British fiction

An uplifting, coming-of-age novel told in poetic verse. About a mixed-race boy from London who navigates his cultural identity as Cypriot and Jamaican, as well as his emerging sexuality, as he discovers the power of drag.

- @fov88 via Instagram

British Fiction

(Official summary) Winner of the 2019 Booker Prize. This is Britain as you've never read it. This is Britain as it has never been told. From Newcastle to Cornwall, from the birth of the twentieth century to the teens of the twenty-first, Girl Woman Other follows a cast of twelve characters on their personal journeys through this country and the last hundred years. They're each looking for something - a shared past, an unexpected future, a place to call home, somewhere to fit in, a lover, a missed mother, a lost father, even just a touch of hope.

- @MissNDonaldson via Twitter, Teach First English literature trainee

British fiction

(Official summary) Shortlisted for the 2010 Man Booker Prize. July is a slave girl who lives upon a sugar plantation named Amity and it is her life that is the subject of this tale. She was there when the Baptist War raged in 1831, and she was present when slavery was declared no more. My son says I must convey how the story tells also of July's mama Kitty, of the negroes that worked the plantation land, of Caroline Mortimer the white woman who owned the plantation and many more persons besides - far too many for me to list here. But what befalls them all is carefully chronicled upon these pages for you to peruse.

- @MsMMason via Twitter

British fiction

I would’ve loved to have read this book when I was in secondary school. A wonderful novel about a Jamaican couple who just arrived in the UK post-war. There's a great sense of the pride, prejudices and reality of the challenges faced by the newly arrived families. My parents came to the UK at a similar time and it would have given me a positive sense of identity, pride and preparation about racism and discrimination.

- Ann Marie Christian, author, speaker and Safeguarding Consultant

British fiction

This book explores a multitude of complex issues, dealing with racial alienation with the backdrop of the 2011 London riots as well as being young, black and exploring gender identity. Written partly in London slang, introducing non-typical literary prose opens up a wealth of knowledge for young people and their understanding of literature.

- Emily Large, Insights Coordinator at Teach First

British fiction

I loved this book because it looks into arranged marriages and the pressures young British Asian children may feel.

- Sherya Patel, Development Lead at Teach First

British fiction

The Lonely Londoners gives an insight into the life of Caribbean immigrants as they adjust to life in the UK and is regarded as one of the first texts to represent the Black migrant experience in England. This text captures issues around identity and migration that still exist today. 

- Sinem Oyzoyn, Teach First trainee (English)

British fiction

(Official summary) What elevates 'teaching my mother how to give birth', what gives the poems their disturbing brilliance, is Warsan Shire's ability to give simple, beautiful eloquence to the veiled world where sensuality lives in the dominant narrative of Islam; reclaiming the more nuanced truths of earlier times. In 'teaching my mother how to give birth', Warsan's debut pamphlet, we witness the unearthing of a poet who finds her way through all preconceptions to strike the heart directly. Warsan Shire is a Kenyan-born Somali poet and writer who is based in London. Born in 1988, she is an artist and activist who uses her work to document narratives of journey and trauma.

- @MissNDonaldson via Twitter, Teach First English literature trainee

British fiction

This book really strikes a chord with me personally, Zadie Smith captures how multicultural growing up in inner city London is. Zadie Smith actually also went to my old school (A Teach First school!) and really to a tee captures what that was like (despite her going there quite a few years before). The book depicts diversity in a way that represents real life and having this reflected in the English curriculum would no doubt inspire young students.

- Emily Large, Insights Coordinator at Teach First

International fiction

During my teens this book would have been great. The eponymous heroine is refreshingly different from the insipid pony-owning, boarding school girls in books I read growing up. She's Sudanese-Australian and has to navigate the world of posh white privately educated school girls, and she's also a budding inventor!

- Edith Johnson, Teach First ambassador and co-founder of Be Her Lead

International fiction

This book is so raw. Its language strikes with its folkloric simplicity. It has the tone of being detached from what we know. Yet, this becomes all the more of a cause for inner conflict as you realise the role of colonisation on the development of the characters’ world. It is harsh, unforgiving, brutally honest and incredibly touching. Just like its title: ’Things Fall Apart’. As they do.

