Adult Bulletin Category
Book Lists
Adult Bulletin Category
Book Lists
The following fiction and non-fiction books have been suggested by support group members and non-members. They all have a biracial theme. These books have not been reviewd by the group moderator, however, she would appreciate a notification from you if you believe that a book is not consistent with the intent of My Shoes.
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Between Friends, Sandra Kitt, Mass Market, 1998. Two women, one Black Bi-racial, one white, have been the best of friends since childhood, having grown up together in the same neighborhood. When they attend the funeral of a mutual friend, they both fall in love with the deceased's brother, testing the boundaries of their friendship as well as their mutual love for one man. (description is from amazon.com)
Caucasia, Danzy Senna, Penguin Putnam, 1998. Novel of two biracial sisters, one brown- and one white- skinned, and how the life of one is affected when they are forced to seperate and she is forced to pass. Insightful and touching, though the language sometimes sounds older than the narrator speaking it.
Colorstruck, Benita Porter, B.Q. Press, 1990. Novel set in early 1900s. Follows story of light-skinned woman.
Dark Secret, Tor/Forge imprint of St. Martin's Press, 2000. Camille Morgan's glamorous life in New York City is a lie -- even her southern aristocratic fiance Jeff would never guess by her vanilla skin, blue eyes and honey-colored mane that shes' half black! But her brown-skinned mother back in Detroit is dying, and Camille's caramel-hued sister Karen is determined to make Camille donate a kidney to save Mama's life. Camille refuses; a huge race and sex scandal explodes around the sisters and Jeff's powerful father, a senator. Fast-paced, sexy and oh-so-scandalous, like a modern day Imitation of Life!
Gulf Stream, Marie Stanley, University of Alabama Press, 1993. The story of a biracial girl who struggles in accepting her true heritage (African American). Leaves home to pass and wishes her daughter (who's father is also white) to do the same.
I Cannot Tell a Lie: The True Story of George Washington's African American Descendants, Linda Allen Bryant, iUniverse, 2001. Documented national history tells us that the nation's first president had no children. But the oral history of the descendants of an African American family tells a different story. This is the story of West Ford, the mulatto son of George Washington.
Mischief Makers, Nettie Jones, Vintage,1989. Novel set in 1920s. about a Black nurse who leaves home to become a white nurse. Marries and raises 3 daughters and tells story of all four as they seek their place in the world.
Significant Others, Sandra Kitt, Mass Market, 1996. The story of an African-American man (with a Bi-racial son) and woman (who's often mistaken for White or Bi-racial)coming to grips with society's sterotypes, while struggling for success and love in New York City.
Skin Deep, Kathleen Cross, Avon Books, 1999. Nina Moore looks like a White woman with dark hair, blue eyes and white skin. She is raised by her Black father and adopted by his Black wife. All she's ever known is the Black world and taking a stand for Black causes. Though she looks White, she's determined to be seen as a Black woman. Until she meets up with a new stranger, she's never given her whiteness a second thought. Because of dreams that could be relevant for the stranger's daughter, Nina must explore the truth about her White mother. The ending is great.
The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, James Weldon Johnson, Dover, 1912. Although this book is fiction, it is largely autobigraphical. The main character describes growing up in a northern community in the 1800's. He discusses the difficulties he faced growing up, and later the difficulties that he faced "passing" for white (physical and mental).
The Blacker the Berry: A Novel of Negro Life, Wallace Thurman, Collier Books/MacMillian Publishing Co. 1929/1970. Novel follows the life of "too black" woman seeking identity and discovering destiny as one is haunted by self hate and intra-race prejudice. Set in 1920's harlem.
Two Worlds Walking, Diany Glancy and C.W. Truesdale ed., New Rivers Press, 1994 . Short stories, essays and poems by writers of mixed heritage.
White Chocolate, Elizabeth Atkins Bowman, Mass Market,
1998. Taylor, a biracial woman who looks White and constantly wants to
defend Biracial or Black causes. She's a journalist who infiltrates a White
supremacy group, gets them busted and is now a target for their revenge.
