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Here are titles on Black history for children, young adults, and educators. Teaching for Change carefully selects the best multicultural and social justice books for children, young adults, and educators. Learn about our criteria for selecting titles. Feedback on these lists and suggestions for additional titles are welcome. Most of the books on these lists are linked for more information or purchase to Powells, an independent, union labor bookstore. Titles with reviews on this site are noted with an asterisk(*).

See more recommended titles on these lists: Civil Rights Teaching, Reconstruction, Slavery, Resistance, and Reparations

Find lessons and additional resources for teaching about African American history at the Zinn Education Project (coordinated by Teaching for Change and Rethinking Schools) and the website for Putting the Movement Back into Civil Rights Teaching.

For information about D.C. Area Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action visit D.C. Area Educators for Social Justice.

Africville

By Shauntay Grant and Eva Campbell (Illustrator)

Beautiful Shades of Brown: The Art of Laura Wheeler Waring

By Nancy Churnin and Felicia Marshall (Illustrator)

Before She Was Harriet*

By Lesa Cline Ransome, James E. Ransome

Buzzing with Questions

By Janice N. Harrington

Carter Reads the Newspaper *

By Deborah Hopkinson, Don Tate (Illustrator)

Child of the Civil Rights Movement*

By Paula Young Shelton, Raúl Colón (Illustrator)

Circle Unbroken: A Story of a Basket and Its People

By Margot Theis Raven, E. B. Lewis (Illustrator)

Down on James Street

By Nicole McCandless and Byron Gramby (Illustrator)

Dream Builder: The Story of Architect Philip Freelon *

By Kelly Starling Lyons

Ellen's Broom*

By Kelly Starling Lyons

The Escape of Robert Smalls

By Jehan Jones-Radgowski

Farmer Will Allen and the Growing Table

By Jacqueline Briggs Martin, Eric-Shabazz Larkin (Illustrator), Will Allen (Afterword by)

Freedom's School

By Lesa Cline-Ransome, James E. Ransome (Illustrator)

Going Down Home with Daddy

By Kelly Starling Lyons

The Great Migration: Journey to the North*

By Eloise Greenfield, Jan Spivey Gilchrist (Illustrator)

Harlem's Little Blackbird

By Renee Watson, Christian Robinson (Illustrator)

Hip Hop Speaks to Children: A Celebration of Poetry with a Beat

By Nikki Giovanni, Alicia Vergel De Dios (Illustrator), Damian Ward (Illustrator)

It Jes' Happened *

By Don Tate, R. Gregory Christie (Illustrator)

Little Melba and Her Big Trombone

By Katheryn Russell-Brown

Love to Langston

By Tony Medina, R. Gregory Christie

Maritcha: A Nineteenth-Century American Girl

By Tonya Bolden

Me and Momma and Big John*

By Mara Rockliff, William Low (Illustrator)

 

Milo's Museum*

By Zetta Elliott

My Story, My Dance

By Lesa Cline Ransome, James Ransome

New Shoes

By Susan Lynn Meyer

No Mirrors in My Nana's House

By Ysaye M. Barnwell, Synthia Saint James (Illustrator)

The Oldest Student: How Mary Walker Learned to Read

By Rita Lorraine Hubbard and Oge Mora (Illustrator)

Opal's Greenwood Oasis

By Quraysh Ali Lansana, Najah-Amatullah Hylton and  Skip Hill (Illustrator)

Opening the Road: Victor Hugo Green and His Green Book

By Keila V. Dawson and Alleanna Harris (Illustrator)

A Ride to Remember

By Sharon Langley and Amy Nathan

Sing a Song: How "Lift Every Voice and Sing" Inspired Generations*

By  Kelly Starling Lyons

Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down

By Andrea Davis Pinkney, Brian Pinkney (Illustrator)

Someday Is Now: Clara Luper and the 1958 Oklahoma City Sit-ins

By Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich, Jade Johnson (Illustrator)

So Tall Within: Sojourner Truth's Long Walk Toward Freedom

By Gary Schmidt, Daniel Mintor (Illustrator)

Sprouting Wings: The True Story of James Herman Banning, the First African American Pilot to Fly Across the United States

By Louisa Jaggar,  Shari Becker,  and Floyd Cooper (Illustrator)

Steamboat School*

By Deborah Hopkinson

Sugar Hill: Harlem's Historic Neighborhood

By Carole Boston Weatherford, R. Gregory Christie (Illustrator)

Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt

By Deborah Hopkinson

Take a Picture of Me, James Van Der Zee!