- Juliette Boury, Teach First trainee teacher (Modern Foreign Languages)

I think this book really importantly highlights the influence of colonialism in Nigeria, in a way that I was never taught at school. It also caused controversy about Achebe’s choice to write in the English language rather than Igbo, which is a really important discussion to have about the role that language can play and whether Achebe was subverting the language of the coloniser or whether it upholds the impact of colonialism.  

- Emily Large, Insights Coordinator at Teach First

One of the most profound books that I think everyone should read.

- @evannabana via Instagram

International fiction

(Official summary) As teenagers in Lagos, Ifemelu and Obinze fall in love. Their Nigeria is under military dictatorship, and people are fleeing the country if they can. The self-assured Ifemelu departs for America. There she suffers defeats and triumphs, finds and loses relationships, all the while feeling the weight of something she never thought of back home: race. Obinze had hoped to join her, but post-9/11 America will not let him in, and he plunges into a dangerous, undocumented life in London. Thirteen years later, Obinze is a wealthy man in a newly democratic Nigeria, while Ifemelu has achieved success as a blogger. But after so long apart and so many changes, will they find the courage to meet again, face to face?

Fearless, gripping, spanning three continents and numerous lives, the National Book Critics Circle Award-winning Americanah is a richly told story of love and expectation set in today's globalised world.

- @dessie396 via Twitter

International Fiction

(Official summary) The limits of fifteen-year-old Kambili's world are defined by the high walls of her family estate and the dictates of her fanatically religious father. Her life is regulated by schedules: prayer, sleep, study, prayer. When Nigeria is shaken by a military coup, Kambili's father, involved mysteriously in the political crisis, sends her to live with her aunt. In this house, noisy and full of laughter, she discovers life and love - and a terrible, bruising secret deep within her family.

- @MissNDonaldson via Twitter, Teach First English literature trainee

International fiction

I was in love with fantasy novels as a teenager and would have been in love with a novel that actually had a black girl as it’s centre being the heroine in all her blackness. Representation makes you believe things are possible and especially in stories it affirms you can be the romantic lead, you can be the hero and complex people.

- Patricia Mbangui, Head of London at CoachBright

International Fiction

Set in a fictional Californian “agrarian ghetto”, the plot of this Booker Prize-winning novel follows a black American man who tries to reintegrate racial segregation. Read it a few years back and really enjoyed it.

- Jacob Hemming, Events Officer for Programme Delivery at Teach First

International fiction

I never knew Black female science fiction writers existed. The premise of the story is remarkable.

- Paula Ogun, Teach First ambassador (former English teacher)

International fiction

I read this at the start of University and like the protagonist, Tambu, I was at the start of my journey at a predominantly white institution. She articulated the unease that I felt being the only person of colour in the room, the micro-aggressions that come with it, as well as the burden of adapting so you can fit into a Eurocentric institution.

- Etse Aviomoh, English teacher (Teach First ambassador)

International Fiction

(Official summary) Adah's desire to write is pitted against the forces of an egotistical and unfeeling husband and a largely indifferent white society.

- @MissNDonaldson via Twitter, Teach First English literature trainee

International fiction

A mesmerising play about the Black  diaspora in the West. The dialogue remains highly pertinent.

- Paula Ogun, Teach First ambassador (former English teacher)

International fiction

(Official summary) A true triumph of voice and storytelling, The Book of Night Women rings with both profound authenticity and a distinctly contemporary energy. It is the story of Lilith, born into slavery on a Jamaican sugar plantation at the end of the eighteenth century. Even at her birth, the slave women around her recognise a dark power that they - and she - will come to both revere and fear. The Night Women, as they call themselves, have long been plotting a slave revolt, and as Lilith comes of age they see her as the key to their plans. But when she begins to understand her own feelings, desires, and identity, Lilith starts to push at the edges of what is imaginable for the life of a slave woman, and risks becoming the conspiracy's weak link. But the real revelation of the book - the secret to the stirring imagery and insistent prose - is Marlon James himself, a young writer at once breath­takingly daring and wholly in command of his craft.

