23 Books with BAME Protagonists Published in 2016

To see you through to spring.

The Angels' Share, Garfield Ellis

Akashic Books / Via goodreads.com

Published: January 5th 2016

What it's about: The story of a rising star at a Jamaican beverage company who feels compelled to accompany his father in a cross-country quest to find the woman he loves, and the struggle the pair face to reconnect as father and son after years of resentment and deceit.

Read the full synopsis here

The Gun, Fuminori Nakamura, Allison Markin Powell (Translation)

Soho Crime / Via goodreads.com

Published: January 5th 2016

(First published December 1st 2012)

What it's about: A young man’s life is changed after an evening walk along a Tokyo riverbank leads to the discovery of a dead body and a gun, the latter of which he takes. Gradually, Nishikawa’s thoughts turn to what it would be like to use the weapon, and before long it isn’t enough just to have it—the trigger must be pulled.

Read the full synopsis here

The Illegal, Lawrence Hill

W. W. Norton & Company / Via goodreads.com

Published: January 25th 2016

(First published August 12th 2015)

What it's about: Zantoroland produces the fastest marathoners on Earth. It’s Keita’s dream to run for his country; to join the list of people from there who have gained wealth and earned respect for their athletic abilities. But when his journalist father is murdered for his outspoken views, Keita must flee to Freedom State, where he learns what it means to be an illegal: hiding from the authorities that seek to arrest him, surfacing to run local races for cash prizes, doubting the intentions of everyone he meets—and on top of this, attempting to ransom his kidnapped sister.

Read the full synopsis here

The Castle Cross the Magnet Carter: A Novel, Kia Corthron

Seven Stories Press / Via goodreads.com

Published: January 26th 2016

(First published November 3rd 2015)

What it's about: In two small towns across the US, on the eve of the country's entry into WW2, the lives of two pairs of brothers are beginning to take shape.

In Maryland, gifted Eliot and his artistic older brother Dwight live in a world expanded by the legacy of a lynched family member and influenced by a visit from civil and labour rights activist A. Philip Randolph. In Alabama, precocious Randall takes it upon himself to learn sign language before passing the skill onto his deaf and uneducated brother BJ. After Randall’s father takes him to his first Ku Klux Klan meeting, the impressionable young man absorbs the racism witnessed there and develops into someone almost unrecognisable.

Eventually the paths of the four brothers collide, culminating in a shattering and catastrophic encounter.

Read the full synopsis here

The Love That Split the World, Emily Henry

Razorbill / Via goodreads.com

Published: January 26th 2016

What it's about: Natalie Cleary is used to being visited by “Grandmother”, an apparition whose stories have helped her understand where she came from after she was adopted from a Native American reserve at a young age. Yet the visits haven’t been without consequences, and when Natalie begins to see other things that shouldn’t be there, Grandmother appears again to deliver a mysterious message: You have three months to save him.

One night later, Natalie meets the beautiful Beau, and it’s as if the rest of the world just melts away. Now Natalie must figure out if Beau is the “him” she must save, and what it is he might need saving from.

Read the full synopsis here

Black Deutschland: A Novel, Darryl Pinckney

Farrar, Straus and Giroux / Via goodreads.com

Expected publication: February 2nd 2016

What it's about: Fresh out of rehab and prospects in his home town of Chicago, Jed – a young, gay, Black man – flees to Berlin, the city of his fantasies. There, with dreams of starting anew and chasing boys, he feels free from what it means to be a Black male in America. But whether it’s the lure of down and out bars or the judgement of his cousin and her husband’s bourgeois family, or a gang of racists, Jed discovers the past is never far behind—even in a city so far from home.

Read the full synopsis here

The Book of Memory, Petina Gappah

Farrar, Straus and Giroux / Via goodreads.com

Expected publication: February 2nd 2016

(First published April 4th 2015)

What it's about: Narrated by Memory, a Zimbabwean albino woman, The Book of Memory journals the events that led to her conviction for the murder of Lloyd Hendricks, the White man her parents are said to have sold her to when she was nine. At the advice of her lawyer, Memory begins to jot down everything she can remember in the hope of winning an appeal against the conviction and its punishment, the death penalty. Moving between past and present, her story is one of love, obsession, and the untrustworthiness of memory.

