The very best books celebrating African American culture and values, by African American authors and/or illustrators, from 1970 to the present.

Book cover of Nigeria Jones
2024

Nigeria Jones

by Zoboi, Ibi Aanu
Call Number: YA
Book cover for Freewater
2023

Freewater

by Luqman-Dawson, Amina
Call Number: x
Book cover for Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre
2022

Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre

by Weatherford, Carole Boston
Call Number: x 323.1 W362
Book cover for Before the Ever After
2021

Before the Ever After

by Woodson, Jacqueline
Call Number: x
Book cover for New Kid
2020

New Kid

by Craft, Jerry
Call Number: 740.9999 C885

Middle schooler Jordan Banks had hoped to attend art school, but mom sends him to a private prep school where he is one of a handful of black kids. No one at Riverdale Academy Day School is openly hostile towards him for his race, but he deals with a series of microaggressions, like being called the name of another black student, or everyone looking at him when the teacher is discussing students on financial aid. Craft mixes humor with heart in this hilarious yet thoughtful graphic novel.

Book cover for A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919
2019

A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919

by Hartfield, Claire,
Call Number: 320.158 H328
Book cover for Piecing Me Together
2018

Piecing Me Together

by Watson, Renee,
Call Number: YA
Book cover for March: Book Three
2017

March: Book Three

by Lewis, John
Call Number: 323.4092 L674-2 v.3

Winner of the 2017 Michael Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature. U.S. Congressman and civil rights leader John Lewis continues his story in the concluding volume of this graphic novel trilogy, which opens with the bombing of the Birmingham Baptist Church, Freedom Summer and ends with the Voting Rights Act of 1965 being signed into law.

Book cover for Gone Crazy in Alabama
2016

Gone Crazy in Alabama

by Williams-Garcia, Rita
Call Number: x
Book cover for Brown Girl Dreaming
2015

Brown Girl Dreaming

by Woodson, Jacqueline
Call Number: x 92 W8985
Grades 5 - 8. Raised in South Carolina and New York, Woodson always felt halfway home in each place. In vivid poems, she shares what it was like to grow up as an African American in the 1960s and 1970s, living with the remnants of Jim Crow and her growing awareness of the Civil Rights movement. Touching and powerful, each poem is both accessible and emotionally charged, each line a glimpse into a child's soul as she searches for her place in the world.
 
 
Book cover for P.S. Be Eleven
2014

P.S. Be Eleven

by Williams-Garcia, Rita.
Call Number: x
Book cover for Hand in Hand: Ten Black Men Who Changed America
2013

Hand in Hand: Ten Black Men Who Changed America

by Pinkney, Andrea Davis
Call Number: x 920 P655-1
Grades 5 - 8
 
Presents the stories of ten African-American men from different eras in American history, organized chronologically to provide a scope from slavery to the modern day.
Book cover for Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans
2012

Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans

by Nelson, Kadir.
Call Number: x 305 N427

Gr. 4 and up. An unnamed narrator (based on Nelson's grandmother) tells the story of African Americans from before the American Revolution to the election of Barack Obama. Gorgeously illustrated and compellingly told.

Book cover for One Crazy Summer
2011

One Crazy Summer

by Williams-Garcia, Rita
Call Number: x

Grades 4-8. During the summer of 1968, eleven-year-old Delphine and her two younger sisters travel to Oakland, California to visit their mother, who abandoned them as babies. While there, they reluctantly spend time at a summer camp run by the Black Panthers.

Book cover for We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball
2009

We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball

by Nelson, Kadir
Call Number: x 796 N4269

Gr. 3 and up. An elderly ball player regales his audience with the trials and triumphs of determined athletes and fans, beautifully enhanced by Nelson's glorious art. Includes a forward by Hank Aaron, himself once a player in the Negro League.

Book cover for Elijah of Buxton
2008

Elijah of Buxton

by Curtis, Christopher Paul.
Call Number: x
Book cover for Copper Sun
2007

Copper Sun

by Draper, Sharon M. (Sharon Mills).
Call Number: YA
Book cover for Remember: The Journey to School Integration
2005

Remember: The Journey to School Integration

by Morrison, Toni.
Call Number: x 370 M882

Grades 3 - 8. Archival photographs focus on the children and teens and the role they played in school integration, with text imagining how the participants must have felt.

Book cover for The First Part Last
2004

The First Part Last

by Johnson, Angela
Call Number: YA
Book cover for Bronx Masquerade
2003

Bronx Masquerade

by Grimes, Nikki.
Call Number: x
Book cover for The Land
2002

The Land

by Taylor, Mildred D.
Call Number: x
Book cover for Miracle's Boys
2001

Miracle's Boys

by Woodson, Jacqueline.
Call Number: YA
Book cover for Bud, Not Buddy
2000

Bud, Not Buddy

by Curtis, Christopher Paul.
Call Number: x

Gr. 4 and up. 10-year-old Bud escapes a bad foster home and sets out in search of a man he believes is his father, renowned bandleader, H.E. Calloway. Winner of the 2000 Newbery Medal.

