Books like Native Guard by Natasha Trethewey

Natasha Trethewey’s Poetic Reflection on Family and Race in America

A powerful poetry collection that examines police violence, sexuality, and HIV through the lens of black, gay, and transgender experiences in America.

A young slave boy named 47 in the World War II‑era plantation of Georgia is haunted by oppression, but a mysterious runaway slave named Tall John sparks a fight for liberty—a compelling blend of history and speculative magic.

In this classic study, Pulitzer Prize-winning author James M. McPherson deftly narrates the experience of blacks--former slaves and soldiers, preachers, visionaries, doctors, intellectuals, and common people--during the Civil War. Drawing on contemporary journalism, speeches, books, and letters, he presents an eclectic chronicle of their fears and hopes as well as their essential contributions to their own freedom. Through the words of these extraordinary participants, both Northern and Southern, McPherson captures African-American responses to emancipation, the shifting attitudes toward Lincoln and the life of black soldiers in the Union army. Above all, we are allowed to witness the dreams of a disenfranchised people eager to embrace the rights and the equality offered to them, finally, as citizens. From the Trade Paperback edition.

Ada Limón’s Bright Dead Things is a lyrical exploration of life’s chaotic, exhilarating journey and the pursuit of something disorderly yet marvelous.