The Water Dancer

This book is my favorite of the year. The National Book Award-winning author of "Between the World and Me" brings us an unforgettable first novel that will live in your heart and mind forever. Coates tells the story of Hiram Walker, a young man born into slavery to a mother who is sold away and a father who is the owner of the plantation. He gets pulled up from "the street," where most of the slaves reside, and given one job—to watch over his white brother, Maynard, and keep him out of trouble. Hiram was taught to read, and, in a twist of fate, he has the wits and smarts his father wants for his white son, not his black one. While Hiram has no memory of his mother, he discovers that she passed along mystical powers from their ancestors—powers that save his life on more than one occasion. This inherited magic also delivers him from the bondage of the only home he has ever known. People, get ready. The world will never be the same after this book.