African American History Booklist
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American History > African American History
> See Also: Civil Rights Booklist
Book recommendations pertaining to African American History.
Pre-1699 | 1700s | 1800s | 1900s | 2000s
Pre-1699
Topics include
| Book Title | Author | PubDate | Reading Age | Time Period | Time Frame | Geographic Area | Country | Topic | Genre | Format |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You | Reynolds, Jason Kendi, Ibram X. | 2020 | UMG YA | Renaissance | 1415-2020 | North America | United States | Racism Civil Rights | NF OV | NF |
| We Are Not Yet Equal: Understanding our Racial Divide | Anderson, Carol Bolden, Tonya | 2019 | UMG YA | Renaissance | 1415-2020 | North America | United States | Racism | NF OV | NF |
| The 1619 Project: Born on the Water | Hannah-Jones, Nikole Watson, Renee | 2021 | LE MG | Enlightenment | 1619-2021 | North America Africa | United States | Geneology Civil Rights Atlantic Slave Trade | NF OV | PB |
1700s
Topics include
| Book Title | Author | PubDate | Reading Age | Time Period | Time Frame | Geographic Area | Country | Topic | Genre | Format |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In the Shadow of Liberty | Davis, Kenneth C. | 2019 | MG UMG | Age of Revolutions | 1705-1850 | North America | United States | Slavery | NF Bio | CB |
| Wake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts | Hall, Rebecca | 2022 | YA A | Age of Revolutions | 1708-2002 | Africa North America | United States | Racism Atlantic Slave Trade Slave Revolts | NF | GN |
| Copper Sun | Draper, Sharon M. | 2006 | YA | Age of Revolutions | 1738 | North America | United States | Colonial America Atlantic Slave Trade | F | N |
| My Name is Phillis Wheatley | Cooper, Afua | 2021 | MG | Age of Revolutions | 1753-1784 | North America | United States | Phillis Wheatley Slavery Poets and Writers | NF Bio | CB |
| A Voice of Her Own: The Story of Phillis Wheatley, Slave Poet | Lasky, Kathryn | 2017 | MG | Age of Revolutions | 1753-1784 | North America | United States | Phillis Wheatley Slavery | NF Bio | ER |
| Never Caught, The Story of Ona Judge | Armstrong Dunbar, Erica | 2019 | UMG | Age of Revolutions | 1773-1802 | North America | United States | Colonial America Slavery Founding Fathers | NF Bio | CB |
| Homegoing | Gyasi, Yaa | 2016 | YA A | Age of Revolutions | 1775-2016 | Africa North America | United States | Racism African American History Atlantic Slave Trade Great Migration Civil Rights | F OV | N |
| Black Heroes of the American Revolution | Davis, Burke | 1992 | UMG MG | Age of Revolutions | 1775-1783 | North America | United States | American Revolution | NF | CB |
| Answering the Cry for Freedom | Woelfle, Gretchen | 2016 | MG UMG | Age of Revolutions | 1775-1783 | North America | United States | American Revolution | NF | CB |
| Speak Out in Thunder Tones | Sterling, Dorothy | 1998 | YA A | Industrial Age | 1787-1865 | North America | United States | Slavery Abolition | NF Bio | B |
1800s
Topics include
| Book Title | Author | PubDate | Reading Age | Time Period | Time Frame | Geographic Area | Country | Topic | Genre | Format |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wolf by the Ears | Rinaldi, Ann | 1991 | UMG YA | Age of Revolutions | 1806-1826 | North America | United States | Thomas Jefferson Slavery | F | CB |
| Jefferson's Sons: A Founding Father’s Secret Children | Brubaker Bradley, Kimberly | 2016 | UMG YA | Age of Revolutions | 1806-1826 | North America | United States | Thomas Jefferson Slavery | F | CB |
| Freewater | Luqman-Dawson, Amina | 2022 | MG | Industrial Age | 1810 | North America | United States | Antebellum South Slavery Maroon Community Escaped Slaves | F | CB |