Read the full synopsis here

Second House from the Corner, Sadeqa Johnson

Thomas Dunne Books / Via goodreads.com

Expected publication: February 9th 2016

What it's about: Felicia Lyons is a homemaker and mother of three – qualified pacifier-finder, potty-trainer, play date organiser, and everything else motherhood demands – who occasionally daydreams about escaping the challenges of every-day life. That is until an unexpected phone call forces Felicia back to her childhood home where, in order to save the life she loves in spite of its challenges, she faces encounters with an ex-lover and the secrets she thought were buried long ago.

Read the full synopsis here

The Girl from Everywhere, Heidi Heilig

Greenwillow Books / Via goodreads.com

Expected publication: February 16th 2016

What it's about: On her father’s ship, sixteen-year-old Nix can travel the world—not only to any place, real or imagined, but to any moment in time. As long as they have a map, The Temptation can go anywhere. It’s a life many might dream of, but when her father finds the map to 1868 Honolulu, where Nix’s mother died in labour, her whole existence – her dreams, her adventures, her connection to a charming crew member – is thrown into doubt.

Read the full synopsis here

What Lies Between Us, Nayomi Munaweera

St. Martin's Press / Via goodreads.com

Expected publication: February 16th 2016

What it's about: For safety, a young girl from hilly Sri Lanka immigrates with her mother to America, where she reinvents herself as an American teen. But even as she thrives, the horrors from her past follow her into adulthood, and gradually her new life begins to crumble around her. When past and present collide, she feels compelled to commit a final, unforgiveable act. This is the story of her confession.

Read the full synopsis here

The Winged Histories, Sofia Samatar

Small Beer Press / Via goodreads.com

Expected publication: March 8th 2016

What it's about: Four women – a soldier, a scholar, a poet, and a socialite – find themselves in the midst of a war threatening to tear their families and lives apart. Fearing they might disappear into the unwritten pages of history, the women use the weapons they know best – the sword, the pen, the body, and the voice – in their struggle both to survive and to make history.

Read the full synopsis here

We Love You, Charlie Freeman: A Novel, Kaitlyn Greenidge

Algonquin Books / Via goodreads.com

Expected publication: March 8th 2016

What it's about: In a predominantly White town, a young African American girl frustrated by the limitations of cross-race communication teaches herself to sign. Later in life, she imparts her skill to her daughters and the family eventually uproot from Boston to Massachusetts, where they are hired by a private research institute to teach sign language to a chimpanzee. The novel takes us back to the 1920s when the institute was founded, revealing the shocking experiments that went on there.

Read the full synopsis here

What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours, Helen Oyeyemi

Riverhead Books / Via goodreads.com

Expected publication: March 8th 2016

What it's about: A collection of short stories centred on the wonders a key can unlock: from libraries and gardens to hearts and diaries, the tales tease the boundaries between coexisting realities as they span numerous times and landscapes.

Read the full synopsis here

Shelter, Jung Yun

Picador / Via goodreads.com

Expected publication: March 15th 2016

What it's about: Kyung Cho is a young father from a privileged background, but having distanced himself from his wealthy yet unaffectionate parents he finds his debts mounting and his fear of not being a good enough husband or father growing. When Kyung is compelled to take them in after an act of violence leaves his parents unable to look after themselves, he is forced to confront his feelings whilst navigating the new dynamics of their relationship.

Read the full synopsis here

The Year of the Runaways, Sunjeev Sahota

Knopf / Via goodreads.com

Expected publication: March 29th 2016

(First published June 18th 2015)

What it's about: Moving between their childhoods and the present day, The Year of the Runaways tells the story of thirteen men from India living together in Sheffield and the journeys each takes in their attempt to build better lives for themselves and their families.

Read the full synopsis here

The Translation of Love, Lynne Kutsukake

Doubleday / Via goodreads.com

Expected publication: April 5th 2016

(First published January 1st 2016)

What it's about: Released from a Canadian internment camp and still grieving the death of her mother, thirteen-year-old Aya Shimamura and her father arrive in 1947 Tokyo, a wrecked city under the command of American General Douglas MacArthur. At school, Aya is shunned by her new peers until the wilful Fumi Tanaka requests her help translating letters to the General: Fumi’s older sister has gone missing in the seamy back alleys of the Ginza, and Fumi is determined to get her back—even if it means venturing into the Ginza herself, with Aya in tow.