- @Ms_Douglas_Sci via Twitter

International fiction

Audre Lorde is an author to be known. She demonstrates the power in poetry by making ideas that once seemed complicated, clearer. Specifically, Lorde dissects human fear in the most effective way. For Lorde, difference between humans has the potential to be constructive - not feared (although it is mostly feared from day to day). Through her notion of difference, Lorde uses poetry to turn clichéd statements about vulnerability in fear and power into a real call to arms. I find her words very heartening, if not perturbing by their lucidity.

- Juliette Boury, Teach First trainee teacher (Modern Foreign Languages)

International fiction

Growing up in a community that was 99% white meant that I had little awareness and knowledge of other cultures and their histories. Studying English Literature at university changed that and this book was a catalyst for me - opening up other worlds and experiences I never knew existed. Toni Morrison is now my favourite author, I’ve read all of her books. ‘Beloved’ gave me an appreciation of the tradition of oral storytelling and how that is woven into Morrison’s writing. Through reading books from BAME authors, my knowledge of their culture and historical events has increased dramatically.

- Dawn Prior, Delivery Operations Officer at Teach First

International fiction

I wish I’d read this in school, it is so different to anything I’ve ever read before and focuses on teenage love, loss, loneliness, growing up, mental health issues and so much more. Reading about Japanese culture through the English language is amazing and the translation grips you in such a bizarre way – the prose is wonderful and takes you on an incredible journey.

- Chris Fairbank, Public Affairs Manager at Teach First

International fiction

This book is written by the Nigerian-American author Chinelo Okparanta and explores so many important aspects of growing up. The novel starts in the 1960s Nigerian civil war and deals with a young girl and her difficulties in expressing her sexuality, whilst being surrounded by homophobia. By introducing books onto the curriculum that deal with intersectional issues, a space of understanding and acceptance can be created.

- Emily Large, Insights Coordinator at Teach First

International fiction

Not only does it give a more nuanced view of Iranian culture than children receive in the media, there also aren't enough graphic novels or life writing on the syllabus.

- Edith Johnson, Teach First ambassador and co-founder of Be Her Lead

International fiction

Narrated by nine year old Cassie Logan, the novel tells a story of life in southern Mississippi during the Great Depression. This book helps the reader to understand the true impact of racism at the time.

- Abigail Shapland, School Partnership Lead at Teach First

International Fiction

I wish I’d read this in school – it really digs into the complexities of identity as a teenager. And it’s also a great read!

- Bridget Clay, Director of School Leadership at Teach First

International fiction

(Official summary) The classic, Pulitzer Prize-winning novel that made Alice Walker a household name.

Set in the deep American South between the wars, The Color Purple is the classic tale of Celie, a young black girl born into poverty and segregation. Raped repeatedly by the man she calls 'father', she has two children taken away from her, is separated from her beloved sister Nettie and is trapped into an ugly marriage. But then she meets the glamorous Shug Avery, singer and magic-maker - a woman who has taken charge of her own destiny. Gradually Celie discovers the power and joy of her own spirit, freeing her from her past and reuniting her with those she loves.

- @dessie396 via Twitter

International fiction

The play is set in Pittsburgh, USA after the Great Depression and has some really deep themes running through it. Centred around a piano - a family heirloom - conversations around the civil war, slavery, family history and remembering injustices emerge. Two siblings are the main characters, who are in disagreement about what to do with the piano - a significant part of their history. I would have liked to study this play at school because it has such fascinating characters and raises some interesting questions about the past. It has lots of tension running through it, which makes it exciting but at the same time haunting.

- Mark Pinder, Teach Fist trainee (Business Studies)

Non-fiction

(Official summary) An important and timely anthology of black British writing, edited and curated by the authors of the highly acclaimed, ground-breaking Slay In Your Lane. This collection features essays from the diverse voices of 20 established and emerging black British writers. 