| Kindred | Butler, Octavia E. | 1979 | YA A | Industrial Age | 1815-1976 | North America | United States | Antebellum South Slavery Racism Time Travel | HF | N |
| This Noble Woman: Myrtilla Miner and Her Fight to Establish a School for African American Girls in the Slaveholding South | Greenburg, Michael M. | 2016 | YA A | Industrial Age | 1815-1864 | North America | United States | Education Myrtilla Miner | NF Bio | B |
| The Life of Frederick Douglass: A Graphic Narrative of a Slave's Journey from Bondage to Freedom | Walker, David F. | 2019 | YA A | Industrial Age | 1817-1895 | North America | United States | Slavery Frederick Douglass | NF Bio | GN |
| Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass: The Story Behind an American Friendship | Freedman, Russell | 2016 | UMG YA | Industrial Age | 1817-1879 | North America | United States | Abraham Lincoln Frederick Douglass | NF Bio | B |
| Juba!: A Novel | Myers, Walter Dean | 2016 | UMG | Industrial Age | 1842-1854 | North America | United States | Dance William Henry Lane | F Bio | CB |
| Seven for a Secret | Faye, Lyndsay | 2014 | YA A | Industrial Age | 1846 | North America | United States | New York City Slavery NYPD | F | B |
| The Underground Abductor | Hale, Nathan | 2014 | MG UMG | Industrial Age | 1849-1860 | North America | United States | Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Escaped Slaves | NF Bio | GN |
| Eliza's Freedom Road: An Underground Railroad Diary | Nolen, Jerdine | 2017 | MG | Industrial Age | 1854 | North America | United States | Underground Railroad Escaped Slaves | F | CB |
| Two Miserable Presidents: Everything Your Schoolbooks Didn't Tell You About the Civil War | Sheinkin, Steve | 2015 | YA UMG | Industrial Age | 1856-1865 | North America | United States | Abraham Lincoln American Civil War | NF | B |
| Day of Tears | Lester, Julius | 2007 | UMG YA | Industrial Age | 1859 | North America | United States | Phillis Wheatley Slavery Atlantic Slave Trade | F | ER |
| Henry's Freedom Box | Levine, Ellen | 2007 | LE | Industrial Age | 1860-1865 | North America | United States | American Civil War Underground Railroad | NF Bio | PB |
| Elijah of Buxton | Curtis, Christopher Paul | 2009 | UMG | Industrial Age | 1860 | North America | United States Canada | Slavery Underground Railroad | F | CB |
| James | Everett, Percival | 2024 | A | Industrial Age | 1861 | North America | United States | Antebellum South Slavery Escaped Slaves | F | N |
| Crossing Ebenezer Creek | Bolden, Tonya | 2018 | YA A | Industrial Age | 1864 | North America | United States | American Civil War Sherman's March | F OV | CB |
| All Different Now: Junteenth, the First Day of Freedom | Johnson, Angela | 2014 | LE | Industrial Age | 1865 | North America | United States | American Civil War Emancipation | NF OV | PB |
| Making Our Way Home: The Great Migration and the Black American Dream | Imani, Blair | 2020 | YA A | Industrial Age | 1865-1979 | North America | United States | Great Migration | NF | CB |
| Abina and the Important Men: A Graphic History | Getz, Trevor R. | 2016 | YA A | Industrial Age | 1876 | Gold Coast | Ghana | Slavery | NF Bio | GN |
| One Big Open Sky | Cline-Ransome, Lesa | 2024 | UMG YA | Industrial Age | 1879 | North America | United States | Westward Expansion | F P | CB |
| Inventing Victoria | Bolden, Tonya | 2020 | YA A | Industrial Age | 1880 | North America | United States | Reconstruction | F OV | CB |
1900s
Topics include
| Book Title | Author | PubDate | Reading Age | Time Period | Time Frame | Geographic Area | Country | Topic | Genre | Format |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| She Takes a Stand: 16 Fearless Activists Who Have Changed the World | Ross, Michael Elsohn | 2015 | YA A | Modern Age | 1900-2015 | North America | United States France | Activism | NF Bio | B |
