Authors: Winter 2022

Monarch Book Recommendations

Robert Griffin III
Surviving Washington

Robert Griffin III, also known as “RG3,” entered the NFL like a comet. After winning the Heisman Trophy in 2011, he was selected with the second overall pick in the 2012 NFL draft by the former Washington Redskins. Despite suffering a serious knee injury late in the season, he would go on to win the Rookie of the Year award, earning the team a home playoff game against the Seattle Seahawks in January 2013. But it was during that game that Griffin’s life and career changed forever.

In this eye-opening and moving memoir, Griffin shines a light on that infamous playoff game, along with the toxic environment he witnessed with medical mismanagement and sexual harassment in the most dysfunctional organization in sports today, overseen by Daniel Snyder. A football memoir unlike any other, this is a powerful story of survival and the importance of speaking up no matter the risks.

Amanda Gorman
The Hill We Climb

The debut poetry collection from National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman features “The Hill We Climb”—the breathtaking poem the 22-year-old read at President Biden’s inauguration—and more eagerly awaited works.

Zakiya Dalila Harris
The Other Black Girl

In this thrilling debut, Nella is tired of being the only Black employee at Wagner Books. That is, until Harlem-born and bred Hazel starts working in the cubicle beside hers; the two bond immediately. Things change, though, when Hazel becomes an office darling and Nella is left in the dust.

Bolu Babalola
Love In Color

In her debut collection, Babalola retells beautiful love stories from history and mythology with new detail and vivacity. Focusing on the magical folktales of West Africa, she also reimagines Greek myths, ancient legends from the Middle East, and stories from long-erased places. With richly drawn characters like a powerful Ghanaian spokeswoman forced to decide whether she should uphold her family’s politics or be true to her heart, Love in Color is a celebration of romance in many different forms.

Wayétu Moore
The Dragons, The Giant, The Women

When Liberian writer Wayétu Moore (She Would Be King) was five years old, all she could think about was how much she missed her mother, who was working and studying in New York. Before they could be reunited, war broke out in Liberia, forcing the family to flee their home on foot, walking and hiding for three weeks before eventually settling in the United States. Moore’s memoir covers her early childhood, her years adjusting to life in Texas as a Black woman and an immigrant, and her eventual return to Liberia.