Reading in Moonlight's Glow: 6 Books That Explore Racism and Sexuality

One of the best books of the year according to the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, NPR, Vanity Fair, Vogue, the Guardian, O, The Oprah Magazine, Slate, Newsday, Buzzfeed, the Economist, Newsweek, People, Publishers Weekly, and Kirkus to name a few. It was also the winner of the Kirkus Prize, a Man Booker Prize Finalist and a National Book Award Finalist. A Little Life centers around four college classmates who move to New York seeking fame and fortune. What is at the heart of this groundbreaking novel is the exploration of sexual identity and love.

Colson Whitehead's The Underground Railroad won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. It was chosen as an Oprah Book Club Pick, named one of the best books of the year by the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Time, People, NPR and is a #1 New York Times Bestseller. It beautifully depicts the life of a young slave, Cora, as she travels the Underground Railroad in search of freedom. The unique twist that Whitehead provides his reader is the imagining of the underground railroad as an actual railroad, a secret network of tracks and tunnels beneath the South.

Americanah is a powerful novel from the award-winning author of Half of a Yellow Sun, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. It is a story of love and race centered around a young man and woman from Nigeria and the choices and challenges they face when their lives force them in different directions and ultimately different ways of life.

An honest and searing story that gives readers glimpses into many different lives, countries, and beliefs.

Mixed-race slave Joseph is on a desperate journey to find the mother he lost at birth. Years later, Joseph's son, Isaiah, faces his own journey: coming to terms with his homosexuality. Both men face rejection, isolation, and fear as they are forced to find strength within. Journey of a Cotton Blossom by J.C. Villegas weaves a complex tale that brings readers from 1940s Mississippi to the civil rights era of the '60s and the push for LGBTQ equality. Villegas has crafted a riveting tale of man's struggle with identity and survival.

Winner of the Nation Book Critic's Circle John Leonard First Book Prize, a New York Times 2016 Notable Book, one of Oprah’s 10 Favorite Books of 2016, NPR’s Debut Novel of the Year, one of Buzzfeed’s Best Fiction Books Of 2016 and one of Time’s Top 10 Novels of 2016.

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi reads like a classic. The lessons immersed in the pages of this astonishing debut will stay with you and open your eyes to a period of our history with vivid detail. Homegoing tells the tale of two half-sisters, separated into two very different lives, and the generations that follow.

Debut novelist A.C. Thomas was inspired to write The Hate U Give by the tragic killings of unarmed black teens like Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown and by the Black Lives Matter movement. The Hate U Give was an immediate #1 New York Times Bestseller and has received starred reviews from Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, Booklist, and The Horn Book.

This groundbreaking novel tells the story of a young girl who lives in a poor neighborhood, attends a posh prep school, and tries desperately to find her identity. After witnessing the fatal shooting of her best friend at the hands of a police officer, 16-year-old Starr Carter is thrust into the spotlight of a social movement and, once again, finds herself unable to find her place. Described by readers as "sobering" and "heart-wrenching," The Hate U Give is creating important conversations about issues that are at the forefront of our society.