Black History Month
Reading List
FALL RIVER PUBLIC LIBRARY
A Selection of Titles for Children, Teens, and Adults
Picture Books
Before She Was Harriet: The Story of Harriet Tubman by Lesa Cline-Ransome. Holiday House, 2018
Black Is a Rainbow Color by Angela Joy. Roaring Brook Press, 2020
A Girl Like Me by Angela Johnson. Millbrook Press, 2004
Grasshopper and the Ant by Jerry Pinkney. Little Brown and Company, 2015
The history of racism in America by Duchess Harris and Tammy Gagne. ABDO Publishing Company, 2021
Jackie’s Bat by Marybeth Lorbiecki. Simon & Schuster for Young Readers, 2006
The killing of George Floyd by Duchess Harris and Alexis Burling. ABDO Publishing Company, 2021
King & Kayla and the Case of the Missing Dog Treats by Dori Hillestad Butler. Peachtree Publishers, 2017
King and Kayla and the Case of the Missing Code by Dori Hillestad Butler. Peachtree Publishers, 2017
Me & Mamma by Cozbi Cabrera. Simon & Schuster for Young Readers, 2020
My Hair Is Magic! by M. L. Marroquin. Page Street Kids, 2020
Octopus Stew by Eric Velasquez. Holiday House, 2019
Peter’s Chair by Ezra Jack Keats. Harper & Row, 1967
The Little Mermaid by Jerry Pinkney. Little Brown and Company, 2020
Tar Beach by Faith Ringgold. Crown Publishing Group, 1991
The NAACP by Andrew Santella. The Child's World, 2022
The Talking Eggs: A Folktale from the American South by Robert D. SanSouci. Dial Books for Young Readers, 1989
Whistle For Willie by Ezra Jack Keats. Viking Press, 1964
Yo! Yes? By Chris Raschka. Orchard Books, 1993
Fiction
Monster by Walter Dean Myers. HarperCollins, 1989
The Dark Thirty: Southern Tales of the Supernatural by Patricia C. McKissack. Knopf, 2001
The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis. Random House, 1995
Crossover by Kwame Alexander. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014
Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks by Jason Reynolds. Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books, 2019
True Definition of Neva Beane by Christine Kendall. Scholastic Press, 2020
Root Magic by Eden Royce. HarperCollins Children's Books, 2021
Non-Fiction Titles
Black Lives Matter: From Hashtag to the Streets by Dr. Artika R. Tyner. Lerner Publications, 2021
Brown Girl Dreaming by Jaqueline Woodson. Puffin Books, 2016
Explore the Cosmos Like Neil DeGrasse Tyson: A Space Science Journey by CAP Saucier. Prometheus Books, 2015
Frederick Douglass: The Lion Who Wrote History by Walter Dean Myers. HarperCollins Children’s Books, 2017
Freedom Walkers: The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott by Russell Freedman. Holiday House, 2006
A Girl Named Rosa by Denise Lewis Patrick. American Girl, 2018
Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly. HarperCollins, 2018
Lift As You Climb: The Story of Ella Baker by Patricia Hruby Powell. Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2020
March On!: The Day My Brother Martin Changed the World by Christine King Farris, Scholastic Press, 2008
Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by Doreen Rapport. Scholastic Inc. 2002
Minty: A story of Young Harriet Tubman by Alan Schroeder. Dial Books for Young Readers, 1996
A Place to Land: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Speech That Inspired a Nation
by Barry Wittestein. Neal Porter Books, 2019
She Was the First: The Trailblazing Life of Shirley Chisholm by Katheryn Russell-Brown. Lee & Low Books, 2020
Starstruck: The Cosmic Journey of Neil DeGrasse Tyson by Kathleen Krull and Paul Brewer, Crown Books for Young Readers, 2018
Thurgood by Jonah Winter. Schwartz & Wade Books, 2019
Timelines from Black History Month forward by Mireille Harper. Dorling Kindersley, 2020
Who Was Booker T. Washington? by James Buckley Jr. Grosset & Dunlap, 2018
Who Was Coretta Scott King? By Gail Herman. Grosset & Dunlap, 2017
Who Was Jackie Robinson? by Gail Herman. Grosset & Dunlap, 2010
Young Adult Novels & Graphic Novels
The Beautiful Struggle : a memoir : adapted for young adults by Ta-Nehisi Coates. Delacorte Press, 2021
The Black Friend : on being a better white person by Frederick Joseph. Candlewick Press, 2020
The Black Kids by Christina Hammonds Reed. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2020
The Black Mage by Daniel Barnes & D.J. Kirkland. Oni Press, 2019.
