Our Favorite Books of 2020Like this list

48 items

• A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor

  a Novel

  Green, Hank

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  This is the second book in the series by Hank Green. And while this is a light sci-fi book it is also SO much more! The author really does a great job of discussing interesting topics like becoming famous in a way that has me thinking about it for…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• African American Poetry

  250 Years of Struggle & Song

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  For #333 of its venerable series, the editors were gifted with a collection compiled by Kevin Young, poetry editor at the New Yorker, that clearly ranks among the most valuable and majestic volumes in the Library of America. The publisher's own…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• All Because You Matter

  Charles, Tami

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  Black Lives Matter. Black books matter. Bryan Collier's collage beautiful compliments the lyrical text celebrating Black boyhood. Recommended for: Children Recommended by: Kidbrarian PT, Children's Librarian

• Bedtime Bonnet

  Redd, Nancy Amanda

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  This read-alike for Hair Love and Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut features a nighttime routine for Black hair care. It's lovely to see these family traditions on the page as I've often received questions about my hair. Read it and see it. …Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Before the Ever After

  Woodson, Jacqueline

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  This novel in verse format gives the point of view of ZJ, a 12-year-old whose still-young father has brain trauma from his pro-football career. Although his family can plainly see the effects, the football association will not admit he has Chronic…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Begin Again

  James Baldwin's America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own

  Glaude, Eddie S., Jr., 1968-

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  With his latest book, Begin Again: James Baldwin’s America and its Urgent Lessons for Our Own, Princeton professor Eddie S. Glaude, Jr., examines the ongoing struggle to compel Americans to address our racist past and policies in order to move…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Billy Ball

  Billy Martin and the Resurrection of the Oakland A's

  Tafoya, Dale,

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  We baseball fans are so lucky to have the A's to root for and simply kick back and enjoy. We've had, for example, the one-of-a-kind experience having the local boy, "Berkeley" Billy Martin, return to his boyhood haunts, rowdy as ever, to manage a …Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Black Power Afterlives

  the Enduring Significance of the Black Panther Party

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  Like the classic 1970 anthology Black Panther Speaks, a collection of the fundamental texts by the militant intellectuals of the Black Panther Party of the 1960s compiled for publication by Philip Foner, Fujino and Harmachis have gathered the most…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Bruce Lee

  Sifu, Friend, and Big Brother

  Palmer, Douglas,

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  In this most recent entry in the seemingly never-ending stream of writing about the iconic Bruce Lee, comes from a former student of the celebrity martial artist who spent a summer with him and his family in Hong Kong. The author, who developed a…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Cemetery Boys

  Thomas, Aiden

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  Yadriel needs to prove to his father that he has just as much magic as the cisgendered male witches in the family -- but the boy whose ghostly spirit he raises is more trouble (and a lot cuter) than he had bargained for. This queer, trans, Latinx,…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Changing Academia Forever

  Black Student Leaders Analyze the Movement They Led

  Epstein, Kitty Kelly, 1946-

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  On November 1, 1968, George Murray, a popular African-American English professor at San Francisco State University was suspended from the faculty as punishment for the content of a speech he had given the previous summer on a trip to Cuba. Five days…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Come Home, Indio

  a Memoir

  Terry, Jim (Artist),

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  Come Home, Indio is a moving memoir written in graphic novel form. Terry grew up in the suburbs of the northern Mid-West and felt disconnected from his maternal Native American heritage. He struggled in dysfunctional relationships with his alcoholic…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Dave Brubeck

  a Life in Time

  Clark, Philip (Music journalist)

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  Timed for the 100th anniversary of the subject's birth in nearby Concord (on December 6, 2020), British music journalist Philip Clark presents a vivid, richly detailed and simply stunning portrayal of the life of jazz legend Dave Brubeck. Clark …Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Deacon King Kong

  a Novel

  McBride, James, 1957-

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  The setting is a Brooklyn housing project in 1969 and James McBride introduces us to the large cast of characters who live there. At the center of it all is Sportcoat, a church Deacon. Fond of the hooch brewed by his pal, he kicks off the tale by…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Die With Zero

  Getting All You Can From Your Money and Your Life

  Perkins, Bill (William O.), 1969-

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  The book illustrates how to maximize fulfillment while minimizing waste with personal wealth. It aligns well with my value of efficiency. Particularly, the book points out that life experiences, not materials, truly matters. And free time, health…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Fiebre Tropical

  a Novel

  Delgado Lopera, Juliana

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  Homesick for her former life and friends in Bogotá, Colombia, fifteen-year-old Francisca is disgusted by Miami and the crappy apartment she shares with her Mom, sister and grandmother, and appalled by the evangelical church she is forced to attend.…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Girl With the Louding Voice

  a Novel

  Daré, Abi

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  This was one of the most memorable books I've read this year. Adunni is a 14 year old Nigerian girl who, like many Nigerian girls, is forced into marriage with an older man who already has other wives. Her mother has died and her life is hard -…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• A Heart Full of Hallways

  Nakadegawa-Lee, Greer,

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  The work of this year's Youth Poet Laureate is an absolute joy and thanks to the resourcefulness of Oakland's innovative Nomadic Press, she could receive that honor with a collection of her work already in print. The teenaged student of Oakland…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Hiding in Plain Sight

  the Invention of Donald Trump and the Erosion of America

  Kendzior, Sarah,

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  So much has been written about this out-going president and the horrors of his personality and his politics that it can easily seem overwhelming when considering a dive into the body of work on the subject. The list, from Bob Woodward to the…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• How Much of These Hills Is Gold

  Zhang, C Pam

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  In the Gold Rush era American West, newly orphaned sisters Lucy age 12, and Sam age 11 set out on a quest to pursue safety, freedom and a proper burial for their father according to Chinese tradition. Sam reimagines life as a boy and an outlaw,…Read moreRead more of this annotation