son's condition will
worsen. Iman feels burdened by her beauty. In her twenties and already in her third marriage, she is
treated like a pet and longs for freedom. On a road trip to the Scottish Highlands, the women are
visited by the Hoopoe, a sacred bird whose fables from Muslim and Celtic literature compel them to
question the balance between faith and femininity, love, loyalty and sacrifice.

        In Our Mad and Furious City / Guy Gunaratne (book)

For Selvon, Ardan and Yusuf, growing up under the towers of Stones Estate, summer means what it
does anywhere: football, music, freedom. But now, after the killing of a British soldier, riots are
spreading across the city, and nowhere is safe. While the fury swirls around them, Selvon and Ardan
remain focused on their own obsessions: girls and grime. Their friend Yusuf is caught up in a
different tide, a wave of radicalism surging through his local mosque, threatening to carry his
troubled brother, Irfan, with it.

        Heat and Dust / Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (book)
An enticing tale of love, marriage and scandalous escape from duty for a British colonial wife in India
in 1923, interwoven with that of her step-grandaughter who follows her story fifty years later, trying
to discover why she is a family taboo.

        Gingerbread / Helen Oyeyemi (book)

Perdita Lee may appear your average British schoolgirl; Harriet Lee may seem just a working mother
trying to penetrate the school social hierarchy; but there are signs that they might not be as normal
as they think they are. For one thing, they share a gold-painted, seventh-floor flat with some
surprisingly verbal vegetation. And then there's the gingerbread they make. Londoners may find
themselves able to take or leave it, but it's very popular in Druhástrana, the far-away land of Harriet
Lee's early youth. In fact, the world's truest lover of the Lee family gingerbread is Harriet's
charismatic childhood friend, Gretel Kercheval - a figure who seems to have had a hand in everything
(good or bad) that has happened to Harriet since they met. Years later, when teenaged Perdita sets
out to find her mother's long-lost friend, it prompts a new telling of Harriet's story, as well as a
reunion or two.

        Stubborn Archivist / Yara Rodrigues Fowler (book)

When your mother considers another country home, it's hard to know where you belong. When the
people you live among can't pronounce your name, it's hard to know exactly who you are. And when
your body no longer feels like your own, it's hard to understand your place in the world. This is a
novel of growing up between cultures, of finding your space within them and of learning to live in a
traumatised body. Our stubborn archivist tells her story through history, through family
conversations, through the eyes of her mother, her grandmother and her aunt and slowly she begins
to emerge into the world, defining her own sense of identity.

        Ordinary People / Diana Evans (ebook)

South London, 2008. Two couples find themselves at a moment of reckoning, on the brink of
acceptance or revolution. Melissa has a new baby and doesn't want to let it change her but, in the
crooked walls of a narrow Victorian terrace, she begins to disappear. Michael, growing daily more

accustomed to his commute, still loves Melissa but can't get close enough to her to stay faithful.
Meanwhile out in the suburbs, Stephanie is happy with Damian and their three children, but the
death of Damian's father has thrown him into crisis - or is it something or someone else? Are they all
just in the wrong place? Are any of them prepared to take the leap?

        The Long Song / Andrea Levy (book)
Set in Jamaica during the last turbulent years of slavery and the early years of freedom that
followed, this novel follows the life of July, a slave girl, who lives upon a sugar plantation named
Amity.

        Beloved / Toni Morrison (book)

It's the mid-1800s. At Sweet Home in Kentucky, an era is ending as slavery comes under attack from
the abolitionists. The worlds of Halle & Paul D. are to be destroyed in a cataclysm of agony &
torment. The world of Sethe is to turn to violence & death.

