26 Books like Bad Boy

The Beautiful Struggle

by Ta-Nehisi Coates • 2008

Between Black Panther discipline and Baltimore's street code, a boy fights to write his own story.

4.08

11k+

🏙️ Urban Memoir 🖤 African American Memoir 🌱 Coming Of Age Memoirs

The Beautiful Struggle 95%

Between Black Panther discipline and Baltimore's street code, a boy fights to write his own story.

by Ta-Nehisi Coates 2008

4.08

11k+ ratings

🏙️ Urban Memoir 🖤 African American Memoir 🌱 Coming Of Age Memoirs

Never Far from Home

by Bruce Jackson • 2023

Amsterdam Houses to Microsoft: a Black lawyer's climb through music, race, and two worlds.

4.12

257

🪜 Upward Mobility 🚧 Racial Barriers 🎓 First-Gen Professionals

Never Far from Home 94%

Amsterdam Houses to Microsoft: a Black lawyer's climb through music, race, and two worlds.

by Bruce Jackson 2023

4.12

257 ratings

🪜 Upward Mobility 🚧 Racial Barriers 🎓 First-Gen Professionals

Where Tomorrows Aren't Promised

by Carmelo Anthony • 2021

Grief unnamed, a mother's open door, a blacktop sanctuary: surviving the projects before the NBA.

4.07

2k+

🏀 Basketball Memoirs 🏢 Housing Projects ⚖️ Systemic Racism

Where Tomorrows Aren't Promised 93%

Grief unnamed, a mother's open door, a blacktop sanctuary: surviving the projects before the NBA.

by Carmelo Anthony 2021

4.07

2k+ ratings

🏀 Basketball Memoirs 🏢 Housing Projects ⚖️ Systemic Racism

Warriors Don't Cry

by Melba Pattillo Beals • 1994

Acid in her eyes, threats at every turn: a 15-year-old's year integrating an Arkansas high school.

4.18

16k+

✊ Civil Rights Movement 🏫 School Desegregation 🕊️ Nonviolent Resistance

Warriors Don't Cry 93%

Acid in her eyes, threats at every turn: a 15-year-old's year integrating an Arkansas high school.

by Melba Pattillo Beals 1994

4.18

16k+ ratings

✊ Civil Rights Movement 🏫 School Desegregation 🕊️ Nonviolent Resistance

Fire Shut Up in My Bones

by Charles M. Blow • 2014

Sexually abused at seven, he spent decades climbing toward power. A polygraph machine made him stop.

4.01

5k+

🌾 Southern Childhood 🖤 Growing Up Black 🩹 Childhood Sexual Abuse

Fire Shut Up in My Bones 93%

Sexually abused at seven, he spent decades climbing toward power. A polygraph machine made him stop.

by Charles M. Blow 2014

4.01

5k+ ratings

🌾 Southern Childhood 🖤 Growing Up Black 🩹 Childhood Sexual Abuse

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

by Maya Angelou • 1969

After an assault at eight, she went mute for five years. Then books taught her to speak.

4.30

586k+

📖 Literary Memoir 🌱 Coming Of Age Memoir 🏚️ Jim Crow South

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings 92%

After an assault at eight, she went mute for five years. Then books taught her to speak.

by Maya Angelou 1969

4.30

586k+ ratings

📖 Literary Memoir 🌱 Coming Of Age Memoir 🏚️ Jim Crow South

The Other Wes Moore

by Wes Moore • 2010

Two boys named Wes Moore, same city. One became a Rhodes Scholar; the other got life.

3.87

60k+

👥 Parallel Lives 🏙️ Urban Poverty 🌱 Coming Of Age

The Other Wes Moore 92%

Two boys named Wes Moore, same city. One became a Rhodes Scholar; the other got life.

by Wes Moore 2010

3.87

60k+ ratings

👥 Parallel Lives 🏙️ Urban Poverty 🌱 Coming Of Age

Writing My Wrongs

by Shaka Senghor • 2013

He shot a man and went to prison. In solitary, he found a pen, and everything changed.

4.25

5k+

🏛️ Mass Incarceration 🔗 Prison Memoir 🕊️ Redemption Narratives

Writing My Wrongs 92%

He shot a man and went to prison. In solitary, he found a pen, and everything changed.

by Shaka Senghor 2013

4.25

5k+ ratings

🏛️ Mass Incarceration 🔗 Prison Memoir 🕊️ Redemption Narratives

On the Shoulders of Giants

by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar • 2007

Jazz, poetry, and the Rens: a basketball legend traces his roots to the Harlem Renaissance.

