Banned and challenged books by Black women that are worth reading

Chapter #36: My favorites, plus one on my TBR list

Feeling My Shelf is a bi-weekly newsletter about books, life, and, well, life with books. Grab your favorite caffeinated beverage and take a deep breath. There are no recent reads this week because who could finish a book with all this *gestures wildly around* happening?

📍 Reparations Club in Los Angeles

Reading as an act of resistance has never felt more necessary.

This week has me feeling all the feels—angry, sad, disappointed, frustrated, and, above all, numb. Like many others, I was holding my breath for something historic, only to be presented with that all-too-familiar ache of progress being ripped away. Where we go from here, I’m not quite sure yet. But if there’s anything that has always and will continue to get me through hard times, it’s stories.

Stories that center Black voices and experiences, challenge stereotypes, and explore complex histories are continuously being silenced in this country (ahem, book bans.) An easy way to fight back? Actively seek these authors and stories out. Buy the books. Read them. Share them.

If you’re looking for a place to start: Below are some of my favorite banned and challenged books by Black women. They remind me that no matter how heavy the world feels, there’s resilience on every page.

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
A classic novel following a woman on a journey to find her voice and sense of self, set against the backdrop of the rural southeast.

The Skin I'm In by Sharon G. Flake
A teen confronts her insecurities and the cruelty of high school life, learning to love the skin she’s in, even when the world doesn’t make it easy.

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Thomas’ debut novel follows a teen who struggles to balance two worlds (her working-class neighborhood and her predominantly white prep school) after she witnesses the murder of her best friend by a police officer.

Hood Feminism by Mikki Kendall
A no-holds-barred critique of mainstream feminism that dares to ask: who’s being left out?

Monday's Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson
A haunting novel that shines a light on the epidemic of missing Black girls whose disappearances go unnoticed.

The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon
Two teens, one about to be deported and the other struggling with love, meet and fall in love on a single day in New York City.

Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson
A moving story about Black family, identity, and generational ties, exploring how race, class, and choices shape each generation's path.

The Black Kids by Christina Hammonds Reed
A Black teen grapples with her privilege and identity as the Rodney King riots shake her community in 1990s Los Angeles.

Grown by Tiffany D. Jackson
A talented teen singer’s dreams of stardom become a nightmare as she gets caught in a toxic, manipulative relationship with an older music producer.

After seeing Ava DuVernay’s Origin last year, I knew I needed to read Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson (another banned book!) The incredibly moving drama film follows Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Isabel Wilkerson (played by Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor) as she writes Caste—a non-fiction examination of the unspoken caste system that’s shaped America. I was crying(!) in the movie theater, so I could only imagine what the book would do to me.

I’m still working on Dances by Nicole Cuffy, and I have about 100 pages to go. Then, I’ll start I'll Be Gone for Christmas by Georgia K. Boone, a Christmas house-swap rom-com. Because I need something lighter and fun right about now.

Thank you, Kamala Harris. Trump may have won the presidency, but abortion won in these states. For the first time, the U.S. Senate will have two Black women. 4B, the protest movement that boycotts men, explained. About BLK MKT Vintage’s debut book.

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