Letters From a Farmer in Pennsylvania, to the Inhabitants of the British Colonies
American Indian Stories

The Blacker the Berry: A Novel of Negro Life

The Blacker the Berry (1929), Wallace Thurman’s debut novel, broke new ground as an exploration of issues of “colorism,” intra-racial prejudice, and internalized racism in African American life. Its protagonist, the young Emma Lou Morgan, is simply “too dark” for a world in which every kind of advancement seems to require a light complexion. Seeking acceptance and opportunity, she moves––much like the dark-skinned young Thurman had, four years before the novel’s publication––from Idaho to California to New York. Harlem, the “city of surprises,” is in many ways the novel’s true subject, its low-down, licentious streets, glittering cabarets, and variegated cast of characters offering a rich backdrop for Emma Lou’s ambivalent, picaresque progress.

More Adult, Non-Juvenile Books

  • In Good Dirt, the daughter of an affluent Black family confronts the lingering effects of a childhood tragedy in which her brother was shot, shattering their lives and a cherished heirloom. As Ebby Freeman navigates her high-profile romance and the ensuing media frenzy, she flees to France, only to discover that the past - and the stoneware jar that symbolizes it - holds the key to her future.

  • Growing Up Biden details Valerie’s decades-long professional career in politics, and the central role she played in her brother’s life as an insightful adviser, an ever-loyal advocate and best friend.