Colson Whitehead
The Underground Railroad

The Underground Railroad

From the publisher: "Cora is a slave on a cotton plantation in Georgia. Life is hell for all the slaves, but especially bad for Cora; an outcast even among her fellow Africans, she is coming into womanhood-where even greater pain awaits. When Caesar, a recent arrival from Virginia, tells her about the Underground Railroad, they decide to take a terrifying risk and escape. Matters do not go as planned-Cora kills a young white boy who tries to capture her. Though they manage to find a station and head north, they are being hunted."

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The Nickel Boys

The Nickel Boys

Colson Whitehead brings Jim Crow-era Florida to life through the real story of a reform school in Tallahassee that claimed to rehabilitate delinquent boys and instead abused and terrorized them for over one hundred years. Elwood Curtis is bound for a local black college when an innocent mistake lands him at The Nickel Academy instead. Elwood finds comfort in Dr. Martin Luther King's words and holds to his ideals, whereas his friend Turner believes the world is crooked so you have to scheme to survive. All this leads to a decision with harrowing repercussions for their respective fates.

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Sag Harbor

Sag Harbor

From the publisher: "Benji Cooper is one of the few Black students at an elite prep school in Manhattan. But every summer, Benji escapes to the Hamptons, to Sag Harbor, where a small community of Black professionals have built a world of their own. The summer of '85 won't be without its usual trials and tribulations, of course. But maybe, just maybe, this summer might be one for the ages."

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Harlem Shuffle

Harlem Shuffle

For those who've only read The Underground Railroad and The Nickel Boys, Whitehead's new novel is going to feel like a huge departure; this is more like Sag Harbor, his 2009 novel set in 1980s New York City. (As you can see, Whitehead has range.) At the center of the story sits Ray Carney, a man caught between two worlds: he wants to be a respectable family man, but can't seem evade the pull of the crime scene of 1960s Harlem, and its profits. This has been often described as a heist novel—and it is—but please know going in that it is carefully-constructed and slow-building, with rich character development and a sly sense of humor. Excellent on audio, as narrated by Dion Graham.

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Crook Manifesto

Crook Manifesto

Harlem Shuffle introduced us to Ray Carney, who wants to be a respectable family man but can’t quite give up his life of petty crime in 1960s Harlem. (Though not essential, I recommend reading Harlem first.) When Crook opens in 1971, Ray has spent four years on the straight and narrow. But then his daughter asks for tickets to The Jackson 5, and the only way Ray can get them is to do a “favor” for a bent cop, who asks him to serve as a fence for stolen jewelry. Soon enough Ray is back in the game, and it feels more dangerous than ever. Pick up this immersive, darkly comic historical for the superb voice, palpable atmosphere, and astonishing period detail. I’m already itching to read the final installment of this trilogy: I can’t wait to see what Ray does next. For fans of James McBride’s Deacon King Kong and Sidik Fofana’s Stories from the Tenants Downstairs.

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