Paperbacks new and noteworthy

“My People: Five Decades of Writing About Black Lives,”

by Charlayne Hunter-Gault. (Harper Perennial, 368 pages, $21.99.) In 1961, Hunter-Gault was one of the first two Black students to enroll in the University of Georgia, determined to study journalism. This collection of reporting from over five decades of her award-winning career covers topics from the Black Panthers and John Lewis to the legacy of apartheid in South Africa.

“When McKinsey Comes to Town: The Hidden Influence of the World’s Most Powerful Consulting Firm,” by Walt Bogdanich and Michael Forsythe. (Anchor, 368 pages, $18.) Two New York Times reporters investigate the practices of the elite consulting firm, whose clients have ranged from Purdue Pharma and the Food and Drug Administration to the militaries of 15 countries. “People the world over are largely unaware of the profound influence McKinsey exerts over their lives,” they write.

“Gilded Mountain,” by Kate Manning. (Scribner, 480 pages, $18.) Sylvie works in the manor of the Padgetts, owners of the mining company that employs her father and most of her 1900s Colorado town. Initially charmed, she soon recognizes the gulf between the Padgetts’ words and their labor practices. When tragedy strikes, Sylvie and the miners decide to fight back.

“Stay True,” by Hua Hsu. (Anchor, 208 pages, $17.) Hsu transforms the San Francisco Bay Area into an emotional landscape thrumming with love and grief by tracing his relationship with Ken, a fellow student at UC Berkeley in the 1990s, from the beginning of their unlikely friendship to Ken’s tragic death in a carjacking less than three years later in this Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir.