Library Manager
Manage your library—your way. Keep a running list or organize the books you've read into little stacks. i.e. Beach Reads, Cozy Covers, True Crime, etc.
Daddy Was a Number Runner
A Literary Fiction Novel by James Baldwin
Subgenres:
- Coming-of-Age,
- 1930s Harlem,
- Black American Fiction
This book is for you if you're into...
- Depression-era Harlem through the eyes of a twelve-year-old girl
- Family survival stories shaped by poverty and street dangers
- Coming-of-age with dreams colliding against harsh realities
This modern classic is “a tough, tender, bitter novel of a black girl struggling towards womanhood” in 1930s Harlem—with a foreword by James Baldwin (Publishers Weekly).
Depression-era Harlem is home for twelve-year-old Francie Coffin and her family, and it’s both a place of refuge and the source of untold dangers for her and her poor, working class family.
The beloved “daddy” of the title indeed becomes a number runner when he is unable to find legal work, and while one of Francie’s brothers dreams of becoming a chemist, the other is already in a gang.
Francie is a dreamer, too, but there are risks in everything from going to the movies to walking down the block, and her pragmatism eventually outweighs her hope; “We was all poor and black and apt to stay that way, and that was that.”
First published in 1970, Daddy Was a Number Runner is one of the seminal novels of the black experience in America.
The New York Times Book Review proclaimed it “a most important novel.”
Follow This Author
Join & we'll email you when a new title is available for pre-order or hits the bookshelf
Little Stacks of Modern & Literary Fiction
Homecoming Books That Force You to Confront the Past
Old wounds, family secrets, and reunions wait on every page.
Heartwarming Friendship Books About Unexpected Bonds
From childhood pals to chance reunions these reads spark hope and heartfelt joy.
Get Free & Discounted eBooks
Curated reads, irresistible prices—subscribe now