| The Many Faces of Josephine Baker: Dancer, Singer, Activist, Spy | Caravantes, Peggy | 2015 | YA A | Modern Age | 1906-1975 | North America | United States France | Josephine Baker | NF Bio | B |
| The Color Purple | Walker, Alice | 1982 | YA A | Modern Age | 1909-1949 | North America | United States | African American History Jazz Age LGBTQ+ | F | N |
| The Davenports | Marquis, Krystal | 2023 | YA A | Modern Age | 1910 | North America | United States | African American History Great Migration Civil Rights | F | N |
| The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks: Young Readers' Edition | Theoharris, Jeanne | 2021 | UMG YA | Modern Age | 1913-1997 | North America | United States | Civil Rights Segregation Resistance | NF Bio | CB |
| The Harlem Hellfighters | Myers, Walter Dean | 2006 | UMG YA | Modern Age | 1914-1919 | North America Europe | Various | WWI | NF | B |
| Lone Women | LaValle, Victor | 2023 | A | Modern Age | 1915 | North America | United States | Horror Westward Expansion | HF | N |
| The Harlem Renaissance: An Interactive History Adventure | Lassieur, Allison | 2013 | MG | Modern Age | 1918-1935 | North America | United States | Harlem Renaissance | NF | CB |
| Saving Savannah | Bolden, Tonya | 2020 | YA A | Modern Age | 1919 | North America | United States | African American History | F | N |
| A Book, Too, Can Be a Star | Jones Voiklis, Charlotte | 2022 | LE MG | Modern Age | 1920-1962 | North America | United States | Madeleine L'Engle Poets and Writers | NF Bio | PB |
| Angel of Greenwood | Pink, Randi | 2021 | YA A | Modern Age | 1921 | North America | United States | Tulsa Race Massacre Civil Rights | F | N |
| Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre | Boston Weatherford, Carole | 2021 | MG | Modern Age | 1921 | North America | United States | Tulsa Race Massacre Civil Rights | NF | PB |
| Marooned in the Arctic: The True Story of Ada Blackjack, the "Female Robinson Crusoe" | Caravantes, Peggy | 2016 | YA A | Modern Age | 1921-1983 | North America | United States | Ada Blackjack Explorers | NF Bio | B |
| The Burning (Young Readers Edition) | Beard, Hilary Madigan, Tim | 2021 | UMG YA | Modern Age | 1921 | North America | United States | Tulsa Race Massacre Civil Rights | NF | B |
| Ophie's Ghosts | Ireland, Justina | 2021 | MG UMG | Modern Age | 1922 | North America | United States | Jim Crow Ghosts Great Migration | F | CB |
| Ring Shout | Clark, P. Djeli | 2020 | A | Modern Age | 1922 | North America | United States | Racism Jim Crow | HF | B |
| Who Was Martin Luther King, Jr.? | Levinson, Cynthia | 2008 | MG | Modern Age | 1929-1968 | North America | United States | Civil Rights Martin Luther King, Jr. | NF | CB |
| Martin's Big Words | Rappaport, Doreen | 2007 | LE MG | Modern Age | 1929-1968 | North America | United States | Civil Rights Martin Luther King, Jr. | NF | PB |
| Stella by Starlight | Draper, Sharon M. | 2015 | UMG | Modern Age | 1932 | North America | United States | Great Depression Segregation | F | CB |
| Betty Before X | Shabazz, Ilyasah | 2018 | UMG | Modern Age | 1934-1948 | North America | United States | Civil Rights | NF Bio | CB |
| Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice | Hoose, Phillip | 2010 | UMG YA | Modern Age | 1939-2005 | North America | United States | Civil Rights Segregation Resistance | NF Bio | CB |
| Double Victory: How African American Women Broke Race and Gender Barriers to Help Win World War II | Mullenbach, Cheryl | 2013 | YA A | Modern Age | 1939-1945 | North America | United States | WWII | NF Bio | B |