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. Balzer + Bray, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, 2017
Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas. Balzer + Bray, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, 2021
Dear Justyce by Nic Stone. Crown Books for Young Readers, 2020.
Grown by Tiffany D. Jackson. Katherine Tegen Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 2020.
For Everyone by Jason Reynolds. Crown Books for Young Readers, 2020.
Miles Morales by Saladin Ahmed, Javier Garrón, David Curiel & Cory Petit. Marvel Comics, 2019-
Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi & Yusef Salaam. Balzer & Bray, 2020
Stamped from the Beginning : Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds; adapted from Stamped from the beginning by and with an introduction from Ibram X. Kendi. Nation Books, 2016.
When they Call You a Terrorist : Adapted for Young Readers by Patrisse Khan-Cullors and Asha Bandele. St. Martin's Press, 2018
Adult Non-Fiction
The 1619 project : a new origin story created by Nikole Hannah-Jones and The New York Times Magazine. One World, 2021
An African American and Latinx history of the United States by Paul Ortiz. Beacon Press, 2018
And Still I Rise : Black America since MLK : an illustrated chronology by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Kevin M. Burke. Ecco, 2015
A Peculiar Indifference : the neglected toll of violence on black America by Elliott Currie. Metropolitan Books, Henry Holt and Company, 2020
A Promised Land by Barack Obama. Crown Publishers, 2020
Barracoon : the story of the last "black cargo" by Zora Neale Hurston ; edited and with an introduction by Deborah G. Plant. Amistad, 2018
Becoming by Michelle Obama. Crown, 2018
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates. One World/Spiegel & Grau, 2015
Black Boy: American Hunger by Richard Wright, HarperPerennial/Modern Classics, 2006
Black and White Airmen : their true history by John Fleischman. Houghton Mifflin, 2007
Black in Selma : the uncommon life of J. L. Chestnut, Jr. by J. L. Chestnut, Jr., Julia Cass. Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1990.
Black Klansman : race, hate, and the undercover investigation of a lifetime by Ron Stallworth. Flatiron Books, 2018
Blood at the Root : a racial cleansing in America by Patrick Phillips. W.W. Norton & Company, 2016
Colorization : one hundred years of Black films in a white world by Wil Haygood. Alfred A. Knopf, 2021
The Devil You Know : a Black Power Manifesto
by Charles M. Blow. HarperCollinsPublishers, 2021
Driving while Black : African American travel and the road to civil rights by Gretchen Sorin. Liveright Publishing Corporation, a division of W.W. Norton & Company, 2020
Four Hundred Souls : a community history of African America, 1619-2019 edited by Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain. One World, 2021
Ida B. the Queen : the extraordinary life and legacy of Ida B. Wells by Michelle Duster. Atria/One Signal Publishers, 2021
Invisible : the forgotten story of the black woman lawyer who took down America's most powerful mobster by Stephen L. Carter. Henry Holt and Company, 2018
Just Mercy : A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson. Spiegel & Grau, 2019
Legacy : Treasures of Black History edited by Thomas C. Battle and Donna M. Wells ; preface by John Hope Franklin. National Geographic, 2006
Letters to my white male friends by Dax-Devlon Ross. St. Martin's Press, 2021
Me and White Supremacy : combat racism, change the world, and become a good ancestor by Layla F. Saad. Sourcebooks, 2020
Midnight Rising : John Brown and the Raid That Sparked the Civil War by Tony Horwitz. Henry Holt and Co., 2011
Miss me with that : hot takes, helpful tidbits, and a few hard truths by Rachel Lindsay. Ballantine Group, 2022
Nice racism : how progressive white people perpetuate racial harm by Robin DiAngelo. Becon Press, 2021
Say I'm Dead : a family memoir of race, secrets, and love by E. Dolores Johnson. Lawrence Hill Books, 2020
Say it loud! : on race, law, history, and culture by Randall Kennedy. Pantheon Books, 2021
So You Want to Talk about Race by Ijeoma Oluo. Seal Press, 2019
South to America : a journey below the Mason-Dixon to understand the soul of a nation by Imani Perry. ECCO, An Imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, 2022
Stamped from the Beginning : the definitive history of racist ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi. Nation Books, 2016
The sum of us : what racism costs everyone and how we can prosper together by Heather McGhee. One World, 2021
Tears We Cannot Stop : a sermon to white America by Michael Eric Dyson. St. Martin's Press, 2017
