In Short

Coffee Will Make You Black, by April Sinclair: A black girl in ‘60s Chicago grows up and into her sexuality. One of the funniest and best-written books I read last year. And the sequel just came out, so there’s no more waiting to hear what happens to Stevie.

Makes Me Wanna Holler, by Nathan McCall: Eloquent, unflinchingly honest, politically astute. This book has a lot to teach me, as a white girl, about the lived experience of a black man in racist America.

Schoolgirls, by Peggy Orenstein: You’ll see yourself and your middle school experience reflected in the girls she observes. Frustrating, because things aren’t changing; gratifying, because someone’s paying attention.