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Black History Month (Teen)

Read these teen non-fiction and fiction books about Black history in America.

The Black history book

Discover the rich and complex history of the peoples of Africa, and the struggles and triumphs of Black cultures and communities around the world

Freedom Summer for young people : the violent season that made Mississippi burn and made America a democracy by Bruce Watson

"In the summer of 1964, as the Civil Rights movement boiled over, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) sent more than seven hundred college students to Mississippi to help black Americans already battling for democracy, their dignity and the right to vote. The campaign was called "Freedom Summer." But on the evening after volunteers arrived, three young civil rights workers went missing, presumed victims of the Ku Klux Klan. The disappearance focused America's attention on Mississippi. Inthe days and weeks that followed, volunteers and local black activists faced intimidation, threats, and violence from white people who didn't believe African Americans should have the right to vote. As the summer unfolded, volunteers were arrested or beaten. Black churches were burned. More Americans came to Mississippi, including doctors, clergymen, and Martin Luther King. A few frightened volunteers went home, but the rest stayed on in Mississippi, teaching in Freedom Schools, registering voters, and living with black people as equals. Freedom Summer brought out the best and the worst in America. The story told within these pages is of everyday people fighting for freedom, a fight that continues today. 'Freedom Summer for Young People' is a riveting account of a decisive moment in American history, sure to move and inspire readers"--

The history of civil rights movements in America by Maddie Spalding

"There have been many struggles for civil rights in American history. Black Lives Matter is one of the latest movements, but other groups, including women and Native Americans, have also protested for equality and fair treatment. The History of Civil Rights Movements in America examines earlier movements and looks at how they compare to the Black Lives Matter movement of today"--

The rebellious life of Mrs. Rosa Parks. Young Readers Edition by Jeanne Theoharis

"This definitive biography of Rosa Parks accessibly examines her six decades of activism, challenging young readers perceptions of her as an accidental actor in the civil rights movement."--

We are not yet equal : understanding our racial divide by Carol (Carol Elaine) Anderson

From the end of the Civil War to the tumultuous issues in America today, an acclaimed historian reframes the conversation about race, chronicling the powerful forces opposed to black progress in America.

Accused! : the trials of the Scottsboro Boys : lies, prejudice, and the Fourteenth Amendment by Larry Dane Brimner

"In 1931, nine teenagers were arrested as they traveled on a train through Scottsboro, Alabama. The youngest was thirteen, and all had been hoping to find something better at the end of their journey. But they never arrived. Instead, two white women falsely accused them of rape. The effects were catastrophic for the young men, who came to be known as the Scottsboro Boys. Being accused of raping a white woman in the Jim Crow south almost certainly meant death, either by a lynch mob or the electric chair. The Scottsboro boys found themselves facing one prejudiced trial after another, in one of the worst miscarriages of justice in U.S. history. They also faced a racist legal system, all-white juries, and the death penalty. Noted Sibert Medalist Larry Dane Brimner uncovers how the Scottsboro Boys spent years in Alabama's prison system, enduring inhumane conditions and torture. The extensive back matter includes an author's note, bibliography, index, and further resources and source notes."--Amazon.

In the shadow of liberty : the hidden history of slavery, four presidents, and five black lives by Kenneth C Davis

"An examination of American slavery through the true stories of five enslaved people who were considered the property of some of our best-known presidents"--

This book is anti-racist : 20 lessons on how to wake up, take action, and do the work by Tiffany Jewell

Discusses social identities, describes the history of racism and the resistance against it, and offers guidance on becoming an anti-racist voice to move the world toward equality.

Dark sky rising : Reconstruction and the dawn of Jim Crow by Henry Louis Gates

"This is a story about America during and after Reconstruction, one of history's most pivotal and misunderstood chapters. In a stirring account of emancipation, the struggle for citizenship and national reunion, and the advent of racial segregation, the renowned Harvard scholar delivers a book that is illuminating and timely. Real-life accounts drive the narrative, spanning the half century between the Civil War and Birth of a Nation. Here, you will come face-to-face with the people and events of Reconstruction's noble democratic experiment, its tragic undermining, and the drawing of a new "color line" in the long Jim Crow era that followed. In introducing young readers to them, and to the resiliency of the African American people at times of progress andbetrayal, Professor Gates shares a history that remains vitally relevant today."--Provided by publisher.

Follow Chester! : a college football team fights racism and makes history by Gloria Respress-Churchwell

Recounts the college football career of Chester M. Pierce, who played for Harvard University in a time when African Americans did not play on Southern university teams, and details the team's efforts to combat racism during a 1947 game in Virginia.

The burning : Black Wall Street and the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921 by Tim Madigan

Recounts the true story of Black Wall Street and the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, when a white mob murdered hundreds of citizens and decimated the thriving Black community of Greenwood in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

One person, no vote : how not all voters are treated equally by Carol (Carol Elaine) Anderson

"In her New York Times bestseller White Rage, Carol Anderson laid bare an insidious history of policies that have systematically impeded black progress in America, from 1865 to our combustible present. With One Person, No Vote, she chronicles a related history: the rollbacks to African American participation in the vote since the 2013 Supreme Court decision that eviscerated the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Known as the Shelby ruling, this decision effectively allowed districts with a demonstrated history ofracial discrimination to change voting requirements without approval from the Department of Justice. Focusing on the aftermath of Shelby, Anderson follows the astonishing story of government-dictated racial discrimination unfolding before our very eyes as more and more states adopt voter suppression laws. In gripping, enlightening detail she explains how voter suppression works, from photo ID requirements to gerrymandering to poll closures. And with vivid characters, she explores the resistance: the organizing, activism, and court battles to restore the basic right to vote to all Americans as the nation gears up for the 2020 presidential election season"--

Separate no more : the long road to Brown v. Board of Education by Lawrence Goldstone

An evocative chronicle of the battle that led to America's landmark Brown v. Board of Education ruling shares insights into the abuses of the "separate but equal" system and how such courageous activists as Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. Du Bois helpedend legal segregation.

