The Nickel Boys

This book really packed a punch in a short amount of pages. When bodies are found at an old reform school - it takes Elwood back to his youth. Back to the Jim Crow era reform school (The Nickel Academy) in Florida that still gives him nightmares. From the racist staff, the hard manual labor, the merciless beatings, and the utter lack of hope it's something he's actively not thought about in decades. But when his old school makes national news for an unmarked graveyard filled with dead kids - Elwood knows he has to speak. Maybe after all these years he's finally found his voice. Alternating between his youth at the Nickel Academy and decades later when he's a successful businessman in New York; this story of race, redemption, hate, and hope will stick with readers long after the final page has turned.

Absalom's Daughters

A quirky and heartfelt journey that will intrigue readers from the beginning. From an early age Cassie and Judith knew they were sisters. Even though Cassie was black and living with her mother and grandmother above a laundry shop and Judith was a white girl living with her redneck family, they knew they were sisters, and so did the whole town. Grandmother was obsessed with getting the family lighter and lighter because living in the Jim Crow south during the 50s was no cake walk for colored folks. In order to whiten the family line, grandmother would push her offspring to get knocked up by white men, hoping that in a few generations, no one would be none the wiser. When their father ran off (although he was certainly no father to poor Cassie and ignored her very existence) and left Judith's mom and siblings up shit creek, Judith has decided that she's had enough and she's going to make her own way in the world. She convinces Cassie to join her and together they dig an old car out of the woods and start a road trip across the south that they'll never forget. A wonderful read that has elements of folklore, mysticism, family, friendship, and heartbreak.