Incognegro: A Graphic Mystery by Mat Johnson with art by Warren Pleece

In this thought-provoking, dramatic graphic novel, a light-skinned African-American goes undercover to report on KKK activity and lynchings.

Though he's chafing about the lack of fame his job requires, Zane Pinchback is making a difference by reporting on the horrors of racism. And then it all strikes too close to home, reminding him exactly WHY this dangerous, secret work matters.

This is a fascinating premise, and the author's note explains his own history and inspiration. It's not the kind of book you "enjoy" reading, but it's very well done and incredibly captivating.

Moloka’i by Alan Brennert

In this historical fiction, a young Hawaiian girl is ripped from her family and sent to a remote community isolating those with the same illness she has contracted (Hansen’s disease, incorrectly called leprosy at the time).

Our book club chose to read this 2003 title for discussion, and I’m so glad someone suggested it. This is a wonderfully captivating fiction with a strong nonfiction basis and many lessons to offer.

Everyone who lands on the Hawaiian island of Moloka’i  is surprised (as are we readers) to find this “leper colony” is simply another small town community – with a few notable changes: There are stores, a post office, routine garbage pickup, people of all ages and several races, and a variety of religious beliefs. There are also doctors, hospitals, people with strange and monstrous deformities, and many, many cemeteries.

Rachel is merely 7 years old when she arrives on Moloka’i, and despite the fact she has a beloved uncle on the island, she is forced to live in the girls’ home run by the missionary nuns. She adjusts and makes friends, but never stops missing her family on the big island. Rachel lives, loves, and flourishes on Moloka’i, always wishing and hoping to leave, to travel the world, and to see and experience new cultures.

I basically consumed this book in a sitting, and I adored the island’s funny, creative citizens who were so full of life in the face of death. As any life would, Rachel’s story has ups and downs, joys and heartbreaks. I learned so much about Hawaii history and about Hansen’s disease - I will heartily recommend this book for literary and historical fiction lovers.

Port Chicago 50

by Steve Sheinkin, Audiobook Read by Dominic Hoffman

This is an oft-forgotten story of WWII.  Sheinkin tells it in a heartbreaking manner with this children's book.  In fact, I had not heard the story at all before the book became a sensation in educational discussion lists. 

During WWII, black servicemen were still segregated from their white peers.  At Port Chicago in San Francisco, those lines were strictly drawn.  Only the black men loaded bombs.  All the officers were white.  After a horrendous explosion killing more than 300 men, several black sailors became afraid of returning to duty. 

Initially, more than two hundred of them refused unless the conditions surrounding their work improved.  When told the punishment for mutiny was death, all but 50 agreed to go back to work.

This book chronicles the trial and controversy that followed.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

This is the kind of book you don't want to end; the kind of book you hope-with-your-fingers-crossed she's writing a sequel because you want to know what happens next to these people. The kind of book you're so emotionally invested in each of the characters that you cheer, you cry, and you want to jump right into the story and strangle somebody for treating them wrong.

Let's just say I enjoyed the book, OK?

This historical novel is set in 1960's Jackson, Mississippi. The main characters are all either privileged white women or their black housekeepers. The story's a nice mix of good and bad situations (like real life) that show the multi-faceted relationships between women of all colors.

Stockett's book was 2009's sleeper hit-of-the-year, and it's been enjoying a second surge in popularity now that they're casting for the movie version. I listened to the audiobook, a multi-cast recording with four narrators, which I give a double-thumbs-up.