Here are a few titles for your next book club. Cleveland Public Library has curated a list of recommended reads that highlight the angst stemming from community policing, told from a Black perspective. These reads are in partnership with Cleveland 19’s The Next 400 series.
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Also available in ebook and e-audio formats!(YA/Adult) Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.
Tyler Johnson Was Here by Jay Coles
A young man searches for answers after the death of his brother at the hands of police in this striking debut novel, for readers of The Hate U Give.
Say Her Name by Zetta Elliott and Loveis Wise
Inspired by the #SayHerName campaign launched by the African American Policy Forum, these poems pay tribute to victims of police brutality as well as the activists insisting that Black Lives Matter. Elliott engages poets from the past two centuries to create a chorus of voices celebrating the creativity, resilience, and courage of Black women and girls.
All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely
In this New York Times bestselling novel, two teens–one black, one white–grapple with the repercussions of a single violent act that leaves their school, their community, and, ultimately, the country bitterly divided by racial tension.