        Paradise / Toni Morrison (ebook)
Four young women are brutally attacked in a convent near an all-black town in America in the mid-
1970s. The inevitability of this attack, and the attempts to avert it, lie at the heart of PARADISE.
Spanning the birth of the Civil Rights movement, Vietnam, the counter culture and the politics of the
late 1970s, deftly manipulating past, present and future, this novel of mysterious motives reveals the
interior lives of the citizens of the town with astonishing clarity. The drama of its people - from the
four young women and their elderly protector, to conservative businessmen, rednecks, a Civil Rights
minister and veterans of three wars - richly evokes clashes that have bedevilled American society:
between race and racelessness; patriarchy and matriarchy; religion and magic; freedom and
belonging; promiscuity and fidelity.

        Go Tell it on the Mountain / James Baldwin (book)
Drawing on James Baldwin's own boyhood in a religious community in 1930s Harlem, his first novel
tells the story of young Johnny Grimes. Johnny is destined to become a preacher like his father,
Gabriel, at the Temple of the Fire Baptized, where the church swells with song and it is as if 'the Holy
Ghost were riding on the air'. But he feels only scalding hatred for Gabriel, whose fear and
fanaticism lead him to abuse his family. Johnny vows that, for him, things will be different. This
blazing tale is full of passion and guilt, of secret sinners and prayers singing on the wind.

        Their Eyes Were Watching God / Zora Neale Hurston (book)
At the age of 16, Janie is caught kissing the shiftless Johnny Taylor, so her grandmother quickly
marries her off to an old man with 60 acres. Refusing to compromise in spite of society's
expectations, Janie endures two stifling marriages before meeting the man of her dreams.

        Kindred / Octavia E. Butler (book)
On her 26th birthday, Dana and her husband are moving into their apartment when she starts to feel
dizzy. She falls to her knees, nauseous. Then the world falls away. She finds herself at the edge of a
green wood by a vast river. A child is screaming. Wading into the water, she pulls him to safety, only
to find herself face to face with a very old looking rifle, in the hands of the boy's father. She's
terrified. The next thing she knows she's back in her apartment, soaking wet. It's the most terrifying
experience of her life - until it happens again.

The Fire Next Time / James Baldwin (book)
Unfailingly eloquent and brimming with passion and heartache, The Fire Next Time frames the
battles of the 1960s in an urgent and ever more relevant context for the modern era.

        A Different Drummer / William Melvin Kelley (book)
The month is June 1957. The setting is Sutton, a backwater town in a southern US state. One
afternoon, a young black farmer by the name of Tucker Caliban matter-of-factly throws salt on his
field, shoots his horse and livestock, sets fire to his house and departs the state; and thereafter the
entire African-American population leave with him. The reaction that follows is told across a dozen
chapters, each from the perspective of a white townsperson. These range from boys, girls, men,
women; who are either liberal, conservative, bigoted or sympathetic - yet who are all grappling with
this spontaneous, collective rejection of subordination. 'A Different Drummer' is an exploration of
what it is like to live in a white-dominated society. It's a transparent, brutally honest portrayal of the
impact and repercussions of systematised oppression.

                                   Children and YA Non-Fiction
        Little Leaders. Bold Women in Black History / Vashti Harrison (information book
        children)
Featuring 40 trailblazing black women in the world's history, this book educates and inspires as it
relates true stories of women who broke boundaries and exceeded all expectations. Debut
author/illustrator Vashti Harrison pairs captivating text with stunning illustrations as she tells the
stories of both iconic and lesser-known female figures of black history - from nurse Mary Seacole, to
politician Diane Abbott, mathematician Katherine Johnson and singer Shirley Bassey.

        Young, gifted and black / words by Jamia Wilson ; illustrated by Andrea Pippins
        (information book children)
Jamia Wilson brings together 52 icons of colour from the past and present and celebrates their
inspirational achievements. Meet figureheads, leaders and pioneers such as Martin Luther King,
Nelson Mandela and Rosa Parks, as well as cultural trailblazers and sporting heroes, including Stevie
Wonder, Oprah Winfrey and Serena Williams. Strong, courageous, talented and diverse, these
extraordinary men and women's achievements will inspire a new generation to chase their dream.

