• Catalog
• My Account

Friends in Our World - Civil Rights Activist Friends (Kids)

Read one of these fiction books featuring characters engaged in situations involving civil rights.

Betty before X by Ilyasah Shabazz

Raised by her aunt until she is six, Betty, who will later marry Malcolm X, joins her mother and stepfamily in 1940s Detroit, where she learns about the civil rights movement.

Let the children march by Monica Clark-Robinson

Under the leadership of Dr. Martin Luther King, children and teenagers march against segregation in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1963.

Lillian's right to vote : a celebration of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by Jonah Winter

As an elderly woman, Lillian recalls that her great-great-grandparents were sold as slaves in front of a courthouse where only rich white men were allowed to vote, then the long fight that led to her right--and determination--to cast her ballot since theVoting Rights Act gave every American the right to vote.

Night on fire by Ronald Kidd

Hoping that the arrival of Freedom Riders in her town will help her community shed its antiquated views, thirteen-year-old Billie is forced to confront her own mindset when things turn tragic.

One crazy summer by Rita Williams-Garcia

In the summer of 1968, after travelling from Brooklyn to Oakland, California, to spend a month with the mother they barely know, eleven-year-old Delphine and her two younger sisters arrive to a cold welcome as they discover that their mother, a dedicatedpoet and printer, is resentful of the intrusion of their visit and wants them to attend a nearby Black Panther summer camp

Stella by starlight by Sharon M Draper

When a burning cross set by the Klan causes panic and fear in 1932 Bumblebee, North Carolina, fifth-grader Stella must face prejudice and find the strength to demand change in her segregated town.

Glory be by Augusta Scattergood

In the summer of 1964 as she is about to turn twelve, Glory's town of Hanging Moss, Mississippi, is beset by racial tension when town leaders close her beloved public pool rather than desegregating it

Ruby Lee & me by Shannon Hitchcock

When a formerly segregated North Carolina town hires its first African-American teacher in 1969, two girls--one black, one white--confront the prejudice that challenges their friendship.

Ron's big mission by Rose Blue

One summer day in 1959, nine-year-old Ron McNair, who dreams of becoming a pilot, walks into the Lake City, South Carolina, public library and insists on checking out some books, despite the rule that only white people can have library cards. Includes facts about McNair, who grew up to be an astronaut

The Watsons go to Birmingham--1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis

The ordinary interactions and everyday routines of the Watsons, an African American family living in Flint, Michigan, are drastically changed after they go to visit Grandma in Alabama in the summer of 1963

Revolution : the sixties trilogy by Deborah Wiles

It's 1964 in Greenwood, Mississippi, and Sunny's town is being invaded by people from up north who are coming to help people register to vote. Her personal life isn't much better, as a new stepmother, brother, and sister are crowding into her life, giving her little room to breathe.--From publisher description

Back of the bus by Aaron Reynolds

From the back of the bus, an African American child watches the arrest of Rosa Parks

No ordinary sound by Denise Lewis Patrick

In 1964 Detroit, nine-year-old Melody pursues her singing dreams unti a tragic event in Birmingham, Alabama, shakes her confidence

Freedom school, yes! by Amy Littlesugar

When their house is attacked because her mother volunteered to take in the young white woman who has come to teach black children at the Freedom School, Jolie is afraid, but she overcomes her fear after learning the value of education.

Hands up! by Breanna J McDaniel

"A young girl lifts her hands up in a series of everyday moments before finally raising her hands in resistance at a protest march"--

The unsung hero of Birdsong, USA by Brenda (Brenda A Woods

Gabriel, twelve, gains new perspective when he becomes friends with Meriwether, a Black World War II hero who has recently returned to the unwelcoming Jim Crow South.

The other half of my heart by Sundee Tucker Frazier

Twin daughters of interracial parents, Keira and Minna have very different skin tones, but it is not until their grandmother enters them in a beauty contest that Minna realizes what life has been like for her more darker-skinned sister

How high the moon by Karyn Parsons

Eleven-year-old Ella seeks information about her father while enjoying a visit with her mother, a jazz singer, in Boston in 1944, then returns to the harsh realities of segregated, small-town South Carolina.

The lions of Little Rock by Kristin (Kristin Sims) Levine

In 1958 Little Rock, Arkansas, painfully shy twelve-year-old Marlee sees her city and family divided over school integration, but her friendship with Liz, a new student, helps her find her voice and fight against racism.

These hands by Margaret H Mason

An African American man tells his grandson about a time when, despite all the wonderful things his hands could do, they could not touch bread at the Wonder Bread factory.

Loretta Little looks back : three voices go tell it! : a monologue novel by Andrea Davis Pinkney

Loretta, Roly, and Aggie B. Little relate their Mississippi family's struggles and triumphs from 1927 to 1968 while struggling as sharecroppers, living under Jim Crow, and fighting for Civil Rights.

Granddaddy's turn : a journey to the ballot box by Michael S Bandy

A young boy witnesses his proud, hardworking grandfather dress in his best suit and go to town so that he can vote for the first time.

Recipient of the National Medal, the nation's highest honor for libraries.