| Code Name Pauline: Memoirs of a World War II Special Agent | Cornioley, Pearl Witherington | 2015 | YA A | Modern Age | 1939-1945 | Europe | France Great Britain | WWII | NF Bio | B |
| For Lamb | Cline-Ransome, Lesa | 2023 | YA A | Modern Age | 1944 | North America | United States | Segregation lynching Great Migration Jim Crow | F | N |
| The Port Chicago 50 | Sheinkin, Steve | 2017 | YA | Modern Age | 1944 | North America | United States | WWII Civil Rights | NF | N |
| Mare's War | Davis, Tanita S. | 2009 | YA | Modern Age | 1944 | North America | United States | WWII Women's Army Corps | NF | N |
| Finding Langston | Cline-Ransome, Lesa | 2018 | MG | Modern Age | 1946 | North America | United States | Great Migration | F | CB |
| The Reformatory | Due, Tananarive | 2023 | YA A | Modern Age | 1950 | North America | United States | Segregation Civil Rights Great Migration Jim Crow | HF | N |
| Freedom's Children | Levine, Ellen S. | 2000 | UMG YA | Modern Age | 1954-1968 | North America | United States | Civil Rights Segregation Resistance | NF Bio | CB |
| And We Rise | Martin, Erica | 2022 | YA A | Modern Age | 1954-1968 | North America | United States | Civil Rights | NF P | B |
| Midnight Without a Moon | Williams Jackson, Linda | 2017 | UMG | Modern Age | 1955 | North America | United States | Civil Rights | F | CB |
| Through My Eyes | Bridges, Ruby | 1999 | MG UMG | Modern Age | 1960-1963 | North America | United States | Civil Rights Segregation Ruby Bridges | NF Bio | PB |
| We've Got a Job: The 1963 Birmingham Children's March | Levinson, Cynthia | 2015 | MG UMG | Modern Age | 1963 | North America | United States | Civil Rights | NF | CB |
| I Have a Dream | Nelson, Kadir | 2012 | LE MG | Modern Age | 1963 | North America | United States | Civil Rights Martin Luther King, Jr. | NF | PB |
| Root Magic | Royce, Eden | 2021 | MG UMG | Modern Age | 1963 | North America | United States | Civil Rights | F M | CB |
| The Lucky Ones | Williams Jackson, Linda | 2022 | MG UMG | Modern Age | 1967 | North America | United States | Civil Rights poverty | F | CB |
| One Crazy Summer | Williams-Garcia, Rita | 2010 | MG UMG | Modern Age | 1968 | North America | United States | Civil Rights | F | CB |
| The Rock and the River | Magoon, Kekla | 2009 | UMG YA | Modern Age | 1968 | North America | United States | Civil Rights Black Panthers | F OV | N |
| Take My Hand | Perkins-Valdez, Dolen | 2022 | A | Modern Age | 1973-2016 | North America | United States | Civil Rights Reproductive Rights | F | N |
| Riot Baby | Onyebuchi, Tochi | 2020 | A | Modern Age | 1992 | North America | United States | LA Riots | HF | N |
| Troublemaker | Cho, John | 2022 | UMG | Modern Age | 1992 | North America | United States | LA Riots prejudice and racism | F | CB |
| Concrete Rose | Thomas, Angie | 2021 | YA A | Modern Age | 1998-1999 | North America | United States | Modern Age | F | N |
2000s
Topics include
| Book Title | Author | PubDate | Reading Age | Time Period | Time Frame | Geographic Area | Country | Topic | Genre | Format |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Hate U Give | Thomas, Angie | 2017 | YA A | Modern Age | 2017 | North America | United States | Black Lives Matter | F | N |
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| Reading Age | Genre | Format |
| LE = lower elementary MG = middle grade (8-12 yrs.) UMG = upper-middle grade (11-14 yrs.) YA = young adult (14+) A = adult (18+) |
NF - non fiction F = fiction Bio = biography HF = historical fantasy AH = alternate history OV - own voices M = mythology S = spine book |
PB = picture book GN = graphic novel ER = early reader CB = chapter book B = book (NF) N = novel M = memoir |