From assessing the cultural impact of Marvel's Black Panther, to celebrating activism in local communities. From asking how we can secure the bag while staying true to our principles, or how we can teach our daughters to own their voices, to reclaiming our culinary heritage, the essays in Loud Black Girls offer funny touching and ultimately insightful perspectives on the question of ‘What’s Next?’

- @Ms_Douglas_Sci via Twitter

Non-fiction

Akala’s personal appraisal of Britain’s relationship to race and class engages with students on their level and should become an essential part of rebalanced English courses. I think it’s important that there is a text out there that promises light at the end of the tunnel.

- Djamila Boothman, English teacher (Teach First ambassador)

Non-fiction

This is auto-biographical account comes from one of the juggernauts of African-American literature, and an inspiration to women. This would have been such a fascinating book to study as a non-fiction biography as often the voices of women remain silent in literature, especially those of strong black female voices. Maya Angelou overcame many trials and tribulations, worked with civil rights leaders and in the book sets out how she tried to map out her identity in her 40+ year career. I know that my 14-year-old self found inspiration in her story reading this outside of school, and it would have been so refreshing to study the life of such an inspirational figure that looked like me.

- Amanda Debrah, Teach First trainee teacher (English)

Non-fiction

(Official summary) This is a thought-provoking, urgent and inspirational guide to life as a black mother. It explores the various stages in between pregnancy and waving your child off at the gates of primary school, while facing hurdles such as white privilege, racial micro-aggression and unconscious bias at every point. Candice does so with her trademark sense of humour and refreshing straight-talking, and the result is a call-to-arms that will allow mums like her to take control, scrapping the parenting rulebook to mother their own way.

- @giraffemilklady via Instagram

Non-fiction

Coates wrote the book for his teenage son about what it means and feels like to be Black in the USA. Shortlisted for the Pulitzer Prize in 2016.

Non-fiction

For pupils in the UK it provides a really comprehensive and accessible account of Britain's history with racism and slavery whilst also being such an important starting point for understanding how systemic racism disadvantages and affects the lives of BAME people living in the UK today. For white adolescents in particular I think it is such an important read in order to consider their own privilege in light of the facts and accounts told in the book.

- Polly Hughan, Teach First trainee teacher (Modern Foreign Languages)

Non-fiction

Non-fiction teaching in English is often confined to articles and speeches about grandiose concepts, but there is so much we could learn from the human narratives told by writers like Malcolm Gladwell. I first discovered Gladwell through his podcast Revisionist History, and soon found that the history we know might not be the whole truth. In this book, Gladwell discusses the way we understand strangers and argues that we have much more to learn from others if only we look a little deeper.

- Hannah Skill, English teacher (Teach First ambassador)

Non-fiction

Exploring the duality of being accepted as British yet "othered" in equal measures as a Black woman in the UK, Hirsch's bestseller truly resonated with me. There is refreshing scrutiny of double consciousness, discussions about hyper-visibility and the eloquent communication of the deep, undiscussed entanglement between Africa and the UK, which stretches far beyond slavery. Already deserving of a position in the classroom, incorporating the voices and narratives of Hirsch and others alike would broaden the literary canon; painting a more accurate picture of the 21st Century and helping students to critically reflect on the dynamic and changing world that they live in.

- Vanessa Sefa, English teacher (Teach First ambassador)

Non-fiction

This collection of short, personal essays is a fantastic window into the lives of 21 emerging ethnic minority voices in modern Britain. If you've ever felt noone understands your experience, do yourself a favour and read this - you'll find you're not alone.

- Andrew Headspeath, Website Editor at Teach First

Non-fiction

This book is an account of a young black woman's experience growing up in Mississippi in the USA. It tells her own story as well as those of five young black men she knew, all of whom died within the space of four years. She writes that: "Their deaths were unconnected on the surface of things - but their lives were connected by identity and place". I found this such a painfully honest account not only of her own experience and understanding of what it is to be black in America but also how black people and communities are perceived and devalued by society.

- Polly Hughan, Teach First trainee teacher (Modern Foreign Languages)