Read the full synopsis here

Lazaretto: A Novel, Diane McKinney-Whetstone

Harper / Via goodreads.com

Expected publication: April 12th 2016

What it's about: On a Philadelphian island during the 19th century, the Black live-in staff of the Lazaretto quarantine hospital – a mandatory visit for immigrants wishing to begin a new life in the city – have cause to celebrate: an employee has received permission to marry, and the hospital’s White staff are given leave for the weekend. But on the eve of the ceremony a White man fires at a boat carrying the couple’s loved ones, and the captain’s life lies in the hands of the hospital’s head nurse, Sylvia.

Entwined with this story is the tale of how two orphaned brothers come to be on the island after one commits a crime to protect the other, endangering both of their lives.

Read the full synopsis here

The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu: And Their Race to Save the World’s Most Precious Manuscripts, Joshua Hammer

Simon & Schuster / Via goodreads.com

Expected publication: April 19th 2016

What it's about: The unique tale of an archivist’s efforts to track down and salvage thousands of forgotten ancient manuscripts and, years later, the dangerous operation he organises to save them from the invading al-Qaeda militants threatening to destroy them.

Read the full synopsis here

The Star-Touched Queen, Roshani Chokshi

St. Martin's Griffin / Via goodreads.com

Expected publication: April 26th 2016

What it's about: When queendom and marriage are thrust upon sixteen-year-old Maya after an arranged wedding takes a fatal turn, she finds neither are what she expected: Through her marriage, she discovers warmth and friendship; as Akaran’s queen, her voice and power. Yet all is not as it seems in the kingdom, and Maya begins to suspect her life is in danger. After ignoring her new husband’s advice, she uncovers more than she bargained for: secrets that could put not only lives at risk, but the balance of all realms—human and otherworldly.

Read the full synopsis here

The Book of Harlan, Bernice L. McFadden

Akashic Books / Via goodreads.com

Expected publication: May 3rd 2016

What it's about: Beginning with the courtship of his parents and his birth in 1917 Georgia, The Book of Harlan follows the life of African American musician Harlan: from his travels across the Atlantic to perform at a popular Parisian cabaret with his best friend, trumpeter Lizard Robbins, to the pair’s harrowing and irremediable experience in the notorious German concentration camp, Buchenwald.

Read the full synopsis here

Summer of the Cicadas, Cole Lavalais

Willow Books Press / Via goodreads.com

Expected publication: May 10th 2016

What it's about: Determined to move on after a summer stay at a mental health centre, Viola Moon heads south to a small Black college, where she meets Perry, the only son of an elite family. As she attempts to settle in on campus, an emerging family mystery threatens to destroy Viola’s illusions of sanity. Before long, the stress of trying to find her place amongst her peers and alongside Perry leads to a consuming search for her father—a man she cannot forget, but struggles to remember.

Read the full synopsis here

Homegoing: A novel, Yaa Gyasi

Knopf / Via goodreads.com

Expected publication: June 7th 2016

What it's about: Unbeknownst to each other, two half-sisters are born into different villages in eighteenth-century Ghana. One is married off to an Englishman to live comfortably in Cape Coast Castle’s palatial rooms. The other is imprisoned in the women’s dungeon beneath her before being shipped off to America, where she is sold into slavery. The novel details the substantially different lives of the two family members as they survive in worlds rife with wars and unimaginable suffering.

Read the full synopsis here

I Almost Forgot About You, Terry McMillan

Crown / Via goodreads.com

Expected publication: June 7th 2016

What it's about: Dr. Georgia Young has a wonderful life – a successful career, great friends, a loving family – but sometimes even that isn’t enough to prevent a person from feeling stuck in a rut. Hoping to get out of it, Georgia makes some major life changes when she decides to quit her job, relocate, and set out on an adventure that may or may not involve another chance at love.

Read the full synopsis here