        What is race? who are racists? why does skin colour matter? and other big
        questions / Claire Heuchan & Nikesh Shukla. (information book children)
Talk about race is often discouraged, but this title aims to bring everyone into the conversation.
Exploring the history of race and society and giving context to how racist attitudes come into being,
the book looks at belonging and identity, the damaging effects of stereotyping and the benefits of
positive representation. The authors talk sensitively about how to identify and challenge racism, and
how to protect against and stop racist behaviour.

        "I will not be erased" : our stories about growing up as people of colour / gal-dem ;
        with illustrations by Jess Nash. (young adult book)
gal-dem are an award-winning magazine and creative collective of young women of colour,
described by the Guardian as 'bubbling with energy, ideas and talent'. In this thought-provoking
collection of fourteen essays, their writers take raw material from their teenage years - diaries,

poems and chat histories - and explore growing up. Straight-talking, funny and insightful, the essays
tackle important subjects including race, gender, mental health and activism, making this essential
reading for any young person.

        This book is anti-racist / by Tiffany Jewell ; illustrated by Aurélia Durand (young
        adult)
Who are you? What is racism? Where does it come from? Why does it exist? What can you do to
disrupt it? Learn about social identities, the history of racism and resistance against it, and how you
can use your anti-racist lens and voice to move the world toward equity and liberation. Gain a
deeper understanding of your anti-racist self as you progress through 20 chapters that spark
introspection, reveal the origins of racism that we are still experiencing and give you the courage
and power to undo it. Each chapter builds on the previous one as you learn more about yourself and
racial oppression. Exercise prompts get you thinking and help you grow with the knowledge.

                               Children and Young Adult Fiction
        I Am Thunder / Muhammad Khan (young adult)
15-year-old Muzna Saleem is passionate about writing and dreams of becoming a novelist. There's
just one problem - her super-controlling parents have already planned her life out for her: Step 1:
Get educated. Step 2: Qualify as a doctor. Step 3: Marry a cousin from Pakistan. Oh, and boyfriends
are totally haram. No one is more surprised than humble Muzna when high school hottie, Arif Malik,
takes an interest in her. But Arif and his brother are angry at the West for demonising Islam and
hiding a terrible secret. As Arif begins to lead Muzna down a dark path, she faces a terrible choice:
keep quiet and betray her beliefs, or speak up and betray her heart?

        Freedom / Catherine Johnson (children, young adult)
12-year old Nat is a slave, sent to England. Life in London is tough and Nat seizes the first
opportunity to escape. He hears the story of The Zong, a ship where the crew murdered 133 slaves.
Will the world continue to turn a blind eye to the horrors of slavery? And can Nat really evade his
masters forever?
        The Black Flamingo / Dean Atta ; with illustrations by Anshika Khullar (young adult)
A boy comes to terms with his identity as a mixed-race gay teen - then at university he finds his
wings as a drag artist, The Black Flamingo. A bold story about the power of embracing your
uniqueness. Sometimes, we need to take charge, to stand up wearing pink feathers - to show
ourselves to the world in bold colour. 'I masquerade in makeup and feathers and I am applauded'.

        The Island at the End of Everything / Kiran Millwood Hargrave (children, young
        adult book)
Ami lives on Culion, an island for people who have leprosy. Her mother is infected. She loves her
home - but then islanders untouched by sickness are forced to leave. Ami's desperate to return
before her mother's death. She finds a strange and fragile hope in a colony of butterflies. Can they
lead her home before it's too late?

        The Boy at the Back of the Class / Onjali Q Rauf (children’s book)

There used to be an empty chair at the back of my class, but now a new boy called Ahmet is sitting in
it. He's nine years old (just like me), but he's very strange. He never talks and never smiles and
doesn't like sweets - not even lemon sherbets, which are my favourite! But then I learned the truth:
Ahmet really isn't very strange at all. He's a refugee who's run away from a War. A real one. With
bombs and fires and bullies that hurt people. And the more I find out about him, the more I want to
help. That's where my best friends Josie, Michael and Tom come in. Because you see, together we've
come up with a plan. . .

