Children’s Literature by Black Authors
A selection of books by Black authors and Illustrators for children of all ages
eBooks
eBooks
Like Vanessa
Child fiction book, e-book, and e-audiobook. It is 1983 and Vanessa Martin, a thirteen-year-old African American girl in Newark's public housing, dreams of following in the footsteps of the first black Miss America, Vanessa Williams; but the odds are against her until a new teacher at school organizes a beauty pageant and encourages Vanessa to enter. Age: 10+
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Hair Love : a Celebration of Daddies and Daughters Everywhere
Child picture book, e-book, and e-audiobook. A little girl's daddy steps in to help her arrange her curly, coiling, wild hair into styles that allow her to be her natural, beautiful self. Age: 3-8.
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Let the Children March
Child picture book, e-book, and e-video. Under the leadership of Dr. Martin Luther King, children and teenagers march against segregation in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1963. Age: 8-10.
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Before She Was Harriet : The Story of Harriet Tubman
Child nonfiction book, e-book, print with audio book, audiobook on cd, e-audiobook, and e-video. A lush and lyrical biography of Harriet Tubman, written in verse. An evocative poem and opulent watercolors come together to honor a woman of humble origins whose courage and compassion make her larger than life. Age: 4-8.
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Finding Langston
Child fiction book, e-book and audiobook. Discovering a book of Langston Hughes' poetry in the library helps Langston cope with the loss of his mother, relocating from Alabama to Chicago as part of the Great Migration, and being bullied. Age: 8-11.
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Firebird : Ballerina Misty Copeland Shows a Young Girl How to Dance Like the Firebird
Child picture book, and e-book. American Ballet Theater soloist Misty Copeland encourages a young ballet student, with brown skin like her own, by telling her that she, too, had to learn basic steps and how to be graceful when she was starting out, and that some day, with practice and dedication, the little girl will become a firebird, too. Includes author's note about dancers who led her to find her voice. Age: 5-10.
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New Kid
Child graphic novel, e-book, and e-audiobook. Seventh grader Jordan Banks loves nothing more than drawing cartoons about his life. But instead of sending him to the art school of his dreams, his parents enroll him in a prestigious private school known for its academics, where Jordan is one of the few kids of color in his entire grade. As he makes the daily trip from his Washington Heights apartment to the upscale Riverdale Academy Day School, Jordan soon finds himself torn between two worlds--and not really fitting into either one. Can Jordan learn to navigate his new school culture while keeping his neighborhood friends and staying true to himself? Age: 9-13.
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Bud, not Buddy
Child fiction book, e-book, audiobook on cd, and e-audiobook. Ten-year-old Bud, a motherless boy living in Flint, Michigan, during the Great Depression, escapes a bad foster home and sets out in search of the man he believes to be his father--the renowned bandleader, H.E. Calloway of Grand Rapids. Age: 10 - 13.
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Elijah of Buxton
Child fiction book, e-book, audiobook on CD, e-audiobook, and large print. In 1859, eleven-year-old Elijah Freeman, the first free-born child in Buxton, Canada, which is a haven for slaves fleeing the American south, uses his wits and skills to try to bring to justice the lying preacher who has stolen money that was to be used to buy a family's freedom. Age: 9-13.
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The Journey of Little Charlie
Child fiction book, e-book, and e-audiobook. When his poor sharecropper father is killed in an accident and leaves the family in debt, twelve-year-old Little Charlie agrees to accompany fearsome plantation overseer Cap'n Buck north in pursuit of people who have stolen from him; Cap'n Buck tells Little Charlie that his father's debt will be cleared when the fugitives are captured, which seems like a good deal until Little Charlie comes face-to-face with the people he is chasing. Age: 9-12.
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The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963
Child fiction book, e-book, audiobook on cd, and e-audiobook. 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. Age: 10-13.
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Last Stop on Market Street
Child picture book, e-book, DVD, e-video, and audiobook on CD. Also available in Spanish. Illustrated by Christian Robinson. A young boy rides the bus across town with his grandmother and learns to appreciate the beauty in everyday things. Age: 3-6.
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Blended
Child fiction book, e-book, and e-audiobook. Piano-prodigy Isabella, eleven, whose black father and white mother struggle to share custody, never feels whole, especially as racial tensions affect her school, her parents both become engaged, and she and her stepbrother are stopped by police. Age: 9-12.