4.02

309

🎷 Harlem Renaissance 📚 African American History 🎺 Jazz Age Culture

On the Shoulders of Giants 92%

Jazz, poetry, and the Rens: a basketball legend traces his roots to the Harlem Renaissance.

by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 2007

4.02

309 ratings

🎷 Harlem Renaissance 📚 African American History 🎺 Jazz Age Culture

Dreams from My Father

by Barack Obama • 1995

From Hawaii to Kenya, a fatherless son pieces together an inheritance he was never given.

3.94

232k+

🧬 Biracial Identity 🏘️ Community Organizing 👤 Absent Fathers

Dreams from My Father 92%

From Hawaii to Kenya, a fatherless son pieces together an inheritance he was never given.

by Barack Obama 1995

3.94

232k+ ratings

🧬 Biracial Identity 🏘️ Community Organizing 👤 Absent Fathers

Short Stories

by Columbus Short • 2020

A pint of whiskey daily to become Little Walter, and the habit that outlasted the role.

3.94

293

🎬 Hollywood Memoirs 🖤 Black Hollywood 💊 Substance Abuse Recovery

Short Stories 92%

A pint of whiskey daily to become Little Walter, and the habit that outlasted the role.

by Columbus Short 2020

3.94

293 ratings

🎬 Hollywood Memoirs 🖤 Black Hollywood 💊 Substance Abuse Recovery

The Water Is Wide

by Pat Conroy • 1972

The island kids couldn't tell time. Their teacher drove them to Washington.

4.17

27k+

📚 Teaching Memoir ⚖️ School Inequality 🌴 American South

The Water Is Wide 92%

The island kids couldn't tell time. Their teacher drove them to Washington.

by Pat Conroy 1972

4.17

27k+ ratings

📚 Teaching Memoir ⚖️ School Inequality 🌴 American South

A Quantum Life

by Hakeem Oluseyi • 2021

A crack addict hiding in Stanford labs. A newborn daughter. Solar telescopes and a second chance.

4.48

913

🔭 Scientist Memoirs 🩹 Addiction And Recovery 📈 Upward Mobility

A Quantum Life 92%

A crack addict hiding in Stanford labs. A newborn daughter. Solar telescopes and a second chance.

by Hakeem Oluseyi 2021

4.48

913 ratings

🔭 Scientist Memoirs 🩹 Addiction And Recovery 📈 Upward Mobility

All Boys Aren't Blue

by George M. Johnson • 2020

Inside his grandmother's home, safety. Outside: a world unprepared for a Black queer boy.

4.18

48k+

🏳️‍🌈 Black Queer Experience 🌱 Coming-Of-Age Memoir 💪 Redefining Masculinity

All Boys Aren't Blue 92%

Inside his grandmother's home, safety. Outside: a world unprepared for a Black queer boy.

by George M. Johnson 2020

4.18

48k+ ratings

🏳️‍🌈 Black Queer Experience 🌱 Coming-Of-Age Memoir 💪 Redefining Masculinity

Another Word for Love

by Carvell Wallace • 2024

Childhood taught him survival meant armoring up; recovery taught him presence takes more courage.

4.25

2k+

🖋️ Literary Memoir 💔 Childhood Trauma 🔗 Generational Trauma

Another Word for Love 92%

Childhood taught him survival meant armoring up; recovery taught him presence takes more courage.

by Carvell Wallace 2024

4.25

2k+ ratings

🖋️ Literary Memoir 💔 Childhood Trauma 🔗 Generational Trauma

My Broken Language

by Quiara Alegría Hudes • 2021

A professor said her Spanish was broken. Write it that way. A playwright found her voice.

4.18

4k+

🧒 Coming Of Age Memoir 🌍 Multicultural Memoir 🔀 Code Switching

My Broken Language 92%

A professor said her Spanish was broken. Write it that way. A playwright found her voice.

by Quiara Alegría Hudes 2021

4.18

4k+ ratings

🧒 Coming Of Age Memoir 🌍 Multicultural Memoir 🔀 Code Switching

A Chance in the World

by Steve Pemberton • 2012

Beaten, starved, and denied his name: a foster child's search for the family that erased him.

4.27

6k+

🏚️ Foster Care System 💔 Childhood Trauma 🛡️ Survival Memoir

A Chance in the World 92%

Beaten, starved, and denied his name: a foster child's search for the family that erased him.

by Steve Pemberton 2012

4.27

6k+ ratings

🏚️ Foster Care System 💔 Childhood Trauma 🛡️ Survival Memoir

Jesus Land

by Julia Scheeres • 2005

A Christian reform school in the tropics. A white girl, her Black brother, one escape plan.

