Black Lives Matter
Thought-provoking fiction and nonfiction books to read or listen to, in print and online for teens and adults.
Graphic Novel
Graphic Novel
Amazons, Abolitionists, and Activists : A Graphic History of Women’s Fight for Their Rights
Adult nonfiction graphic novel. Covering the key figures and events that have advanced women's rights from antiquity to the modern era, this fascinating graphic novel-style primer illuminates stories of notable women throughout history and the progressive movements led by women that have shaped history. Age: 14+
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Graphic Novel
March. Book One
Adult nonfiction graphic novel, and e-book. Volume one of John Lewis's autobiographic graphic novel trilogy. The work gives a first-hand account of Lewis' lifelong struggle for civil and human rights. Age: 11+
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Graphic Novel
March. Book Three
Adult nonfiction graphic novel, and e-book. Welcome to the stunning conclusion of the award-winning and best-selling MARCH trilogy. Congressman John Lewis, an American icon and one of the key figures of the civil rights movement, joins co-writer Andrew Aydin and artist Nate Powell to bring the lessons of history to vivid life for a new generation, urgently relevant for today's world. Age: 13+
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Graphic Novel
March. Book Two
Adult nonfiction graphic novel, and e-book. After the success of the Nashville sit-in campaign, John Lewis is more committed than ever to changing the world through nonviolence -- but as he and his fellow Freedom Riders board a bus into the vicious heart of the deep south, they will be tested like never before."--page 3 of cover. Age: 12+
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Graphic Novel
I am Alfonso Jones
YA graphic novel. The ghost of fifteen-year-old Alfonso Jones travels in a New York subway car full of the living and the dead, watching his family and friends fight for justice after he is killed by an off-duty police officer while buying a suit in a Midtown department store. Age: 13+
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Graphic Novel
Long Way Down: The Graphic Novel
YA Graphic novel. There are three rules in the neighborhood: Don't cry ; Don't snitch ; Get revenge. Will takes his dead brother Shawn's gun, and gets in the elevator on the 7th floor. As the elevator stops on each floor, someone connected to Shawn gets on. Someone already dead. Dead by teenage gun violence. And each has something to share with Will. Age: 13+
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Graphic Novel
Monster : A Graphic Novel
YA graphic novel. An adaptation of the book by Walter Dean Myers. While on trial as an accomplice to a murder, sixteen-year-old Steve Harmon records his experiences in prison and in the courtroom in the form of a film script as he tries to come to terms with the course his life has taken. Age: 14+
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Large Print
Large Print
Rebound
Child fiction book and large print, e-book, and audiobook on cd. In the summer of 1988, twelve-year-old Chuck Bell is sent to stay with his grandparents, where he discovers jazz and basketball and learns more about his family's past. Age: 11+
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Large Print
Between the World and Me
Adult nonfiction book, e-book, e-audiobook, and large print. In a profound work that pivots from the biggest questions about American history and ideals to the most intimate concerns of a father for his son, Ta-Nehisi Coates offers a powerful new framework for understanding our nation's history and current crisis. Age: 15+
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Large Print
The Water Dancer
Adult fiction book, e-book, audiobook on cd, e-audiobook, and large print. "Young Hiram Walker was born into bondage--and lost his mother and all memory of her when he was a child--but he is also gifted with a mysterious power. Hiram almost drowns when he crashes a carriage into a river, but is saved from the depths by a force he doesn't understand, a blue light that lifts him up and lands him a mile away. This strange brush with death forces a new urgency on Hiram's private rebellion. Spurred on by his improvised plantation family, Thena, his chosen mother, a woman of few words and many secrets, and Sophia, a young woman fighting her own war even as she and Hiram fall in love, he becomes determined to escape the only home he's ever known."-- Provided by publisher. Age: Adult.