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Stella by Starlight
Child fiction book, e-book, audiobook on cd, and e-audiobook. 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. Age: 9-12.
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Dragons in a Bag
Child fiction book, e-book, and e-audiobook. First book in the Dragons in a Bag series. In Brooklyn, nine-year-old Jax joins Ma, a curmudgeonly witch who lives in his building, on a quest to deliver three baby dragons to a magical world, and along the way discovers his true calling. Age: 7-10.
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Not Quite Snow White
Tameika is excited to audition for the school's Snow White musical, but when she overhears her classmates say she is too tall, chubby, and brown to play Snow White, she questions whether she is right for the part.
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Make Way for Dyamonde Daniel
Child fiction book, audiobook on CD, and e-book. Spunky third-grader Dyamonde Daniel misses her old neighborhood, but when she befriends a boy named Free, another new student at school, she finally starts to feel at home. Age: 7-9.
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The People Could Fly : The Picture Book
Child nonfiction picturebook, and e-book. In this retelling of a folktale, a group of slaves, unable to bear their sadness and starvation any longer, calls upon the African magic that allows them to fly away. Age: 8-12.
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The Parker Inheritance
Child fiction book, e-book, and e-audiobook. Twelve-year-old Candice Miller is spending the summer in Lambert, South Carolina, in the old house that belonged to her grandmother, who died after being dismissed as city manager for having the city tennis courts dug up looking for buried treasure--but when she finds the letter that sent her grandmother on the treasure hunt, she finds herself caught up in the mystery and, with the help of her new friend and fellow book-worm, Brandon, she sets out to find the inheritance, exonerate her grandmother, and expose an injustice once committed against an African American family in Lambert. Age: 8-12.
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Antiracist Baby
Child picture book, e-book, and e-audiobook. Illustrations and rhyming text present nine steps Antiracist Baby can take to improve equity, such as opening our eyes to all skin colors and celebrating all our differences. Age: Birth - 4.
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Hidden Figures : The Untold True Story of Four African-American Women Who Helped Launch Our Nation into Space
Child nonfiction book, e-book, audiobook on cd, e-audiobook. Young readers' edition. Hidden Figures recalls America's greatest adventure and NASA's groundbreaking successes through the experiences of five spunky, courageous, intelligent, determined, and patriotic women: Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, Christine Darden, and Gloria Champine. Moving from World War II through NASA's golden age, touching on the civil rights era, the Space Race, the Cold War, and the women's rights movement, Hidden Figures interweaves a history of scientific achievement and technological innovation with the intimate stories of five women whose work forever changed the world -- and whose lives show how out of one of America's most painful histories came one of its proudest moments. Age: 8-12.
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The Youngest Marcher : The Story of Audrey Faye Hendricks, a Young Civil Rights Activist
Child nonfiction, and e-book. Presents the life of nine-year-old Audrey Faye Hendricks who became the youngest known child to be arrested for picketing against Birmingham segregation practices in 1963. Age: 5-10.
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Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom: My Story of the 1965 Selma Voting Rights March
Child nonfiction book, e-book, and e-audiobook. A 50th-anniversary tribute shares the story of the youngest person to complete the momentous Selma to Montgomery March, describing her frequent imprisonments for her participation in nonviolent demonstrations and how she felt about her involvement in historic Civil Rights events. Age: 12-17.
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The Season of Styx Malone
Child fiction book, e-book, and e-audiobook. Caleb Franklin and his younger brother, Bobby Gene, spend an extraordinary summer with their new, older neighbor, Styx Malone, a foster boy from the city. Age: 9-12.
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Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky
Child fiction book, e-book, and e-audiobook. Seventh-grader Tristan Strong feels anything but strong ever since he failed to save his best friend when they were in a bus accident together. All he has left of Eddie is the journal his friend wrote stories in. Tristan is dreading the month he's going to spend on his grandparents' farm. But on his first night there, a sticky creature shows up and steals Eddie's notebook. Tristan chases after it, and a tug-of-war ensues between them underneath a Bottle Tree. In a last attempt to get it away from the creature, Tristan punches the tree, accidentally ripping open a chasm into the MidPass, a volatile place with a burning sea, haunted bone ships, and iron monsters. Tristan finds himself in the middle of a battle that has left black American folk heroes John Henry and Brer Rabbit exhausted. In order to get back home, Tristan and these new allies will need to entice the god Anansi, the Weaver, to come out of hiding. Can Tristan save this world before he loses more of the things he loves? Age: 8-12.
