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Booklists for Educators

Explore Our Booklists for Youth:

African American History & Heritage for Middle Graders

Betty before X

Betty before X
by Ilyasah Shabazz

Betty, who will later marry Malcolm X, lives with her family in 1940s Detroit, where she learns about the civil rights movement.

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Facing Frederick: The Life of Frederick Douglass, A Monumental American Man

Facing Frederick: The Life of Frederick Douglass, A Monumental American Man
by Tonya Bolden

This portrait of the statesman, suffragist and journalist shares insights into his complex personality and experiences.

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Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky

Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky
by Kwame Mbalia

Seventh grader Tristan is drawn into a world of burning seas, iron monsters and exhausted black folk heroes John Henry and Brer Rabbit.

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The Parker Inheritance

The Parker Inheritance
by Varian Johnson

During summer break, Candice sets out to solve an old family mystery and expose an injustice once committed against an African American family in town.

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Legacy: Women Poets of the Harlem Renaissance

Legacy: Women Poets of the Harlem Renaissance
by Nikki Grimes; illustrated by Vanessa Brantley-Newton [and 18 others]

A feminist-forward new collection of poetry celebrating the little-known women poets of the Harlem Renaissance--paired with full-color, original art from today's most talented female African-American illustrators

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Dark Sky Rising

Dark Sky Rising
by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

This story about America during and after Reconstruction is a stirring account of emancipation, the struggle for citizenship and national reunion, and the advent of racial segregation.

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Child of the Dream: A Memoir of 1963

Child of the Dream: A Memoir of 1963
by Sharon Robinson

In 1963, 13-year-old Sharon, daughter of baseball legend Jackie Robinson, finds her voice in the fight for justice and equality.

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Harriet Tubman

Harriet Tubman
by Kitson Jazynka; illustrated by Charlotte Ager

Learn about Tubman's fascinating life and hardships, her visions, the people she helped, the battles she fought, and how this American icon continues to inspire.

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Leaving Lymon

Leaving Lymon
by Lesa Cline-Ransome

Raised by his grandparents, first in Mississippi then in Wisconsin, 10-year-old Lymon moves to Chicago in 1945 to live with the mother he never knew, while yearning for his father.

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Changing the Equation : 50+ US Black Women in STEM

Changing the Equation : 50+ US Black Women in STEM
by Tonya Bolden

Explore the lives of groundbreaking Black women computer scientists, doctors, inventors, mathematicians, aviators, and more.

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Becoming Kareem

Becoming Kareem
by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar & Raymond Obstfeld

This autobiography follows Abdul-Jabbar’s life growing up in New York, becoming a basketball star, and getting as an activist for social change.

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Ida B. Wells

Ida B. Wells
by Diane Bailey

Explore the life and accomplishments of the activist, educator, writer, journalist, suffragette, who predated the Civil Rights Movement.

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Little Legends: Exceptional Men in Black History

Little Legends: Exceptional Men in Black History
by Vashti Harrison; illustrated by Kwesi Johnson

Enjoy profiles of 35 prominent men in African American history.

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John Lewis

John Lewis
by Jehan Jones-Radgowski

Learn how Congressman Lewis became one of the most influential leaders in the civil rights movement.

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Courage Has No Color

Courage Has No Color
by Tanya Lee Stone

See how America's first black paratroopers fought against attacks perpetrated on the United States during World War II.

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