3.97

20k+

⛪ Religious Abuse 🔒 Troubled Teen Industry 🏠 Interracial Adoption

Jesus Land 92%

A Christian reform school in the tropics. A white girl, her Black brother, one escape plan.

by Julia Scheeres 2005

3.97

20k+ ratings

⛪ Religious Abuse 🔒 Troubled Teen Industry 🏠 Interracial Adoption

How We Fight For Our Lives

by Saeed Jones • 2019

Texas taught him fear. A brutal attack taught him rage. Writing taught him to survive.

4.27

23k+

🏳️‍🌈 Queer Memoir 🌵 Southern Memoir 🖤 Black Gay Identity

How We Fight For Our Lives 92%

Texas taught him fear. A brutal attack taught him rage. Writing taught him to survive.

by Saeed Jones 2019

4.27

23k+ ratings

🏳️‍🌈 Queer Memoir 🌵 Southern Memoir 🖤 Black Gay Identity

Finding Me

by Viola Davis • 2022

Rats, bullies, bed-wetting at 14: the childhood Viola Davis survived before the stage saved her.

4.53

185k+

⭐️ Celebrity Memoirs 🎭 Actor Memoirs 🏚️ Childhood Poverty

Finding Me 92%

Rats, bullies, bed-wetting at 14: the childhood Viola Davis survived before the stage saved her.

by Viola Davis 2022

4.53

185k+ ratings

⭐️ Celebrity Memoirs 🎭 Actor Memoirs 🏚️ Childhood Poverty

The Next Big Story

by Soledad O'Brien • 2010

From Little Rock to Katrina to Haiti, a multiracial reporter keeps showing up where America breaks.

3.70

239

📺 Broadcast Journalism 🧬 Multiracial Identity 🗽 Race In America

The Next Big Story 92%

From Little Rock to Katrina to Haiti, a multiracial reporter keeps showing up where America breaks.

by Soledad O'Brien 2010

3.70

239 ratings

📺 Broadcast Journalism 🧬 Multiracial Identity 🗽 Race In America

A Man Called White

by Walter Francis White • 1948

Blue-eyed and Black, he could pass for white, so he walked straight into lynch mobs.

4.23

✊🏾 Civil Rights Movement ⛓️ Jim Crow Era 🪢 Anti-Lynching Activism

A Man Called White 92%

Blue-eyed and Black, he could pass for white, so he walked straight into lynch mobs.

by Walter Francis White 1948

4.23

48 ratings

✊🏾 Civil Rights Movement ⛓️ Jim Crow Era 🪢 Anti-Lynching Activism

Jokes My Father Never Taught Me

by Rain Pryor • 2006

Richard Pryor's daughter on the chaos behind the comedy, and finding her own voice in between.

3.86

642

🧬 Biracial Identity 🧒 Children Of Celebrities 💊 Fame And Addiction

Jokes My Father Never Taught Me 92%

Richard Pryor's daughter on the chaos behind the comedy, and finding her own voice in between.

by Rain Pryor 2006

3.86

642 ratings

🧬 Biracial Identity 🧒 Children Of Celebrities 💊 Fame And Addiction

The Rejected Stone

by Al Sharpton • 2013

What a street preacher learned about power after becoming an unlikely White House confidant.

4.18

148

✊🏾 Activist Memoir 🗳️ Civil Rights Leadership ✊ Modern Civil Rights

The Rejected Stone 92%

What a street preacher learned about power after becoming an unlikely White House confidant.

by Al Sharpton 2013

4.18

148 ratings

✊🏾 Activist Memoir 🗳️ Civil Rights Leadership ✊ Modern Civil Rights

Darkness Visible

by William Styron • 1990

Depression is not sadness. A Pulitzer-winning novelist on the illness that feels like drowning.

3.99

32k+

🩺 Clinical Depression ✍️ Literary Memoir 🏥 Psychiatric Memoir

Darkness Visible 91%

Depression is not sadness. A Pulitzer-winning novelist on the illness that feels like drowning.

by William Styron 1990

3.99

32k+ ratings

🩺 Clinical Depression ✍️ Literary Memoir 🏥 Psychiatric Memoir

Black Like Me

by John Howard Griffin • 2003

A white journalist crossed the color line in 1959. The South stripped him of innocence.

4.11

70k+

🎭 Racial Passing 🏚️ Jim Crow South 📝 Participatory Journalism

Black Like Me 91%

A white journalist crossed the color line in 1959. The South stripped him of innocence.

by John Howard Griffin 2003

4.11

70k+ ratings

🎭 Racial Passing 🏚️ Jim Crow South 📝 Participatory Journalism

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