Booklists for Educators

Explore Our Booklists for Youth:

Civil Rights Resources for Teens

The Awakening of Malcolm X
by Ilyasah Shabazz; Tiffany D. Jackson

While in Charlestown Prison in the 1940s, young Malcolm Little reads all the books in the library, joins the debate team and the Nation of Islam, and emerges as Malcolm X. Ages 12-14

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This is My America
by Kim Johnson

17-year-old Tracy uncovers racist community secrets when her track star brother is wrongly accused of murder. Age 12-14.

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Grown
by Tiffany D. Jackson

When Enchanted wakes up with blood on her hands and zero memory of the previous night. Who killed Korey Fields? Ages 15-18.

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Dreamland Burning
by Jennifer Latham

Follow Rowan & William, set in modern times & 1921 Tulsa race riot, to find out how their stories connect to possibly solve a murder. Ages 12-14.

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Light It Up
by Kekla Magoon

Shae Tatum, an unarmed, black girl, is shot by a white police officer, throwing their community into upheaval and making it a target of demonstrators. Ages 15-18.

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Slay
by Brittney Morris.

Keira enjoys developing and playing Slay, a secret, multiplayer online role-playing game celebrating black culture, until the two worlds collide. Ages 15-18.

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All the Right Stuff
by Walter Dean Myers

Paul DuPree struggles with a cook's constant questions and philosophizing are imparting key lessons about empowerment. Ages 12-14.

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Loving vs. Virginia
by Patricia Hruby Powell

Set in the 1950s, the story an African American girl and a Caucasian boy who challenge the Viriginia law forbidding interracial marriages. Ages 12-14.

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Dear Martin
by Nic Stone.

Writing letters to the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Justyce McAllister struggles to face the reality of race relations today and how they are shaping him. Ages 14-18.

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Punching the Air
by Ibi Aanu Zoboi

A young artist and poet whose prospects at a diverse art school are threatened by a racially biased system and a tragic altercation in a gentrifying neighborhood. Ages 15-18.