Seven Books that show #Blacklivesmatter

The #BlackLivesMatter protest in Cardiff, Wales has a proud history of showing its compassion and support, not just notionally, but in action.
 Picture, Angharad Arnold.

One of the ways #blacklivesmatter wants to help bring equality and justice to black and minority ethnic people (and children) is by educating those who have never had to think about their role in the Western World. They’ve put out a call for everyone to better understand the experiences of black people and through that make their own contribution to proactively changing the society they live in.

When I was researching Just My Luck, I read an enormous quantity of non-fiction,

especially books on the history of Caribbean slavery, the way racism works in the UK, and black memoir.

That’s why I’m so proud that Just My Luck is being re-released in Kindle at this exact time, although, of course racism has been with us forever, and the Black Lives Matter movement was formed almost a decade ago, after yet another shooting and conviction of the policeman holding the gun.

I’m convinced that if you want to know about a difficult and complex subject that effects people’s lives, the best place to start is a novel…not just my book, but many for both young people and adults. 

Here’s my list of seven great books that will both educate and entertain you:

The Hate U Give

This was Angie Thomas’ 2017 debut novel, which, for all you hopeful writers out there, began as a story she wrote in college over the police shooting of Oscar Grant in 2009.Starr, a 16-year-old black girl who has a place at an elite school, witnesses a white police officer shoot and kill her childhood friend, Khalil. What should she do with this experience? Will speaking up change anything?  I devoured this book; it's a gripping and emotional read, whatever your age.

The Underground Railroad

This Pulitzer Prize winer is about Cora, a slave on a cotton plantation, and an outcast even among her fellow Africans. She learns about the Underground railroad and makes a bid for freedom. Colston Whitehead’s story is multilayered, describing the secret network of tracks and tunnels used for escape, and every stop along the way to the North offers more risk and terror.

The Confessions of Frannie Langton

Published last year, Sara Collin’s story moves from the plantations of Jamaica to the drawing rooms of London. One of my favourite books this year, it's a beautiful and haunting tale. 

Lieutenant Hotshot

The story of an invisible child, by Julia North.  Modetse is brainwashed when conscripted ito the horror of the Resistance Army at 11 years old. What chance can Modetse ever have of truly finding himself again, or rescuing his little sister Thandi?

The Last Runaway

Tracy Chevalier is the author of 10 novels, including the international bestseller Girl with a Pearl Earring, which has sold over 5 million copies and been made into an Oscar-nominated film starring Scarlett Johansson and Colin Firth. In The Last Runaway, Honor Bright, a quaker, emigrates from England to Ohio in the 1850s. She gets involved in helping runaway slaves trying to reach Canada, help that can result in fines, jail, or even losing her husband's property. 

The Help

I read this book by Kathy Stockett shortly after it was released; since then it's become a film. Read or view to learn more about the American Deep South in the sixties, following the stories of two black maids, MInnie and Aibileen, and the white university graduate, Skeeter, who wants to help broadcast the injustice of their lives to the world.

Just My Luck

On July 1st, my story of two thirteen year-olds who get caught up in racial bullying is release on Kindle; you can pre-order now.

Three stories merge; Helen was going through her grandmother's things when she begins to wonder if she has a  link to Jake Silver, a slave boy brought to England from the West Indies in the late 18th century. Meanwhile how can Brandon overcome his fears about the gang who has threatened him and tell his story to the police?

With an upbeat and fast-paced style, a quest to solve and hard-hitting storyline, Just My Luck will appeal to a wide audience – grown-ups and young readers alike – especially for its historical content and in tackling the subject of racial violence in the 21st century head-on. 

Kindle released on 1st July; paperback version available in time for Christmas!