Julian, her ex-boyfriend, now co-worker is also biracial, but looks
more
Black. The two are caught in this triangle of danger and lost love,
because
she's engaged to her White boss.
If you follow a book that is linked to another web site, you can return to this page by selecting the “back” button on your web browser menu bar at the top of your screen.
Black, Jewish and Interracial: It's Not the Color of Your Skin, But the Race of Your Kin, and Other Myths of Identity, Katya Bibel Azoulay, Duke U. Press, 1997. Examines how adult children of interracial parents (Jewish+Black) think about personal identity. Blends historical, theoretical, and personal perspectives to explore possibilities and meanings when Black and Jewish merge.
Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother, James McBride, Berkley Publishing Group, 1996. As a boy in the projects of Brooklyn, James McBride knew his mother was different, but when he asked about it, she'd simply say, "I'm light-skinned." Later he wondered if he was different, too, and asked his mother if he was black or white. "You're a human being," she said. "Educate yourself or you'll be a nobody!"
Black, White, Other, Lise Funderburg, William Morrow & Co., 1994. Lise Funderburg presents the lives and views of 46 adult children of black-white unions. Topics include love and marriage, racism in the workplace and bringing up children in a racially divided world. There are pictures of the people interviewed and they talk about the kinds of issues addressed on My Shoes.
Color Complex: The Politics of Skin Color Among African-Americans, Kathy Russell, Midge Wilson, and Ronald Hall, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1992. Insightful discussion of the legacy of colorisms in African-American communities/life.
Coping as a Biracial/Biethnic Teen, Renea Nash, Rosen Publishing Group, 1995. This book uses research and personal interviews to discuss the issues faced by biracial teens. Coping techniques on such things as peer relationships, dating, racism, etc. Written for teens in their language.
Divided to the Vein: A Journey Into Race and Family, Scott Minerbrook, Harcourt Brace & Co., 1996. From book jacket - "An eloquent record of [S.M.'s] voyage to maturity in the complex rivers of race, pride, and dignity"
Edgewalkers, Nina Boyd Krebs, New Horizon Press, 1999. Interviews and personal experiences of "Edgewalkers," People who have embraced America's American mainstream society while staying true to thier cultural heritage. "Edgewalkers" bridge cultural gaps, they blend the cultures of their ancestors to create a new culture of harmony and tolerance, creating a model for all people to follow.
"I Am Who I Am" Speaking Out About Multiracial Identity, Kathlyn Gay, Franklin Watts Publishing, 1995. "This book looks at the development and function of racial categories in the United States and also considers the crucial role of heritage in the development of a person's sense of identity. Above all, many biracial and multiracial people speak out in this book about why the acknowledgement of racial ancestry is so important, and they raise issues that are becoming more and more relevant to the changing face of America."
Life On The Color Line, Gregory H. Wiliams, Penguin Books, 1995. "The True Story Of A White Boy Who Discovered He Was Black."
Mirage: Enigmas of Race, Difference, and Desire, Institute of Contemporary Arts, Institute of International Visual Arts; 1995. Chronicles inter-disciplinary art exhibit of the same title (ran 12 may- 16 july, 1995). Deals with issues of race and representation; project by many authors, inspired by writings of franz fanon (especially Black Skin, White Masks).
Miscegenation Blues, Carol Camper, Sister Vision Press, Toronto, Canada, 1995? An anthology of writing by biracial women. Essays, short stories, poems, and more.
Names We Call Home: Autobiography on Racial Identity, Becky Thompson and Sangeeta Tyagi ed., Routledge, 1996. Twenty-seven people write about self-definition, what they were taught about race as children and how social movements have shaped their lives and work.
Notes of a White Black Woman: Race, Color, and Community, Judy Scales-Trent, Pennsylvania State U. Press, 1995. Essays by law professor Scales-Trent look at how race and color interact in relationships between men and women, within families, and in the larger community. Explores question of what is meant by race in this country. Also, some legal essays but accessible to people unfamiliar with the jargon.
