It's been a while since I read most of these, so any one of them could use a good reread.
Yoruba Girl Dancing, Simi Bedford Story of the trials of a young girl from Yoruba whose family moves to England and sends her to boarding school. Why: I found it very well written and engaging. I found the protagonist Remi a very easy protagonist to get a long with. It's fast paced and touches on themes I find in other authors of the region. I think since I was so young when I read it, though, I probably missed a good deal.
Kehinde, Buchi Emecheta The story is about a woman finding her balance between Yoruba and England, where she now lives and works with her family. Why: Emecheta is just such a darn good writer. Also the title of the book refers to the protagonist's twin, who died before she was born, and part of her self-discovery involves dealing with this and her peoples' conception of what her position as a twin means.
Kindred, Octavia Butler A Californian woman finds herself being transported back in time to meet her slave owning ancestor. Why: Butler is fabulous. Also, this book is so incredibly complex. I read it once in a theory class to talk about concepts of Hegel.
Bread Givers, Anzia Yezierska Story of a Jewish girl in the 1920s. Addresses racism, poverty, and for the narrator, defining Jewish womanhood for herself. Why: Yezierska writes a compelling narrative no matter what she set her pen to. When reading I was very much entangled with her narrator.
The Last Report on the Miracles of Little No Horse, Louise Erdrich This comes from a series of books from Erdrich set on a reservation, some of which are better than others, but all of which are more or less enjoyable. I don't think reading those that come after it are required to understand this. What we are getting here is the backstory to the other books that were written first. It follows the story told by Father Damien Modeste, a woman who lived as a man and served the Ojibwe on the Little No Horse reservation (although probably not how he envisioned that he would). Dark, passionate, fantastical and historical, lavishly written, I think this is her best, of what I've read.
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Yoruba Girl Dancing, Simi Bedford
Story of the trials of a young girl from Yoruba whose family moves to England and sends her to boarding school.
Why: I found it very well written and engaging. I found the protagonist Remi a very easy protagonist to get a long with. It's fast paced and touches on themes I find in other authors of the region. I think since I was so young when I read it, though, I probably missed a good deal.
Kehinde, Buchi Emecheta
The story is about a woman finding her balance between Yoruba and England, where she now lives and works with her family.
Why: Emecheta is just such a darn good writer. Also the title of the book refers to the protagonist's twin, who died before she was born, and part of her self-discovery involves dealing with this and her peoples' conception of what her position as a twin means.
Kindred, Octavia Butler
A Californian woman finds herself being transported back in time to meet her slave owning ancestor.
Why: Butler is fabulous. Also, this book is so incredibly complex. I read it once in a theory class to talk about concepts of Hegel.
Bread Givers, Anzia Yezierska
Story of a Jewish girl in the 1920s. Addresses racism, poverty, and for the narrator, defining Jewish womanhood for herself.
Why: Yezierska writes a compelling narrative no matter what she set her pen to. When reading I was very much entangled with her narrator.
The Last Report on the Miracles of Little No Horse, Louise Erdrich
This comes from a series of books from Erdrich set on a reservation, some of which are better than others, but all of which are more or less enjoyable. I don't think reading those that come after it are required to understand this. What we are getting here is the backstory to the other books that were written first. It follows the story told by Father Damien Modeste, a woman who lived as a man and served the Ojibwe on the Little No Horse reservation (although probably not how he envisioned that he would).
Dark, passionate, fantastical and historical, lavishly written, I think this is her best, of what I've read.
I look forward to what others suggest. :)