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Hands Up!
Child picture book, and e-book. “A young girl lifts her hands up in a series of everyday moments before finally raising her hands in resistance at a protest march."-- Provided by publisher. Age: 3-8.
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Miami Jackson Gets It Straight
Child e-book. With only five more days of school remaining before summer vacation, nine-year-old Miami still faces several hurdles, such as how to get along with Destinee Tate, his nemesis. Age: 6-9.
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What Is Given from the Heart
Child picture book, and e-book. Despite their own poverty since Daddy died, Mama tells nine-year-old James Otis they need to help Sarah, whose family lost everything in a fire. Age: 5-8.
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Thank You, Omu!
Child picture book, print with audio book, e-book, e-audio book, e-video. Book in English or Spanish. Alternate title: Gracias, Omu! When the aroma of Omu's homemade stew fills the air, her neighbors arrive, one by one, for a taste until all is gone except for her generous spirit. Age: 3-7.
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The Proudest Blue : A Story of Hijab and Family
Child picture book, and e-book. Faizah relates how she feels on the first day her sister, sixth-grader Asiya, wears a hijab to school. Age: 4-8.
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Bad Boy : A Memoir
E-book, and e-audiobook. A memoir of the African American who grew up listening to stories and who carries on the storytelling tradition in his numerous and award-winning books. Age: 12+
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Blue Sky White Stars
Child picture book, e-book, and audiobook on CD. Wonderfully spare, deceptively simple verses pair with richly evocative paintings to celebrate the iconic imagery of our nation, beginning with the American flag. Each spread, sumptuously illustrated by award-winning artist Kadir Nelson, depicts a stirring tableau, from the view of the Statue of Library at Ellis Island to civil rights marchers shoulder to shoulder, to a spacecraft at Cape Canaveral blasting off. Age: 4-7.
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Ghetto Cowboy
Child fiction e-book, and audiobook on CD. Twelve-year-old Cole's behavior causes his mother to drive him from Detroit to Philadelphia to live with a father he has never known, but who soon has Cole involved with a group of African-American "cowboys" who rescue horses and use them to steer youths away from drugs and gangs. Age: 10+
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Sulwe
Child picture book, and e-book. Sulwe has skin the color of midnight. She is darker than everyone in her family. She is darker than anyone in her school. Sulwe just wants to be beautiful and bright, like her mother and sister. Then a magical journey in the night sky opens her eyes and changes everything. Age: 3-8.
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Ikenga
Child fiction book, and e-book. In southeastern Nigeria, twelve-year-old Mnamdi is determined to avenge his police chief father, who was murdered while tryng to rid the town of criminals, but Nnamdi feels powerless until he receives a magical object which gives him superpowers. Grade: 4+
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Hey Black Child
E-book. “A lyrical, empowering poem that celebrates black children and seeks to inspire all young ones to dream big and achieve their goals."-- Provided by publisher. Age: 4-7.
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A Good Kind of Trouble
Child fiction book, e-book, and e-audiobook. After attending a powerful protest, Shayla starts wearing an armband to school to support the Black Lives Matter movement, but when the school gives her an ultimatum, she is forced to choose between her education and her identity. Age: 8-12.
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The Bell Rang
Child picture book, and e-book. Every single morning, the overseer of the plantation rings the bell. Daddy gathers wood. Mama cooks. Ben and the other slaves go out to work. Each day is the same. Full of grueling work and sweltering heat. Every day, except one, when the bell rings and Ben is nowhere to be found. Because Ben ran. Yet, despite their fear and sadness, his family remains hopeful that maybe, just maybe, he made it North. That he is free. An ode to hope and a powerful tribute to the courage of those who ran for freedom, The Bell Rang is a stunning reminder that our past can never be forgotten. Age: 4-8.
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Ghost
Child fiction book, e-book, and e-audiobook. First book in the Track series. “Ghost, a naturally talented runner and troublemaker, is recruited for an elite middle school track team. He must stay on track, literally and figuratively, to reach his full potential."-- Provided by publisher. Age: 10-13.
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Look Both Ways : A Tale Told in Ten Blocks
Child fiction book, e-book, and e-audiobook. “A collection of ten short stories that all take place in the same day about kids walking home from school."-- Provided by publisher. Age: 10-14.
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