        Crongton Knights / Alex Wheatle (children and young adult)

Living on the South Crongton council estate has its worries - and life for McKay has been even
tougher since his mum died. His dad has been working all hours to keep the bailiffs from their door.
His brother is always out riding the streets at night, tempting trouble. And now, having strayed off
his turf on a 'heroic' (if misguided) mission to help out a girl, McKay finds himself facing a friend's
crazy ex-boyfriend, some power-tripping hood-rats and a notoriously violent gangster with a
vendetta which hits too close to home. Poor McKay. He never asked for trouble. But during one
madcap night of adventure and danger, he will find out who his true friends are and what it means
to stick with your family.

        Somebody Give This Heart a Pen / Sophia Thakur (eaudiobook) (young adult)

From acclaimed performance poet Sophia Thakur comes a powerful first collection of poems
exploring issues of identity, difference, faith, relationships, fear, loss and joy. Intricate, evocative and
dazzling – these are poems that explore the experiences that connect people; they encourage
readers to look within and explore the tendencies of the heart.

        Kick the Moon / Muhammad Khan (ebook) (young adult)

Fifteen-year-old Ilyas is under pressure from everyone. His exams are looming, his teachers just
won't let up, his dad wants him to join the family business and his mates don't care about any of it.
There's no space in Ilyas' life to just be a teenager. A resounding, stark, thought-provoking novel
with a heart that burns with hope and courage about what it means to grow up as a Muslim boy in a
tough community.

        Crossfire / Malorie Blackman (ebook) (young adult)

Years have passed since the love between Sephy - a Cross - and Callum - a Nought - destroyed their
world and changed their families and society forever. Society appears to be very different now. For
the first time ever, a Nought Prime Minister - Tobey Durbridge - is in power. Race and class don't
divide people anymore. But things are never really that easy. Because Tobey's just been framed for
murder, and the only way to free himself is to turn to his oldest friend - Callie-Rose. Their families
divisions run deep, and when two young people are kidnapped, their lives and everything they've
fought for are put in the firing line. And when you're playing a game as dangerous as this one, it
won't be long before someone gets caught in the crossfire...

        A Dangerous Game / Malorie Blackman (children’s book dyslexia friendly)

Sam has sickle-cell anaemia and, though things can be hard when his illness flares up, Mum and Dad
seem convinced that he's never well enough to do anything fun. All he wants is the chance to have a
normal life like his friends, and that includes going on an exciting school trip to the Scottish
Highlands. When Mum and Dad finally agree, Sam hopes the trip can be his chance to prove how

strong he is. Unfortunately, his bullies have other ideas and the trip might turn out to be more
dangerous than Shaun ever imagined.

        Stay a Little Longer / Bali Rai (young adult, dyslexia friendly)

Aman's dad is gone, leaving her feeling lost and alone. She struggles to talk about it, but it's
a fact and he isn't coming back. When a lovely man called Gurnam moves onto her street
and saves Aman from some local bullies, he and Aman quickly become friends, perhaps
even like family. But Gurnam has his own sadness. One that's far bigger than Aman can
understand, and it's tearing his life apart.

        Bone Talk / Candy Gourlay (ebook) (children’s book)

Samkad lives in a tribe deep in the Philippine jungle at the end of the nineteenth century, and has
never encountered anyone from outside his own tribe before. He's about to become a man, and
while he's desperate to grow up, he's worried that this will take him away from his best friend, Little
Luki. However, Samkad's world is about to change utterly. A strange man with white skin arrives in
his village, and Samkad discovers the brother he never knew he had. A brother who tells him of
people called 'Americans'. Americans who are bringing war, and burning, to Samuel's home.

