Required Reading: Viola Ford Fletcher, the Last Survivor of the Tulsa Massacre Shares Her Story. Plus More Great Books To Dip Into This August

Ready to dive into a captivating book and escape into new worlds? This August is filled with great options, from thrilling page-turners, like award-winning author James McBride’s latest novel, to thought-provoking memoirs, including one from 109-year-old Viola Ford Fletcher, the last remaining survivor of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.

Here are 10 must-read books that will keep you engaged throughout the month of August.

Family Lore

Elizabeth Acevedo (Ecco, August 1, 2023)

Award-winning author Elizabeth Acevedo debuts her first novel for adults, which centers around clairvoyant Flo asking her Dominican-American family to host her living wake. The request unleashes a host of family secrets that will change lives forever.

Price: $27

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Accidentally In Love

Danielle Jackson (Berkeley, August 8, 2023)

Author Danielle Jackson is back with another adventure for body-positive photographer Samantha Sawyer. This time, she meets insanely annoying restauranteur Russell Montgomery, but she can’t deny their undeniable attraction as tensions rise between them during Chicago’s annual street festival circuit.

Price: $17

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The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store

James McBride (Riverhead Books, August 8, 2023)

A skeleton is found in a well in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. It’s the introduction to a host of African American and Jewish characters that once lived in its neighbrhood called Chicken Hill—complete with Chona’s Heaven & Earth Grocery Store—and how the community was filled with love, even when confronted by its darkest secrets.

Price: $25

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Don’t Let Them Bury My Story: The Oldest Living Survivor of the Tulsa Race Massacre in Her Own Words

Viola Ford Fletcher (Mocha Media Inc., August 15, 2023)

As the last living witness to the massacre that happened in Tusla in 1921, Viola Ford Fletcher shares her harrowing memories from that time when she just 7 years old, and how she’s still seeking justice for descendants still affected by the trauma a century later.

Price: $27

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Plantains and Our Becoming: Poems

Melania Luisa Marte (Tiny Reparations Books, August 22, 2023)

In this debut collection, poet Melania Luisa Marte dives into themes of identity, culture, home and belonging that celebrate and center the Black diasporic experience, stemming from the histories of the Dominican Republic and Haiti.

Price: $17

Amazon

A Place of Our Own (Ava Murray Writes the World, 2)

Joshunda Sanders (Six Foot Press, August 22, 2023)

An 8-year-old aspiring journalist learns how important it is to state your case and when she attends a New york City council planning meeting. There, Ava shares what she wants to see in the new park they are building in this picture book illustrated by the legendary Charly Palmer.

Price: $19

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Harlem After Midnight

Louise Hare (Berkley Hardcover, August 29, 2023)

Set in the 1930s, a young jazz singer from London gets tangled up in a New York City murder mystery as she races to figure out the clues and uncover the secrets of her late father’s past.

Price: $28

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Holler, Child: Stories

LaToya Watkins, (Tiny Reparations Books, August 29. 2023)

Each character in this 11-story collection deals with secrets and trauma, exploring themes of guilt, love and grief as they search for hope, reconciliation and freedom.

Price: $28

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House of Marionne

J. Elle (Razorbill, August 29, 2023)

A teenage girl with a magical gift vies to enter a secretive society that should help her harness her powers, only to learn that she’ll have to choose between using them or losing everything she’s ever loved.

Price: $18

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Hair Love ABCs

Matthew Cherry (Penguin Random House, August 29, 2023)

This alphabet board book introduces young eyes to the alphabet with words that celebrate Zuri and her father in their joy-filled journey of the kinks and curls of Black hair.

Price: $9

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