One Life: The Autobiography of an African-American Actress, Ellen Holly, Kodansha America, Inc., 1996. Former star (of 17 years) of One Life to Live, discussing her life and her portrayal on the show of a Black woman who once passed for white.
Race and Mixed Race, Naomi Zack. Temple U. Press, 1993. Exploration of philosophical, social, and historical problems related to racial identity. Questions the white parent + black parent = black offspring only, and the existential problems of mixed race identity.
Skin Deep: Women writing on Color, Culture and Identity, ed. by Elana Featherston, Crossing Press; 1994. VERY good anthology of personal writings (poems, essays, etc) by women of various cultures/mixtures. (Be careful, though, as there are 2 other books also titled skin deep.)
Out of Order, Out of Sight: Selected writings in Meta-Art 1968-1992, Adrian Piper; MIT Press, 1996, vol. 1. Collection of piper's works, most deal with racial issues/stereotypes/representations. Includes her biographical essay "Passing for White, Passing for Black"
Picturing Us: African-American Identity in Photography, Deborah Willis ed., The New Press, 1994. Editor asked 17 writers, critics and film makers to select a photo of personal or historical significance and to "read" it for insights into the Black experience. Includes essay by Kathe Sandler that discusses her film A Question of Color, a documentary about skin color in African-American communities.
Surfing the Sea, APU Publishing Group, 2000. His "former" life has taken him through Black and White racism, the streets of Brooklyn, New York, early marriage, early divorce, a cultural awareness and acceptance of his Irish, black-Seminole Indian and African American family roots, and a "second life" with a new and loving family, and finally--a true redefinition of himself.
Tender Poems, Toi Derricotte,U. of Pittsburgh Press 1997. Touches on many aspects of what it means to be an African-American woman who is white-skinned
The Black Notebooks: An Interior Journey, Toi Derricotte, WW Norton & Co., 1997. Began as journal entries 20 years ago... touches on many aspects of what it means to be an African-American woman who is white-skinned (and married to a brown-skinned man). Very touching, sometimes painfully so.
The Dharma of History: A West Indian Buddhism, Liam Martin, Gully Press, 1996. "[The author] traces the role of racial mixture in the emergence of the Buddha's vision and, in poetic language, presents Buddhism as a way for mixed-race persons to resolve their problems of identity. Although cast in metaphorical language, there is no doubt that this is directed to issues of racial identity in North America ... In fact, this work is a challenge to the one-drop rule for black identity in the United States, where the author now lives." (By F. James Davis, author of WHO IS BLACK? ONE NATION'S DEFINITION.)
The Forgotten Cause of the Civil War: A New Look at the Slavery Issue, Lawrence R. Tenzer, Scholars Publishing House, 1997. This is an excellent book! Tenzer shows how racial mixture and the fate of "white slaves" played important roles in increasing tension between North and South, ultimately leading to the Civil War. Tenzer's book also has important information on "white slaves" and the Fugitive Slave Law, racial mixture and the defense of and opposition to slavery, and the origin of "mulatto inferiority" theories to justify slavery.
The New Colored People: The Mixed Race Movement in America, Jon Michael Spencer, NYU Press, 1997. Looks at the multiracial movement. Is concerned that the new census category will lead to deeper racialization. Compares situation to South African catogorization system.
The Sweeter The Juice, Shirlee Taylor Haizlip, Simon & Schuster, 1994. The author tells about the life of her family, which is multiracial. She tells the story of her mother and her mother's sister, who are both fair-skinned and chose different lives. The author's mother "chooses to be black," while the sister "passes for white." Great book!
Who is Black? One Nation's Definition, F. James Davis. Pennsylvania State U. Press, 1991 . Looks at the official racial classification/definition in the US and its consequences in real life. Also examines how this definition is different from most other nations and how it has shifted over time.