The Book Sense™ African-American Bestseller List
1. The Color of Water By James McBride Riverhead, 1998
A young man struggles with the combined legacies of his African-American father and Jewish mother in this autobiographical novel.
2. Crowns: Portraits of Black Women in Church Hats By Michael Cunningham, Craig Marberry Doubleday, 2001
Brief oral histories complement black-and-white photographs of African-American women in spectacular hats.
3. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings By Maya Angelou Bantam, 1986
In this first volume of her collection of memoirs, poet Maya Angelou describes her girlhood in the South.
4. The Autobiography of Malcolm X By Malcolm X, Alex Haley Ballantine, 1965
Based on extensive interviews he conducted with Malcolm X, Alex Haley writes, in first-person perspective, the story of Malcolm's life.
5. Makes Me Wanna Holler: A Young Black Man in America By Nathan McCall Vintage, 1995
A reporter's memoir of his journey from the streets of Portsmouth, Va., to prison, rehabilitation, and a job at The Washington Post.
6. A Day Late and a Dollar Short By Terry McMillan Viking, 2001
A chatty novel about the trials of the squabbling, but ultimately loving, Price family.
7. Their Eyes Were Watching God By Zora Neale Hurston Harper Perennial, 1937
In this novel a proud, dreamy young woman comes of age expecting better treatment from the men in her life than she experiences.
8. All About Love: New Visions By bell hooks HarperPerennial, 2001
Feminist critic bell hooks takes on questions and cultural assumptions about love with examples from her own life.
9. Our Kind of People: Inside America's Black Upper Class By Lawrence Otis Graham HarperPerennial, 1999
An African-American lawyer's social history and thoughtful appraisal of his own place in the black social hierarchy.
10. Black, White, and Jewish: Autobiography of a Shifting Self By Rebecca Walker Riverhead, 2001
In this memoir, a daughter explores questions of racial, sexual, and cultural identity in light of the traditions of her Jewish father and African-American mother.
11. Black Like Me By John Howard Griffin Signet, 1960
A white writer undergoes medical treatments to darken his skin, then travels through the American South, trying to learn what it's like to be black.
12. A Call to Conscience: The Landmark Speeches of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr Edited by Clayborne Carson Warner, 2001
A collection of Dr. King's influential and best-known speeches, compiled by the director of the King Papers Project.
13. Hidden in Plain View: A Secret Story of Quilts and the Underground Railroad By Jacqueline L. Tobin and Raymond G. Dobard, PhD Anchor, 1999
Based on family oral histories, this account examines how quilts were used to communicate messages on the Underground Railroad.
14. Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? And Other Conversations About Race By Beverly Daniel Tatum HarperCollins, 1997
A clinical psychologist and professor explains the development of racial identity using anecdotes about her sons, excerpts from research, interviews, and essays written by her students.
15. Where we stand: Class Matters By bell hooks Routledge, 2000
Critic and writer bell hooks explores the intersection of class and race in America.
Source: The Book Sense™ bestseller list, 1-888-BOOKSENSE
(c) Copyright 2001. The Christian Science Publishing Society
