Middle School NONFICTION

Allen, Thomas B. Harriet Tubman, Secret Agent: How Daring Slaves and Free Blacks Spied for the Union During the Civil War. National Geographic, 2008. “This compelling biography tells the amazing tale of Harriet Tubman using details uncovered from military and intelligence archives, diaries and little-known memoirs from ex-slaves [including] surprising new facts about Harriet's story are brought to light.” BIOG; SLAVERY; UNDERGROUND RR; ABOLITION

Beals, Melba Patillo. Warriors Don’t Cry: The Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock’s Central High. Simon & Schuster, 2007. “In 1957, Melba Pattillo turned sixteen. That was also the year she became a warrior on the front lines of a civil rights firestorm. Following the landmark 1954 Supreme Court ruling, Brown v. Board of Education, Melba was one of nine teenagers chosen to integrate Little Rock's Central High School. Throughout her harrowing ordeal, Melba was taunted by her schoolmates and their parents, threatened by a lynch mob's rope, attacked with lighted sticks of dynamite, and injured by acid sprayed in her eyes. But through it all, she acted with dignity and courage, and refused to back down. This is her remarkable story.” MEMOIR; 1950s, CIVIL RIGHTS 

Burg, Ann E. Unbound. Scholastic, 2016. “Grace is sent to live and work in the big house, forcing a heart-wrenching separation from her family. Then Grace hears that her mother and younger brothers will be placed on the auction block. She steals back to her family and they escape immediately. After a harrowing journey, they join a maroon community in the Great Dismal Swamp. Even in their newfound liberty, Grace’s family is surrounded by wild animals and the threat of slave catchers.”  IN VERSE ; SLAVERY 

Cameron, Ann. Kidnapped Prince The Life of Olaudah Equiano. Random, 2010. “Kidnapped at the age of 11 from his home in Benin, Africa, Olaudah Equiano spent the next 11 years as a slave in England, the U.S., and the West Indies, until he was able to buy his freedom. His autobiography, published in 1789, was a bestseller in its own time. Cameron has modernized and shortened it while remaining true to the spirit of the original. It's a gripping story of adventure, betrayal, cruelty, and courage.” SLAVERY BIOG IN VERSE 

Cheng, Andrea. Etched in Clay: The Life of Dave, Enslaved Potter and Poet. Lee and Low, 2013. “Sometime around 1815, an enslaved young man named Dave was brought to Edgefield, South Carolina, the center of a pottery-producing area known for the alkaline glazes used on the stoneware. Dave was taught how to turn pots and jars on a pottery wheel by one of his first owners. As Dave's talent flourished, he created pieces of great beauty and often massive size. He also somehow learned to read and write, in spite of South Carolina's strongly-held fear of slave literacy. And then Dave did something even more incredible--he began to sign his jars and carve many of them with sayings and poems that reflected his daily life and experiences. He spoke out against slavery not by protesting or revolting, but by daring to write at all. ...the life and times of Dave, an enslaved potter who inscribed his works with short poems during the years leading up to the Civil War.” 1850s 

Coates, Ta-Nehisi. Between the World and Me. Spiegel & Grau, 2015. “[In] the form of a letter to the author’s teenage son, the ... author comes to grips with what it means to be black in America today.” RACISM; ANTI-RACISM

Conkling, Winifred. Passenger on the Pearl: Emily Edmonsons Flight from Slavery. Algonquin, 2015. “In 1848, Emily Edmonson, thirteen, along with five siblings and seventy other enslaved people, boarded the Pearl in the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., in a bid to reach freedom. Within a day, the schooner was captured, and the six Edmonsons were sent to New Orleans to be sold. Emily and Mary were saved from the even crueler conditions when the threat of yellow fever forced their return to Virginia. They were eventually ransomed with the help of their parents and abolitionists, including Harriet Beecher Stowe, who later used them as models for characters in Uncle Tom's Cabin.” SLAVERY 

Cooper, Afua. My Name Is Henry Bibb: A Story of Slavery and Freedom. Kids Can Press, 2009. “Based on historical facts and Bibb's own writings, the story of a young slave's perilous journey to freedom.” SLAVERY; UNDERGROUND RR

Dunbar, Erica Armstrong. Never Caught, the Story of Ona Judge.(Young Readers’ Edition). Simon & Schuster, 2019 (Adult ed, 2017).“ "Never Caught is the compelling story of Ona Judge Staines, the woman who successfully defied George and Martha Washington in order to live as free woman. With vivid prose and deep sympathy, Dunbar paints a portrait of woman whose life reveals the contradictions at the heart of the American founding: men like Washington fought for liberty for themselves even as they kept people like Ona Staines in bondage. There is no way to really know the Washingtons without knowing this story." SLAVERY, American Revolution 

