Growing up, I spent most of my allowance on candy (don’t worry, this is going somewhere), so I didn’t buy too many many books as a young girl. But with my handy-dandy library card, both for school and the public library, I had the chance to read quite a few classic and lovably rachet books that have had a strong impact on my way of thinking ever since. Whether they were recommended by my classmates, read in class, or picked up after hearing about them in my favorite magazines, I found that I wasn’t the only one who read these novels and memoirs back in the day. Here are a few books every black girl read back in the day…at least once.
Coldest Winter Ever
I can remember toting that thick little book around with its bright colors, trying to find a sophisticated way to explain to my mother that it was about a girl who was the daughter of a drug dealer who is living life a little too fast. Folks end up in jail, disfigured, and in group homes through the rollercoaster ride that is The Coldest Winter Ever. As ratch as it was, Sister Souljah’s first real novel was one of the most entertaining books I’ve ever read.
Anything by Eric Jerome Dickey…
This one was hard to narrow down, but I’m pretty sure we’ve all either read Milk in My Coffee, Sister, Sister, Liar’s Game, Cheaters or Lovers and Friends…am I right? As a teenager, at the time, nobody wrote about love, volatile relationships and “contemporary African-American life” like Eric Jerome Dickey, and his books stay on the bookshelves of your sisters, aunties, cousins and friends to this day.
Flyy Girl
Folks call it an “urban classic,” and it definitely fits. The coming-of-age story of Tracy Ellison and her fast friends is one that anybody can relate to, despite the fact that the novel was set in the ’80s. And while this character has the same sort of defiance and “live fast” type of mentality of Coldest Winter Ever‘s Winter Santiaga, Ellison’s story doesn’t end on such a downtrodden note, and the overall growth of the characters as the book goes on is definitely refreshing.
The Color Purple
The book is even better than the movie (though the movie was pretty amazing, so that’s saying a lot), and provides a better look into the feelings Celie had and the things she went through, as a great bulk of the story is told through her letters. You already know how the story ends (the movie has been played on television over and over), but I think we can all agree that it’s a classic in all of literature, not just African-American literature.
The Bluest Eye
Really, I don’t like to think about this book like that because reading it was emotionally exhausting. The traumatizing story of the character Pecola Breedlove, and her wish for blue eyes and beauty that she feels her black skin and curly hair doesn’t provide, stays with you long after you finish the book. The Bluest Eye is one of Toni Morrison’s best books (it’s also her first).
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret
Teenage (or pre-teenage actually) angst has never been so funny. Following Margaret Simon through the struggle of moving, making new friends, getting her first period, dealing with her changing body, and figuring out what religion she will be, Margaret shares her vulnerabilities through her relationship and conversations with God. Published in 1970, it’s still a book every young girl (black, white, blue or green) should read.
Addicted
I shouldn’t have been reading this book at the age that I did. The Zane book, which followed the risky affairs and sex addiction of Zoe Reynard, was steamy and a bit too crazy for the Fifty Shades of Grey readers of today. We root for her to get her life together (or to get away with her sexual exploits) as she risks everything to feed her appetite.
To Kill A Mockingbird
Let’s not front, I’m sure most of us read this book for school, but who else was very moved by it once they finished? It covered racial injustices and the realities of growing up as a child in the south at a horrible time when most authors were avoiding such subjects with a ten-foot pole. And on a side-note, the movie based on the book isn’t half bad either. R.I.P. to my main man Gregory Peck.
Their Eyes Were Watching God
Unlike The Color Purple, the movie based on this book was not the beez-neez, but the book is. And as June Jordan once put it, it’s “the most successful, convincing, and exemplary novel of Blacklove that we have. Period.” And it just might be true. The stories of failed and found love (and eventual killing of that love) of Janie Crawford are truly compelling, and it is a book that has continued to inspire some of our favorite writers of present, including the absolutely amazing Zadie Smith.
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings
It’s Maya Angelou. Do I really need to say more? The book is one of the great autobiographies out there and shares the humble beginnings and the struggles with which Angelou had to deal with while growing up (including sexual abuse at a very young age, homelessness and overt racism). Eventually, her spirit and strength helps her overcome a great deal and find a new confidence and love fo herself. Such a story has been quite an inspiring one since it was published way back in 1969.
Waiting To Exhale
Terry McMillan has quite a few classic books you’ve probably read front-to-back, but I’m sure we’ve all learned quite a thing or two from Waiting to Exhale. Is it really that bad to be single woman as a middle-aged woman? The way some of the stories of our favorite friends begin, you might think so. But with the love and support of one another, we learn when to let go, when to let love in, and when to exhale. Sorry, was that cliche?
