DREF Sister Scholars Present the 2024 Summer Reading List
Each year the Sister Scholars Advisory Council presents a summer reading list with a variety of current book selections carefully curated for your pleasure.
This summer, enjoy fun in the sun, a cool drink and a good book! DREF encourages you to enjoy exploration and enlightenment through books written by African American authors.
2024 DREF Summer Reading List
ART/CULTURE/MUSIC
- My Black Country: A Journey Through Country Music’s Black Past, Present, and Future by Alice Randall
- Praise song for the Kitchen Ghosts: Stories and Recipes from Five Generations of Black Country Cooks by Crystal Wilkinson
- Supreme Sirens: Iconic Black Women Who Revolutionized Music by Marcellas Reynolds
- The Black Girl Survives in This One: Horror Stories by Desiree S. Evans (Editor), Saraciea J. Fennell (Editor), Tananarive Due (Introduction)
BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
- Bits and Pieces: My Mother, My Brother, and Me by Whoopi Goldberg
- Finding Me: A Memoir by Viola Davis
- Medgar and Myrlie: Medgar Evers and the Love Story That Awakened America by Joy-Ann Reid
- Up Home: One Girls Journey by Ruth Simmons
- Until I Am Free – Fannie Lou Hamer’s Enduring Message to America by Keisha Blain
CHILDREN/EDUCATIONAL
- Barracoon, Zora Neal Hurston and Ibrahim X.Kendi
- Little Rosetta and the Talking Guitar: The Musical Story of Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the Woman Who Invented Rock and Roll by Charnelle Pinkney Barlow. Illus. by the author.
- Love is Loud: How Diane Nash Led the Civil Rights Movement By Sandra Neil Wallace. Illus. by Bryan Collier
- Dexter’s Sound Becomes King by Gwynn R.C. Moses, Illustrated by Anastasia Stolypina
- CLASSIC BLACK WOMEN’S WRITING
- Black Women Writers at Work by Claudia Tate – editor, Allyson Johnson
- The Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
HISTORY
- Breaking Barriers: The First Ladies of Education by DeWitt S. Williams
- Black Women Taught Us by Jenn Jackson
- Our Secret Society: Mollie Moon and the Glamour, Money, and Power Behind the Civil Rights Movement by Tanisha Ford
- Black AF History: The Un-whitewashed Story of America by Michael Harriot
- Black Folk: The Roots of the Black Working Class by Blair L.M. Kelley
- The Vice President’s Black Wife: The Untold Life of Julia Chinn by Amrita Chakrabarti Myers
HISTORICAL FICTION
- The American Queen by Vanessa Miller
- The American Daughters by Maurice Carlos Ruffin
- The Queen of Sugar Hill: A Novel of Hattie McDaniel by ReShonda Tate
- To Catch a Raven by Beverly Jenkins
LITERATURE/NOVELS
- Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson
- The Darkest Child by Delores Phillips
- Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
- Redwood Court by DéLana R. A. Dameron
- MYSTERIES/THRILLERS
- American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson
- Glory Be: A Glory Broussard Mystery by Danielle Arceneaux
- The Nigerwife by Vanessa Walters
SELF-HELP/INSPIRATION/RELIGIOUS
- BE B.I.G: Boundless Empowered Bodacious Intuitive Grandios by Felice Hightower Britt
- Power Move: Ignite Your Confidence and Become a Force by Sarah Jakes Roberts
- To Speak a Defiant Word: Sermons and Speeches on Justice and Transformation by Pauli Murray by Anthony B. Pinn, et al.
- Playing a New Game: A Black Woman’s Guide to Being Well and Thriving in the Workplace by Tammy Lewis Wilborn, PhD
- Shine Bright Like A Diamond: A Very Long Love Letter from Mom with Love by Angela Wilson
TEEN/YOUNG ADULT
- Call Us What We Carry by Amanda Gorman
- ‘Dear Black Girls: How to Be True to You’ by A’Ja Wilson
COLLEGE SUCCESS
- The College Student’s Guide to Mental Health: Essential Wellness Strategies for Flourishing in College
- by Mia Nosanow
- Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About College: A Guide for Minority Students by Dr. Boyce Watkins
- Agent YOU: Show Up, Do the Work and Succeed on Your Own Terms by Nicole Lynn
- How to Navigate Life: The New Science of Finding Your Way in School, Career and Beyond
by Belle Liang, Ph.D. and Timothy Klein, LCSW