20.
The Help
By Kathryn Stockett
Because it served as a reminder of a painful
history, while showing us what a few courageous individuals can accomplish.
In 1962 in Jackson, Mississippi, two black women
working in white households and a young white reporter team up to expose the
truth about what "the help" endure. Together the three shake up the
town, exposing ugly hatreds, crimes and inequalities. This novel opened a
national conversation about race—including some backlash from
commentators like Roxane Gay, which made conversation all the more complex and
challenging. And yet, as
Octavia Butler and Viola Davis
told Oprah, the story also gives readers insight into the strength,
courage and dignity of the maids themselves—qualities that have been
too often overlooked.
— Dawn Raffel