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Large Print
Their Eyes Were Watching God
Adult fiction book, e-book, e-audiobook, and large print. An African-American woman searches for a fulfilling relationship through two loveless marriages and finally finds it in the person of Tea Cake, an itinerant laborer and gambler. Age: 14+
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Large Print
Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race
Adult nonfiction book, e-book, audiobook on cd, e-audiobook, and large print. An account of the previously unheralded but pivotal contributions of NASA's African-American women mathematicians to America's space program; describes how they were segregated from their white counterparts by Jim Crow laws in spite of their groundbreaking successes. Age: 15+
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Large Print
Beloved
Adult fiction book, e-book, e-audiobook, and large print. After Paul D. finds his old slave friend Sethe in Ohio and moves in with her and her daughter Denver, a strange girl comes along by the name of "Beloved." Sethe and Denver take her in and then strange things begin to happen. Set in rural Ohio several years after the Civil War, this profoundly affecting chronicle of slavery and its aftermath is Toni Morrison's greatest novel, a dazzling achievement, and the most spellbinding reading experience of the decade. A brutally powerful, mesmerizing story ... read it and tremble. Age: 15+
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Large Print
The Bluest Eye
Adult fiction book, e-book, audiobook on cd, e-audiobook, and large print. It is the story of eleven-year-old Pecola Breedlove -- a black girl in an America whose love for its blond, blue-eyed children can devastate all others -- who prays for her eyes to turn blue: so that she will be beautiful, so that people will look at her, so that her world will be different. This is the story of the nightmare at the heart of her yearning, and the tragedy of its fulfillment. Age: 14+
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Large Print
Becoming
Adult nonfiction book, large print edition, e-book, audiobook on CD, and e-audiobook. In her memoir Michelle Obama invites readers into her world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped her from her childhood on the South Side of Chicago to her years as an executive balancing the demands of motherhood and work, to her time spent at the world's most famous address. She describes her triumphs and her disappointments, both public and private, telling her full story as she has lived it in her own words and on her own terms. Age: Adult
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Large Print
The Hate U Give
YA fiction book, e-book, audiobook on cd, e-audiobook, and large print. After witnessing her friend's death at the hands of a police officer, Starr Carter's life is complicated when the police and a local drug lord try to intimidate her in an effort to learn what happened the night Kahlil died. Age: 14+
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Large Print
The Nickel Boys
Adult fiction book, e-book, e-audiobook, and large print. As the Civil Rights movement begins to reach the black enclave of Frenchtown in segregated Tallahassee, Elwood Curtis takes the words of Dr. Martin Luther King to heart: He is "as good as anyone." Abandoned by his parents, but kept on the straight and narrow by his grandmother, Elwood is about to enroll in the local black college. But for a black boy in the Jim Crow South in the early 1960s, one innocent mistake is enough to destroy the future. Elwood is sentenced to a juvenile reformatory called The Nickel Academy, whose mission statement says it provides "physical, intellectual and moral training" so the delinquent boys in their charge can become "honorable and honest men." In reality, The Nickel Academy is a grotesque chamber of horrors, where the sadistic staff beats and sexually abuses the students, corrupt officials and locals steal food and supplies, and any boy who resists is likely to disappear "out back." Age: 15+
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Spanish Language
Spanish Language
Becoming
Adult nonfiction book, large print edition, e-book, audiobook on CD, and e-audiobook. In her memoir Michelle Obama invites readers into her world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped her from her childhood on the South Side of Chicago to her years as an executive balancing the demands of motherhood and work, to her time spent at the world's most famous address. She describes her triumphs and her disappointments, both public and private, telling her full story as she has lived it in her own words and on her own terms. Age: Adult
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Fiction
Fiction
He Said, She Said
YA fiction book. “When a popular football 'playa' and ladies man and the smartest girl in school lead a school protest, sparks fly as their social media-aided revolution grows"-- Provided by publisher. Age: 14+
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Fiction
Rebound
Child fiction book and large print, e-book, and audiobook on cd. In the summer of 1988, twelve-year-old Chuck Bell is sent to stay with his grandparents, where he discovers jazz and basketball and learns more about his family's past. Age: 11+
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Fiction
Solo
YA fiction book, e-book, audiobook on cd, e-audiobook. Seventeen-year-old Blade endeavors to resolve painful issues from his past to navigate the challenges of his former rockstar father's addictions, scathing tabloid rumors, and a protected secret that threatens his own identity. Age: 14+
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Fiction
Swing
YA fiction book, e-book, e-audiobook. “Noah and his best friend Walt want to become cool, make the baseball team, and win over Sam, the girl Noah has loved for years. When Noah finds old love letters, Walt hatches a plan to woo Sam. But as Noah's love life and Walt's baseball career begin, the letters alter everything."-- Provided by publisher. Age: 14+
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Fiction
Go Tell It on the Mountain
Adult fiction book, e-book, audiobook on cd, and e-audiobook. Describes a day in the life of several members of a Harlem fundamentalist church. The saga of three generations of people is related through flashbacks. Age: 15+
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Fiction
Saving Savannah
YA fiction book, and e-audiobook. Savannah Riddle feels suffocated by her life as the daughter of an upper class African American family in Washington, D.C., until she meets a working-class girl named Nella who introduces her to the suffragette and socialist movements and to her politically active cousin Lloyd. Age: 13+
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Fiction
Speaking of Summer
Adult fiction book, and e-book. “On a cold December evening, Autumn Spencer's twin sister Summer walks to the roof of their shared Harlem brownstone and is never seen again, the door to the roof is locked, and no footsteps are found. Faced with authorities indifferent to another missing woman, Autumn must pursue answers on her own, all while grieving her mother's recent death. With her friends and neighbors, Autumn pretends to hold up through the crisis. She falls into an affair with Summer's boyfriend to cope with the disappearance of a woman they both loved. But the loss becomes too great, the mystery too inexplicable, and Autumn starts to unravel, all the while becoming obsessed with murdered women and the men who kill them."-- Provided by publisher. Age: Adult.