When they call you a terrorist : a story of Black Lives Matter and the power to change the world by Patrisse Khan-Cullors

This is the story of how the movement that started with a hashtag--#BlackLivesMatter--spread across the nation and then across the world and the journey that led one of its co-founders, Patrisse Khan-Cullors, to this moment. Patrisse Khan-Cullors grew up in an over-policed United States where incarceration of Black people runs rampant. Surrounded by police brutality, she gathered the tools and lessons that would lead her on to found one of the most powerful movements in the world. This, her necessary and timely story reminds us that protest in the interest of the most vulnerable comes from love: that love is the push to search for justice for those victimized by the powerful. With journal entries, photos and notes that show the formation of an activist from a very young age, this meaningful, empowering account of survival, strength, and resilience seeks to change the culture that declares innocent Black life expendable

The Freedom Summer murders by Don Mitchell

Coinciding with the fiftieth anniversary of the Freedom Summer murders, traces the events surrounding the KKK lynching of three young civil rights activists who were trying to register African Americans for the vote.

1968 : today's authors explore a year of rebellion, revolution, and change

Fourteen authors share their perspectives on the changes that shaped 1968, including the assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy.

Hidden human computers : the black women of NASA by Sue Bradford Edwards

Tells the story of the African American women who worked as mathematicians at NASA and proved invaluable to the American effort during the space race.

Twelve days in May : Freedom Ride 1961 by Larry Dane Brimner

For twelve history-making days in May 1961, thirteen black and white civil rights activists, also known as the Freedom Riders, traveled by bus into the South to draw attention to the unconstitutional segregation still taking place. Despite their peaceful protests, the Freedom Riders were met with increasing violence the further south they traveled

Spies of Mississippi : the true story of the spy network that tried to destroy the civil rights movement by Rick Bowers

In the 1950s and 1960s, the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission compiled secret files on more than 87,000 private citizens in the most extensive state spying program in U.S. history. Its mission: to save segregation

Freedom walkers : the story of the Montgomery bus boycott by Russell Freedman

Covers the events surrounding and including the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the end of segregation on buses

A time to break silence : the essential works of Martin Luther King, Jr. for students by Martin Luther King

A Time to Break Silence presents Martin Luther King, Jr.'s most important writings and speeches—carefully selected by teachers across a variety of disciplines—in an accessible and user-friendly volume. Now, for the first time, teachers and students will be able to access Dr. King's writings not only electronically but in stand-alone book form.

Loving vs. Virginia : a documentary novel of the landmark civil rights case by Patricia Hruby Powell

Written in blank verse, the story of Mildred Loving, an African American girl, and Richard Loving, a Caucasian boy, who challenge the Virginia law forbidding interracial marriages in the 1950s

Dear Martin by Nic Stone

Writing letters to the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., seventeen-year-old college-bound Justyce McAllister struggles to face the reality of race relations today and how they are shaping him.

The awakening of Malcolm X by Ilyasah Shabazz

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.

The rock and the river by Kekla Magoon

In 1968 Chicago, for thirteen-year-old Sam, it's not easy being the son of known civil rights activist Roland Childs. Especially when his older brother (and best friend), Stick, begins to drift away from him for no apparent reason. And then it happens: Sam finds something that changes everything forever. Sam has always had faith in his father, but when he finds literature about the Black Panthers under Stick's bed, he's not sure who to believe: his father or his best friend

Fire in the streets by Kekla Magoon

In the aftermath of Dr. King's assassination, Chicago fourteen-year-old Maxie, against everyone's wishes, longs to join the Black Panthers, and is soon caught up in the violence of anti-war and civil rights demonstrations.

Angel of Greenwood by Randi Pink

Isaiah Wilson is, on the surface, a town troublemaker, but is hiding that he is an avid reader and secret poet, never leaving home without his journal. Angel Hill is a loner, mostly disregarded by her peers as a goody-goody. Her father is dying, and her family’s financial situation is in turmoil. Though they’ve attended the same schools, Isaiah never noticed Angel as anything but a dorky, Bible toting church girl. Then their English teacher offers them a job on her mobile library, a three-wheel, two-seater bike. Angel can’t turn down the money and Isaiah is soon eager to be in such close quarters with Angel every afternoon. But life changes on May 31, 1921 when a vicious white mob storms the Black community of Greenwood, leaving the town destroyed and thousands of residents displaced. Only then, Isaiah, Angel, and their peers realize who their real enemies are.

Lies we tell ourselves by Robin Talley

In 1959 Virginia, Sarah, a black student who is one of the first to attend a newly integrated school, forces Linda, a white integration opponent's daughter, to confront harsh truths when they work together on a school project.

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