In 1940, Richard Wright wrote his first novel. He called it Native Son, and it showed white Americans just how vicious and traumatic racism in the United States was. It was a raw and difficult book, and it became a runaway bestseller across the country--the first book by an African American writer... more

In 1940, Richard Wright wrote his first novel. He called it Native Son, and it showed white Americans just how vicious and traumatic racism in the United States was. It was a raw and difficult book, and it became a runaway bestseller across the country--the first book by an African American writer to achieve that status. Until his life was cut short at the age of 52, Wright fought racism through violent, challenging books that attracted more readers than any other black writer before him. (For middle school and high school readers.)