2 Black British adult fiction authors appear in the Black bestseller list


Black author bestseller chart (2021) Rashford scores the top spot


host Sara Cox called it “a book that will stay with me always”. But aside from Bernardine Evaristo’s Girl, Woman, Other, which contin- ued to be a phenomenon—selling more than 80,000 units in the year after its publication—and The Girl with the Louding Voice, there were no other Black British-based Adult Fiction authors in the top 20 for 2021. In the ranked bestseller chart


for 2020 we ran in last year’s Black Issue, just three Children’s books featured—Nathan Bryon and Dapo Adeola’s Look Up!, Malorie Blackman’s Noughts & Crosses and Angie Thomas’ The Hate U Give. But 2021’s chart features more Children’s titles than Adult Fiction ones. Rashford and Carl Anka’s You Are a Champion was head and shoulders above most books last year, scoring 16th overall and becoming the fourth-bestselling kids’ book of the year, with only titles by David Walliams


Title


1 You Are a Champion 2 The Vanishing Half 3 Will


4 Girl, Woman, Other 5 Becoming 6 Renegades


8 Making It


9 Such a Fun Age 10 The Idea of You


CARL ANKA RIGHT AND MARCUS RASHFORD; AND LEFT ABI DARÉ ALL CHARTED


and J K Rowling selling more. The infamous TikTok revolution


Aside from Bernardine Evaristo and Abi Daré, there were no other Black British-based Adult Fiction authors in the top 20


has boosted Young Adult Fiction sales, with Faridah Àbíké- Íyímídé’s Ace of Spades, Kalynn Bayron’s Cinderella is Dead and Namina Forna’s The Gilded Ones joining a return- ing The Hate U Give and Noughts & Crosses. B B Alston’s Amari and the Night Brothers hit 11th place, too. Non-fiction


was the chart’s Author Imprint


M Rashford & C Anka Macmillan... 1529068177 Brit Bennett Dialogue W Smith & M Manson Century Bernardine Evaristo


Penguin


Michelle Obama Penguin Obama & Springsteen Viking


7 The Girl with the Louding Voice Abi Daré Sceptre Jay Blades Bluebird Kiley Reid Bloomsbury Robinne Lee Penguin


11 Amari and the Night Brothers B B Alston Farshore 12 Cinderella Is Dead 13 Ace of Spades


15 The Gilded Ones 16 The Hate U Give 17 A Promised Land 18 The Hill We Climb 19 Noughts & Crosses


Kalynn Bayron Bloomsbury YA Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé Usborne


14 Why I’m No Longer Talking... Reni Eddo-Lodge Bloomsbury Namina Forna Usborne Angie Thomas Walker Barack Obama Viking


20 What White People Can Do Next Emma Dabiri Penguin TheBookseller.com


0349701479 1529124156 0241984994 0241982976 0241561249 1529359275 1529059199 1526612168 1405950367 1405298193 1526621979 1474967532 1408870587 1474959575 1406372151 0241491515


Amanda Gorman Chatto & Windus 1784744601 Malorie Blackman Penguin


0141378640 0141996738


ISBN (+978) Volume 220,538 158,119 97,493 81,161 58,714 46,246 42,921 39,602 36,941 30,912 29,294 28,927 28,314 22,891 22,009 21,135 20,765 20,037 19,431 18,626


true heavyweight, though, with Will Smith and Mark Manson’s Will rocking into the top three. The Obamas and their respective autobiographies returned in fifth and 17th place, with Barack’s title Renegades, written with Bruce Springsteen, entering the chart in sixth—and with its £35 r.r.p., notching up by far the highest average selling price in the chart. “The Repair Shop” presenter


Jay Blades’ Making It was the highest-charting non-fiction title by a Black British author writing for adults, selling 39,602 copies across 2021. Following a stirring performance at Joe Biden’s presi- dential inauguration in January last year, poet Amanda Gorman found international fame, and her collection The Hill We Climb charted in 18th.


Date Range 14th March 2021 to 1st January 2022. Source Nielsen


What White People Can Do Next


Emma Dabiri Penguin While 2020 saw a huge rise in anti-racism titles, Emma Dabiri’s What White People Can Do Next was the only 2021-published book to join Reni Eddo-Lodge’s Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race in the chart.


Exclusive


In the spotlight


Such a Fun Age Kiley Reid Bloomsbury As this chart covers the non- lockdown weeks of 2021 only, Kiley Reid’s Such a Fun Age in particular has likely missed out. The novel was an instant hit during Lockdown 3.0, débuting in third place in Mass-Market Fiction on release in late December 2020.


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