The Butler : a witness to history by Wil Haygood. 37 Ink/Atria Books, 2013
The Color of Law : a forgotten history of how our government segregated America by Richard Rothstein. Liveright Publishing Corporation, a division of W.W. Norton & Company, 2018
The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin. Vintage International, 1993
The Fire This Time : a new generation speaks about race edited by Jesmyn Ward. Scribner, 2016
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. Broadway Paperbacks, 2011
The New Jim Crow : mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness by Michelle Alexander. New Press, 2020
This is the fire : what I say to my friends about racism by Don Lemon. Little, Brown and Company, 2021
Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup ; introduction by Ira Berlin ; general editor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. ; foreword by Steve McQueen. Penguin Books, 2013
Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man by Emmanuel Acho. Flatiron Books, 2020
We Were Eight Years in Power : an American tragedy by Ta-Nehisi Coates. One World, 2017
What Set Me Free : a true story of wrongful conviction, a dream deferred, and a man redeemed by Brian Banks and Mark Dragostino. Atria Books, 2019
When They Call You a Terrorist : a Black Lives Matter memoir by Patrisse Khan-Cullors and Asha Bandele. St. Martin's Press, 2018
White Fragility : why it's so hard for white people to talk about racism by Robin DiAngelo. Beacon Press, 2018
White Rage : the unspoken truth of our racial divide by Carol Anderson. Bloomsbury, 2016
You'll Never Believe what Happened to Lacey : crazy stories about racism by Amber Ruffin and Lacey Lamar. Grand Central Publishing, 2021
Selected Adult Fiction
Charcoal Joe by Walter Mosley. Doubleday, an imprint of Penguin Random House, 2016
The Color Purple by Alice Walker. Harcourt, 2019
Deacon King Kong by James McBride. Riverhead Books, 2020
The Good Lord Bird by James McBride. Riverhead Books, 2013
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. Vintage, 1995
Luster by Raven Leilani. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2020
Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson. Penguin Group USA, 2019
The Rib King by Ladee Hubbard. Amistad, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, 2021
Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison. Knopf, 1995
Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid. G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2019
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead. Anchor Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, 2018
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett. Riverhead Books, 2020
What's Mine and Yours by Naima Coster. Boston Grand Central Publishing, 2021
Selected DVDs and Blu-Rays
12 Years a Slave [videorecording]. Regency Enterprises and River Road Entertainment presentation. 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, 2014
Binge Box : Black Experiences Volume 1 : Just Mercy, The Hate U Give, Loving, The Great Debaters, The Color Purple [videorecording]. Midwest Tape 2020
Binge Box : Black Experiences Volume 2 : BlacKkKlansman, Dear White People, If Beale Street Could Talk, Fruitvale Station, Do the Right Thing, Get Out [videorecording]. Midwest Tape 2020
Binge Box : Black History : The Birth of a Nation, 12 Years a Slave, Race, Red Tails, 42, Selma [videorecording]. Midwest Tape 2020
Blindspotting [videorecording] Summit Pictures, 2018
Harriet [videorecording] Universal, 2020
Just Mercy [videorecording] Warner Bros., 2020
Selma [videorecording] Paramount, 2015
The Butler [videorecording] Anchor Bay Entertainment, 2014
The Hate U Give [videorecording] Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, 2019
Downloadable Resources
A Promised Land by Barack Obama. Available as an eBook and an audiobook on Overdrive.
American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson. Available as an eBook and an audiobook on Overdrive.
The Black Presidency [electronic resource] : Barack Obama and the politics of race in America by Michael Eric Dyson. Audiobook, available through OneClick Digital Media Manager.
Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin. Available as an eBook through Overdrive.
How We Fight for Our Lives by Saeed Jones. Available as an audiobook through Overdrive.
The New Jim Crow by Alexander, Michelle. Available through Hoopla as an eBook or Audiobook, or on Overdrive as an Audiobook.
Three African-American Classics: Up from Slavery, The Souls of Black Folk and Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Available as an eBook through Overdrive.
The Tradition by Jericho Brown. Available as an audiobook or eBook through Hoopla.