Must-Read Working Class Nonfiction

Vicki Valosik presents the history of synchronized swimming, a sport that’s often underappreciated. Through learning about the sport’s past, readers can come to better understand the grit and strength required of these women athletes.

Journalist Andrea Lim examines the intersection of the climate crisis and how it impacts poverty in the United States and Canada. From oil fields to farmlands, Lim presents a grim picture of how deeply climate change is impacting everyday people’s lives.

Sarah Smarsh is the first woman in many generations of her family to go to college instead of starting a family right away. After breaking this family norm, Smarsh begins to think about her life as a working-class girl from Kansas and tries to better understand where she comes from. Focusing on the different generations of women in her family, she looks at the history of the heartland and the people who live there. Her prose is intimate, practical, and straightforward. As a teen, she didn’t have time for a lot of friends or boyfriends; she was going to college. Every word pulls its weight as Smarsh describes her childhood living with a family just trying to scrape by.

Dr. William H. Turner has been writing about Black Appalachian history for decades. Previously, he edited essay collections and researched the vital role Black Appalachians had on the region. Now, Harlan Renaissance focuses on the Black communities in Harlan, Kentucky, where Turner is originally from. Turner discusses how much of the country forgets the importance of Black communities in Kentucky, writing it off as a state with just a bunch of white people. The reality is more complex than that. I really appreciate Turner’s perspective and the care he put into this book. Harlan Renaissance is a brilliant piece of oral and recorded history that celebrates Black Appalachian culture.