By Andrea Loney, Keith Mallett (Illustrator)

Tea Cakes for Tosh*

By Kelly Starling Lyons 

This Is the Rope: A Story from the Great Migration

By Jacqueline Woodson

Thurgood

By Jonah Winter, Bryan Collier

Uncle Jed's Barbershop

By Margaree King Mitchell

The Vast Wonder of the World: Biologist Ernest Everett Just

By Mélina Mangal, Luisa Uribe (Illustrator)

When the Beat Was Born: DJ Kool Herc and the Creation of Hip Hop*

By Laban Carrick Hill, Theodore Taylor (Illustrator)

 

William Still and His Freedom Stories: The Father of the Underground Railroad *

By Don Tate

Zora Hurston and the Chinaberry Tree

By William Miller, Cornelius Van Wright

Bayou Magic

By Jewell Parker Rhodes

Before John Was a Jazz Giant: A Song of John Coltrane

By Carole Boston Weatherford, Sean Qualls (Illustrator)

 

Biddy Mason Speaks Up*

By Arisa White, Laura Atkins, Laura Freeman (Illustrator)

Birmingham, 1963

By Carole Weatherford

Black Diamond: The Story of the Negro Baseball Leagues

By Patricia C. McKissack, Fredrick McKissack, Jr.

Black & White: The Confrontation Between Reverence Fred L. Shuttlesworth and Eugene "Bull" Connor

By Larry Dane Brimner

Blues Journey

By Christopher Myers

The Book Itch: Freedom, Truth, & Harlem's Greatest Bookstore

By Vaunda Micheaux Nelson

BOX: Henry Brown Mails Himself to Freedom

By Carole Boston Weatherford, Michele Wood (Illustrator)

Clemente!

By Willie Perdomo, Bryan Collier (Illustrator)

A Day for Rememberin' Inspired by the True Events of the First Memorial Day

By Leah Henderson and Floyd Cooper (Illustrator)

Dayshaun's Gift

By Zetta Elliott, Alex Portal (Illustrator)

Ellington Was Not a Street

By Ntozake Shange, Kadir Nelson (Illustrator)

Finding Langston*

By Lesa Cline-Ransome

Freedom on the Menu: The Greensboro Sit-Ins

By Carole Boston Weatherford, Jerome Lagarrigue (Illustrator)

Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their lives and Dreams Brought to Life*

By Ashley Bryan, Ashley Bryan (Illustrator)

Granddaddy's Turn: A Journey to the Ballot Box

By Michael S. Bandy, Eric Stein, James Ransome (Illustrator)

Henry's Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad

By Ellen Levine, Kadir Nelson (Illustrator)

Hidden Figures: Young Readers' Edition*

By Margot Lee Shetterly

Josephine: The Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker

By Patricia Hruby Powell

Malcolm X: A Fire Burning Brightly

By Walter Dean Myers, Leonard Jenkins (Illustrator)

Midnight Teacher: Lilly Ann Granderson and Her Secret School*

By Janet Halfmann, London Ladd

Mumbet's Declaration of Independence *

By Gretchen Woelfle, Alix Delinois (Illustrator)

Pink y Say

By Patricia Polacco

 

Poet: The Remarkable Story of George Moses Horton*

By Don Tate

The Price of Freedom: How One Town Stood Up to Slavery

By Dennis Brindell Fradin, Judith Bloom Fradin, Eric Velasquez (Illustrator)

 

Remember: The Journey to School Integration

By Toni Morrison

 

Richard Wright and the Library Card

By William Miller, R. Gregory Christie

The Road to Memphis

By Mildred D. Taylor

 

Rosa

By Nikki Giovanni, Bryan Collier (Illustrator)

Ruth and the Green Book *

By Calvin A. Ramsey, Floyd Cooper (Illustrator)

 

Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library*

By Carole Boston Weatherford

Selma, Lord, Selma: Girlhood Memories of the Civil Rights Days

By Frank Webb Sikora

The Story of Civil War Hero Robert Smalls

By Janet Halfmann and Duane Smith (Illustrator)

Streetcar to Justice

By Amy Hill Hearth

A Sweet Smell of Roses

By Angela Johnson, Eric Velazquez (Illustrator)

Sweethearts of Rhythm: The Story of the Greatest All-Girl Swing Band in the World

By Marilyn Nelson, Jerry Pinkney (Illustrator)

 

Thunder Rose

By Jerdine Nolen, Kadir Nelson (Illustrator)

Under the Freedom Tree

By Susan Vanhecke, London Ladd (Illustrator)

Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre *

By Carole Boston Weatherford, Floyd Cooper (Illustrator)

The Unstoppable Garrett Morgan

By Joan Dicicco

Up From The Ashes

By Hannibal Johnson and Clay Portis (Illustrator)

Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer: The Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement*

By Carole Boston Weatherford

The Women Who Caught The Babies: A Story of African American Midwives*

By Eloise Greenfield

Zora and Me: The Cursed Ground

By T.R. Simon

Bud, Not Buddy

By Christopher Paul Curtis

 

Chains

By Laurie Halse Anderson

Elijah of Buxton

By Christopher Paul Curtis

 