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Fiction
A Phoenix First Must Burn : Sixteen Stories of Black Girl Magic, Resistance, and Hope
YA fiction book. Black girls, including gender non-conforming individuals, star in this collection of sixteen stories of fantasy, science fiction, and magic. Age: 12+
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Fiction
Felix Ever After
YA fiction book, and audiobook on cd. Felix Love, a transgender seventeen-year-old, attempts to get revenge by catfishing his anonymous bully, but lands in a quasi-love triangle with his former enemy and his best friend. Age: 14+
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Fiction
The Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln
Adult fiction book, e-book, and e-audiobook. In an alternate history novel, Lincoln escapes assassination by John Wilkes Booth only to face impeachment, and Abigail Canner, a young black woman involved in his defense, helps investigate the murder of the president's counsel. Age: Adult.
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Fiction
The Water Dancer
Adult fiction book, e-book, audiobook on cd, e-audiobook, and large print. "Young Hiram Walker was born into bondage--and lost his mother and all memory of her when he was a child--but he is also gifted with a mysterious power. Hiram almost drowns when he crashes a carriage into a river, but is saved from the depths by a force he doesn't understand, a blue light that lifts him up and lands him a mile away. This strange brush with death forces a new urgency on Hiram's private rebellion. Spurred on by his improvised plantation family, Thena, his chosen mother, a woman of few words and many secrets, and Sophia, a young woman fighting her own war even as she and Hiram fall in love, he becomes determined to escape the only home he's ever known."-- Provided by publisher. Age: Adult.
Where to Find:
Fiction
The Revolution of Birdie Randolph
YA fiction book. Sixteen-year-old Dove "Birdie" Randolph's close bond with her parents is threatened by a family secret, and by hiding her relationship with Booker, who has been in juvenile detention. Age: 13+
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Fiction
The Voting Booth
YA fiction book. “An African American teen activist is drawn to a young man she meets accidentally. Marva Sheridan was passionate about politics long before she was able to vote herself. It was not enough to anticipate voting for the first time, she’s also worked to make sure that others did so as well. When she witnesses Duke Crenshaw, another teen, being turned away on Election Day, she springs into action.“ Age: 12+
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Fiction
An Unconditional Freedom
Adult fiction book. Third book in the Loyal League series. An assassination plot that could end the Civil War, and a hidden enemy that could destroy a secret league of unsung heroes ... Daniel Cumberland, born free in Massachusetts, studied law with dreams of helping his people--dreams that died the night he was kidnapped and sold into slavery. Daniel is rescued, but he's a changed man. When he's offered entry into the Loyal League, the covert organization of Black spies who helped free him, he seizes the opportunity for vengeance against the Confederacy and those who support it. Age: Adult.
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Fiction
Tyler Johnson Was Here
YA fiction book. “When Marvin Johnson's twin brother, Tyler, is shot and killed by a police officer, Marvin must fight injustice to learn the true meaning of freedom."-- Provided by publisher. Age: 14+
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Fiction
Untwine: A Novel
YA fiction book. Identical twin teenagers Giselle and Isabelle Boyer have always been inseparable, and expected to stay that way even though their Haitian American parents are separating--but when the entire family is caught in a car crash, everyone's world is shattered forever. Age: 12+
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Fiction
Copper Sun
YA fiction e-book. Two fifteen-year-old girls--one a slave and the other an indentured servant--escape their Carolina plantation and try to make their way to Fort Moses, Florida, a Spanish colony that gives sanctuary to slaves. Age: 13+
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Fiction
Forged by Fire
YA fiction book. Teenage Gerald, who has spent years protecting his fragile half-sister from their abusive father, faces the prospect of one final confrontation before the problem can be solved. Age: 12+
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Fiction
Invisible Man
Adult fiction book, e-book, and e-audiobook. Ellison won the National Book Award for this searing record of a black man's journey through contemporary America. Age: 15+
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Fiction
Pet
YA fiction book, e-book, and e-audiobook. In a near-future society that claims to have gotten rid of all monstrous people, a creature emerges from a painting seventeen-year-old Jam's mother created, a hunter from another world seeking a real-life monster. Age: 12+
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Fiction
I Wanna Be Where You Are
YA fiction book. When Chloe Pierce's mom forbids her to apply for a spot at the dance conservatory of her dreams, she devises a secret plan to drive two hundred miles to the nearest audition. But Chloe hits her first speed bump when her annoying neighbor Eli insists upon hitching a ride, threatening to tell Chloe's mom if she leaves him and his smelly dog, Geezer, behind. So now Chloe's chasing her ballet dreams down the east coast--two unwanted (but kinda cute) passengers in her car, butterflies in her stomach, and a really dope playlist on repeat. Filled with roadside hijinks, heart-stirring romance, and a few broken rules. Age: 13+
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Fiction
House Arrest
YA fiction book, e-book, and e-audiobook. Young Timothy is sentenced to house arrest after impulsively stealing a wallet, and he is forced to keep a journal into which he pours all his thoughts, fears, and frustrations. Age: 13+
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