Young Readers (9 - 13)

This is the remarkable story of Phillis Wheatley, who is born into an African family of griots, or storytellers, but captured by slave raiders and forced aboard a slave ship, where appalling conditions spell death for many of her companions. Numerous...

Often shocking, always compelling, Afua Cooper's novel is based on the life of Henry Bibb, an American slave who after repeated attempts escaped in 1841 to become an anti-slavery speaker, author and founder of a Black newspaper. Cooper takes...

Introduces readers to the life and legacy of Claudette Colvin. Vivid photographs and easy-to-read text give early readers an engaging and age-appropriate look at her role in the Civil Rights Movement. Features include sidebars, a table of contents, two...

Bestselling author Janae Marks returns with a bighearted and empowering sequel to the critically acclaimed From the Desk of Zoe Washington, following Zoe and her recently exonerated father as they build their new relationship and work to open their own...

Can Lawrence figure out how to get on the board, even though the odds are stacked against him? Introducing a powerful novel about family, forgiveness, and figuring out who you are when you don't make the rules--just right for middle-grade fans of Nic...

Learn about the fascinating accomplishments of the famous African American musician Sister Rosetta Tharpe and how she paved the way for others in the music industry in the book Sister Rosetta Tharpe--part of the Leaders Like Us African American childrens...

Bestselling author Janae Marks returns with a bighearted and empowering sequel to the critically acclaimed From the Desk of Zoe Washington, following Zoe and her recently exonerated father as they build their new relationship and work to open their own...

Learn about the fascinating accomplishments of African American athlete Major Taylor and how he paved the way for other professional cyclists in the book Major Taylor--part of the Leaders Like Us African American childrens books series. Discover what led...

Most of the time sports are seen as the height of competition, but often they also bring people together in times of cultural, social, and political upheaval. Jackie Robinson explores the way the iconic and groundbreaking baseball player brought...

Learn about the amazing accomplishments of literary critic, filmmaker, historian, and professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., that pioneered theories of African American literature using genealogy in the book Henry Louis Gates Jr.--part of the Leaders Like Us...

An illustrated poem about two best friends, one white and one black, in the 1970s--when eating together at a lunch counter on a lazy summer afternoon is no big deal. A Gift from Greensboro is an elegy, a celebration of the magic of childhood friendship,...

An inspiring memoir of a Caldecott-winning artist and one of the most acclaimed children's book illustrators of all time, sharing the story of a young artist who finds the courage to follow his passion against all odds. * "A moving work from a legend of...

In May 1963 news photographer Charles Moore was on hand to document the Children's Crusade, a civil rights protest. But the photographs he took that day did more than document an event; they helped change history. His photograph of a trio of...

Chronicling the story of the last Africans brought illegally to America in 1860, African Town is a powerful and stunning novel-in-verse. In 1860, long after the United States outlawed the importation of enslaved laborers, 110 men, women and children from...

This revelatory and gripping nonfiction middle grade book explores a deeply troubling chapter in American history that is still playing out today: the strange case of Prince Edward County, Virginia, the only place in the United States to ever formally...

The true story of how Indigenous girls at a Canadian residential school sewed secret pockets into their dresses to hide food and survive Mary was four years old when she was first taken away to the Lejac Indian Residential School. It was far away from...