Forty Acres and Maybe a Mule

By Harriette Gillem Robinet

Let the Circle Be Unbroken

By Mildred D. Taylor

The Mighty Miss Malone

By Christopher Paul Curtis

 

Mississippi Bridge

By Mildred D. Taylor

Ninth Ward

By Jewell Parker Rhodes

Old African

By Julius Lester

One Crazy Summer

By Rita Williams-Garcia

 

The Rock and the River

By Kekla Magoon

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

By Mildred D. Taylor

Ship of Souls

By Zetta Elliott

Storm Warriors

By Elisa Carbone

Sugar

By Jewell Parker Rhodes

 

Unbound: A Novel in Verse*

By Ann E. Burg

A Wish After Midnight*

By Zetta Elliott

Zora and Me

By Victoria Bond, T. R. Simon

 

42 Is Not Just a Number: The Odyssey of Jackie Robinson, American Hero*

By Doreen Rappaport

A Wreath for Emmett Till

By Marilyn Nelson, Philippe Lardy (Illustrator)

Across the Tracks: Remembering Greenwood, Black Wall Street, and the Tulsa Race Massacre

By Alverne Ball and  Stacey Robinson (Illustrator) 

Black Indians: A Hidden Heritage

By William Loren Katz

Brown Girl Dreaming

By Jacqueline Woodson

Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice

By Phillip Hoose

Emancipation Proclamation: Lincoln and the Dawn of Liberty

By Tonya Bolden

Feed your Mind

By Jen Bryant, Cannaday Chapman

Frederick Douglass: From Slavery to Statesman

By Henry Elliot

Freedom's Children

By Ellen S. Levine

 

Freedom Walkers: The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott

By Russell Freedman

 

The Girl from the Tar Paper School: Barbara Rose Johns and the Advent of the Civil Rights Movement

By Teri Kanefield

Making Our Way Home: The Great Migration and the Black American Dream

By Blair Imani

Many Thousand Gone: African Americans from Slavery to Freedom

By Virginia Hamilton, Leo Dillon (Illustrator), Diane Dillon (Illustrator)

 

March Forward, Girl: From Young Warrior to Little Rock Nine

By Melba Pattillo Beals, Frank Morrison (Illustrator)

Marching for Freedom: Walk Together, Children, and Don't You Grow Weary

By Elizabeth Partridge

 

The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights

By Steve Sheinkin

Tell All the Children Our Story: Memories and Mementos of Being Young and Black in America

By Tonya Bolden

Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom: My Story of the 1965 Selma Voting Rights March

By Lynda Blackmon Lowery

Twelve Days in May: Freedom Ride 1961

By Larry Dane Brimner

Warriors Don't Cry: The Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High

By Melba Pattillo Beals

We Are One: The Story of Bayard Rustin

By Larry Dane Brimner

We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball

By Kadir Nelson

1919

By Eve L. Ewing

47

By Walter Mosley

Black Boy

By Richard Wright

Black Panther: The Revolutionary Art of Emory Douglas

By Sam Durant (Editor), Emory Douglas (Illustrator), Bobby Seale (Foreword by)

The Black Panthers: Portraits from an Unfinished Revolution

By Bryan Shih, Yohuru Williams, Peniel E. Joseph (Introduction by)

A Black Women's History of the United States

Daina Ramey Berry, Kali Nicole Gross

Dust Tracks on a Road

By Zora Neale Hurston

Growing Up in Slavery: Stories of Young Slaves as Told by Themselves

By Yuval Taylor (Editor), Kathleen Judge (Illustrator)

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

By Maya Angelou

John Carlos Story

By Dave Zirin, John Wesley Carlos, Cornel West

 

Lighting the Fires of Freedom: African American Women in the Civil Rights Movement

By Janet Dewart Bell

Malcolm X for Beginners

By Bernard Aquina Doctor

No Crystal Stair: A Documentary Novel of the Life and Work of Lewis Michaux, Harlem Bookseller

By Vaunda Micheaux Nelson, R. Gregory Christie (Illustrator)

 

The Poet Slave of Cuba: A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano

By Margarita Engle, Sean Qualls (Illustrator)

 

The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks: Young Readers Edition *

By Jeanne Theoharis and Brandy Colbert

She Came to Slay

By Erica Armstrong Dunbar

Stamped Racism: Antiracism & You

By Jason Reynolds, Ibram X Kendi

The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba's Struggle for Freedom

By Margarita Engle

Freedoms Unfinished Revolution: An Inquiry Into the Civil War & Reconstruction

By William Friedheim, Joshua Brown

Putting the Movement Back Into Civil Rights Teaching: A Resource Guide for Classrooms and Communities

By Deborah Menkart (Editor)

Teach Freedom: Education for Liberation in the African American Tradition

Edited by Charles M. Payne and Carol Sills Strickland

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