        Accidental Trouble Magnet / Zanib Mian (children’s book)

My parents decided it would be a good idea to move house and move me to a new school at the
same time. As if I didn't have a hard enough time staying out of trouble at home, now I've also got to
try and make new friends. What's worse, the class bully seems to think I'm the perfect target and
has made it his mission to send me back to Pakistan. But I've never even been to Pakistan! And my
cousin told me the pizza there is yuck. The only good thing is that Eid's just around the corner which
means a feast of all my favourite food (yay) and presents (double yay). I'm really hoping I can stay in
Mum and Dad's good books long enough to get loads.

        Corey’s Rock / Sita Brahmachari (children’s book)

Ten-year-old Isla has moved from Edinburgh to the Orkney Islands with her parents, to start a new
life after the death of Isla's beloved young brother. Isla's mother's family is from Orkney and her
father's is from Africa, and she finds island life is very different to her former city home. Her
discovery of the old Orcadian legend about the selkies, half human, half seal people, becomes the
key to adjustment and acceptance. Many strands are woven into this deceptively simple story - loss
and discovery, legend and reality, the pleasures and problems of settling into a new place, the need
to make new friends, the coming to terms with sadness.

        Two Sides / Polly Ho-Yen (children’s book)

Lula is a Dog Person and Lenka is a Cat Person; Lula is super messy and Lenka is totally tidy; Lula likes
talking and Lenka likes watching - but together they make the perfect pair. Until The Day that
Everything Goes Wrong and they are no longer friends. Despite feeling lonely, neither is prepared to
listen or forgive. Will it be this way forever?

        Toad Attack / Patrice Lawrence (children’s book)

After a toad lands on his head as he leaves his house one morning, Leo is determined to find out
where it has come from and why. Together with his friend Rosa, he needs to come up with some

answers before the angry residents of Upper Dab take matters into their own hands and the toads
become toast!

        If All the World Were / Joseph Coelho (picture book children)

A moving, lyrical picture book about a young girl's love for her granddad and how she copes when he
dies, written by poet and playwright Joseph Coelho. This powerful and ultimately uplifting text is the
ideal way to introduce children to the concept of death and dying, particularly children who have
lost a grandparent.

        Sing to the Moon / Nansubuga Nagadya Isdhal (picture book children)

For one little Ugandan boy, no wish is too big. First he dreams of reaching the stars and then of
riding a supernova straight to Mars. But on a rainy day at his grandfather's house, he is brought
down to earth with a bump. Do adventures only happen in galaxies far away or can he find magic a
little closer to home?

        Astro Girl / Kevin Wilson-Max (picture book children)

Astrid has always loved the stars and space. 'I want to be an astronaut!' she says. While Mama is
away, Papa and Astrid have fun acting out the challenges an astronaut faces on a space mission -
eating food from a tube, doing science experiments, living and sleeping in near-zero gravity. Astrid
can do it all! Then it's time to meet Mama at the airbase. But where has Mama been?

        Good Little Wolf / Nadia Shireen (picture book children)

Once upon a time there was a wolf called Rolf - a good little wolf who liked baking cakes and was
always kind to his friends. But real wolves aren't supposed to be good - they're supposed to be BIG
and BAD. Can a good little wolf still be a real wolf?

        Come All You Little Persons / John Agard & Jessica Courtney Tickle (picture book
        children)
Come little bird person, come little bee person, come little tree person - little persons from all over
the world join together to celebrate the dance of life and love in this stunning poem from John
Agard.

        Look up! / written by Nathan Bryon ; illustrated by Dapo Adeola (picture book
        children)
Rocket's going to be the greatest astronaut, star-catcher space-traveller that has ever lived! But first,
she needs to convince her big brother Jamal to stop looking down at his phone and start looking up
at the stars. Bursting with energy and passion about space and the natural world, this heart-warming
picture book will reignite your desire to turn off those screens and switch on to the outside world.