Afrofuturism Fiction Suggestions for Kids, Teens & Adults
I have been a fan of science-fiction and fantasy stories since I was a kid. I loved escaping to different worlds and seeing different cultures and civilizations. I fell in love with The Ear, The Eye and The Arm by Nancy Farmer in high school. I devoured the book in a fews days. For Black History Month I want to share with you titles within the science fiction fantasy category centered on Afrofuturism. Afrofuturism is a term that was created by cultural critic Mark Dery in 1994 to describe music, literature and art that centers on African diaspora culture with science fiction, fantasy, and technology elements. Enjoy these stories—for children, young adults, and adults—and the worlds within.
Children’s Fiction
Bayou Magic by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Ten-year-old Maddy on a visit with her grandmother begins to realize that she may be the only sibling to carry on the gift of her family's magical legacy.
The Ear, The Eye and The Armby Nancy Farmer
Three mutant detectives use their special powers to search for General Matsika's three children that are kidnapped and put to work in a plastic mine in 2194 in Zimbabwe.
Ikenga by Nnedi Okorafor
Nnamdi has vowed to avenge his father who was murdered, but he doubts his abilities. A mysterious encounter at night, a magical object that gives him super powers, and a charge to use those powers for good changes his life forever.
Malice in Ovenlandby Micheline Hess
Home for the summer Lily Brown has amazing adventures using her kitchen oven.
Maya and The Rising Dark by Rana Barron
12-year-old Maya discovers that her missing father has been protecting a supernatural boundary between worlds.
Sci-Fuby Yehudi Mercado
Wax mistakenly summons a UFO that sends him to a robot-dominated planet of Discopia. Wax and his friends must learn the intergalactic musical martial art of Sci-Fu to save Earth.
Young Adult Fiction
The Beast Made of Night (Book 1) by Tochi Onyebuchi
Taj, a talented aki, or sin-eater, must fight to save the princess he loves and his own life.
Children of Blood and Bone (Book1) by Tomi Adeyemi
Zelie embarks on a journey alongside her brother and a fugitive princess to restore her people's magical abilities.
The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna
A supernatural teen shunned by her superstitious community because of her differences is invited to fight for the emperor in an all-woman army.
Given by Nandi Taylor
Yenni, who has never been away from home, must find the cure for her father’s wasting illness.
Raybearerby Jordan Ifueko
Tarisai,who was raised alone, longs for the closeness she could have as one of the Crown Prince's Council of 11, but is instead forced to kill the Crown Prince by her mother.
Shuri: A Black Panther Novel by Nic Stone
Shuri must travel from Wakanda to discover what is killing the plants her people depend on for their survival.
Steeplejack by A.J. Hartley
17-year-old Anglet Sutonga investigates the death of a young apprentice while caring for her sister's baby against a backdrop of racial tensions, political secrets, and a stolen historical icon.
The Sunbird by Elizabeth Wein
Young Telemakos travels to the kingdom's salt mines to discover the identity of the traitor to the crown who, ignoring the emperor's command, is spreading plague with the salt from port to port.
Zahrah the Windseeker by Nnedi Okorafer
Zahrah, a timid thirteen-year-old girl, undertakes a dangerous quest into the Forbidden Greeny Jungle to seek the antidote for her best friend after he is bitten by a snake, and finds knowledge, courage, and hidden powers along the way.
47 by Walter Mosley
Number 47, a fourteen-year-old slave boy growing up under the watchful eye of a brutal master in 1832, meets the mysterious Tall John, who introduces him to a magical science and also teaches him the meaning of freedom.
Adult Fiction
Biniti: The Complete Triology by Nnedi Okorafor
The adventures of Binti first of the Himba people to attend Oozma University.
Black Leopard, Red Wolf (Book 1) by Marlon James
A Tracker joins a search for a mysterious boy who disappeared three years before but is targeted by deadly creatures.
The Deep by Rivers Solomon
The historian of the water-dwelling descendants of pregnant African slaves thrown overboard by slavers keeps all the memories of her people both painful and miraculous, until she discovers that their future lies in returning to the past.
The Fifth Season (Book 1) by N.K. Jemisin
Vengeful Essun pursues her husband who killed their son and took him across a dangerous landscape.
The Intuitionist by Colson Whitehead
Lila Mae, a Black female elevator inspector, must prove that her method of inspection by intuition, as opposed to visual observation, is not at fault when an elevator in a new city building crashes.
Minion: A Vampire Huntress Legend by L.A. Banks
Damali Richards must discover who is behind the brutal murders that have stunned the police and her.
Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
An eighteen-year-old African American woman inherits a trait that causes her to feel others' pain as well as her own, flees northward from her small community and its desperate savages.
Rosewater (The Wormwood Trilogy Series Book 1) by Tade Thompson
When something begins killing off others like himself, Kaaro, a government agent, must search for an answer.
Have trouble reading standard print? Many of these titles are available in formats for patrons with print disabilities.