Book cover for Heaven
1999

Heaven

by Johnson, Angela, 1961-
Call Number: YA
Book cover for Forged by Fire
1998

Forged by Fire

by Draper, Sharon M. (Sharon Mills).
Call Number: x
Book cover for Slam!
1997

Slam!

by Myers, Walter Dean, 1937-2014.
Book cover for Her Stories: African American Folktales, Fairy Tales, and True Tales
1996

Her Stories: African American Folktales, Fairy Tales, and True Tales

by Hamilton, Virginia, 1934-2002.
Call Number: x 398 H221-3
Book cover for Christmas in the Big House, Christmas in the Quarters
1995

Christmas in the Big House, Christmas in the Quarters

by McKissack, Pat, 1944-2017.
Call Number: x 975 M158
Book cover for Toning the Sweep
1994

Toning the Sweep

by Johnson, Angela, 1961-
Call Number: x
Book cover for The Dark-Thirty: Southern Tales of the Supernatural
1993

The Dark-Thirty: Southern Tales of the Supernatural

by McKissack, Pat, 1944-2017.
Call Number: x
Book cover for Now is Your Time!: The African-American Struggle for Freedom
1992

Now is Your Time!: The African-American Struggle for Freedom

by Myers, Walter Dean, 1937-2014.
Call Number: x 326 M996 1991
Book cover for The Road to Memphis
1991

The Road to Memphis

by Taylor, Mildred D.
Call Number: x Ed.a
Book cover for A Long Hard Journey: The Story of the Pullman Porter
1990

A Long Hard Journey: The Story of the Pullman Porter

by McKissack, Pat
Call Number: x 331 M158
Book cover for Fallen Angels
1989

Fallen Angels

by Myers, Walter Dean, 1937-2014.

Seventeen-year-old Richie Perry, just out of his Harlem high school, enlists in the Army in the summer of 1967 and spends a devastating year on active duty in Vietnam. 

Book cover for The Friendship
1988

The Friendship

by Taylor, Mildred D.
Call Number: x
Book cover for Justin and the Best Biscuits in the World
1987

Justin and the Best Biscuits in the World

by Walter, Mildred Pitts.
Call Number: x
Book cover for The People Could Fly: American Black Folktales
1986

The People Could Fly: American Black Folktales

by Hamilton, Virginia.
Call Number: x 398 H221-1 1993
Book cover for Motown and Didi: A Love Story
1985

Motown and Didi: A Love Story

by Myers, Walter Dean, 1937-2014.
Book cover for Everett Anderson's Goodbye
1984

Everett Anderson's Goodbye

by Clifton, Lucille, 1936-2010.
Call Number: xz Ed.a
Book cover for Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush
1983

Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush

by Hamilton, Virginia.
Call Number: x
Book cover for Let the Circle be Unbroken
1982

Let the Circle be Unbroken

by Taylor, Mildred D.
Call Number: x
Book cover for This Life
1981

This Life

by Poitier, Sidney.
Call Number: 812.092 P757
Book cover for The Young Landlords
1980

The Young Landlords

by Myers, Walter Dean, 1937-2014.
Book cover for Escape to Freedom: A Play About Young Frederick Douglass
1979

Escape to Freedom: A Play About Young Frederick Douglass

by Davis, Ossie.
Call Number: x 793.1 D263 1990
Book cover for Africa Dream
1978

Africa Dream

by Greenfield, Eloise.
Call Number: xz Ed.a
Book cover for The Story of Stevie Wonder
1977

The Story of Stevie Wonder

by Haskins, James, 1941-2005.
Call Number: x 92 W8715Ha
  • Out of print/Unavailable
Book cover for Duey's Tale
1976

Duey's Tale

by Bailey, Pearl.
Book cover for The Legend of Africania
1975

The Legend of Africania

by Robinson, Dorothy W.
  • Out of print/Unavailable
Book cover for Ray Charles
1974

Ray Charles

by Mathis, Sharon Bell.
Call Number: x 92 C476Ma 2001
Book cover for I Never Had it Made: An Autobiography
1973

I Never Had it Made: An Autobiography

by Robinson, Jackie, 1919-1972.
Call Number: 796.231 R662-3 1995
Book cover for Seventeen Black Artists
1972

Seventeen Black Artists

by Fax, Elton C.
Call Number: 709.73 F281
Book cover for Black Troubadour: Langston Hughes
1971

Black Troubadour: Langston Hughes

by Rollins, Charlemae H.
  • Out of print/Unavailable
Book cover for Martin Luther King, Jr.: Man of Peace
1970

Martin Luther King, Jr.: Man of Peace

by Patterson, Lillie
  • Out of print/Unavailable