Edwards, Sue Bradford and Duchess Harris. Black Lives Matter (Special Reports). ABDO Essential Library, 2016. "Black Lives Matter covers the shootings that touched off passionate protests, the work of activists to bring about a more just legal system, and the tensions in US society that these events have brought to light." BLACK LIVES MATTER 

Ewing, Eve. 1919. Haymarket, 2019. A conversation in poetry around the 1919 [Chicago] race riot that began during a July heat wave, after Eugene Williams, a 17-year-old African American swimming in Lake Michigan, drowned when white men hurled stones at him, and the police failed to act. IN VERSE; RACE RIOT; RACISM 

Freedman, Russell. Because They Marched: The People's Campaign for Voting Rights that Changed America. Holiday House, 2014. “The struggle for voting rights was a pivotal event in the history of civil rights.“ ACTIVISM; VOTING RIGHTS

Hale, Nathan. The Underground Abductor: An Abolitionist Tale About Harriet Tubman (Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales #5). Amulet, 2015. “Araminta Ross was born a slave in Delaware in the early 19th century. Slavery meant that her family could be ripped apart at any time, and that she could be put to work in dangerous places and for abusive people. But north of the Mason-Dixon line, slavery was illegal. If she could run away and make it north without being caught or killed, she'd be free. Facing enormous danger, Araminta made it, and once free, she changed her name to Harriet Tubman. Tubman spent the rest of her life helping slaves run away like she did, every time taking her life in her hands.” GRAPHIC BIOG; SLAVERY; UNDERGROUND RR; ABOLITION 

Hanson-Harding, Alexandra. Are You Being Racially Profiled?. Enslow, 2016. Explains what it is, why it takes place, and ways to prevent it. RACIAL PROFILING

Harris, Duchess and Gail Radley. The Impact of Slavery in America. ABDO, 2019. “Though it opens with a Louisiana slave revolt in 1811, this volume primarily looks at the legacy of slavery in America since the Civil War: prejudiced assumptions, discriminatory practices, unjust laws, and violence against African Americans.” SLAVERY 

Hartfield, Clare. A Few Drops of Red: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919. Clarion, 2018. “On a hot day in July 1919, five black youths went swimming in Lake Michigan, unintentionally floating close to the "white" beach. An angry white man began throwing stones at the boys, striking and killing one.” RACE RIOT

Jewell, Tiffany. This Book is Anti-Racist: 20 Lessons on How to Wake Up, Take Action, and Do the Work. Quarto/Frances Lincoln, 2020. ANTI-RACISM

Katz, William Loren. Black Indians: A Hidden Heritage. Atheneum, 2012. “The first paths to freedom taken by runaway slaves led to Native American villages. There, black men and women found acceptance and friendship among our country's original inhabitants. Though they seldom appear in textbooks and movies, the children of Native- and African-American marriages helped shape the early days of the fur trade, added a new dimension to frontier diplomacy, and made a daring contribution to the fight for American liberty.” NATIVE AMERICANS 

Kendall, Mikki. Amazons, Abolitionists, and Activists: A Graphic History of Women’s Fight for Their Rights, by Ten Speed Press, 2019. ABOLITION; ACTIVISM; WOMEN ​

Kendi, Ibram X. Stamped: Racism, Anti-Racism and You.  Little, Brown, 2020. A remix of the national Book Award Winner Stamped from the Beginning. ANTI-RACISM
     Stamped Educator Guide. Little Brown School, Hachette
     Book Group.

Lewis, Barbara A. Kids Guide to Social Action How to Solve the Social Problems You Choose & Turn Creative Thinking Into Positive Action. Free Spirit, 1998. “Inspire kids to choose the social causes they care about and take action themselves. Compelling, empowering, and packed with information.”

Lewis, John with Andrew Aydin. March: Book One (2013); March: Book Two (2015); March: Book Three (2016). Top Shelf Productions. Graphic novel format.  A biography of “American icon Congressman John Lewis (GA-5), one of the key figures of the civil rights movement [whose] commitment to justice and nonviolence has taken him from an Alabama sharecropper's farm to the halls of Congress, from a segregated schoolroom to the 1963 March on Washington, and from receiving beatings from state troopers to receiving the Medal of Freedom from the first African-American president.” GRAPHIC MEMOIR; CIVIL RIGHTS

Lowery, Lynda Blackmon. Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom: My Story of the 1965 Selma Voting Rights March. Speak, 2016. “A memoir of the Civil Rights Movement from one of its youngest heroes.” A Sibert Informational Book Medal Honor Book.MEMOIR;  CIVIL RIGHTS; 1960s

Meltzer, Milton. Underground Man. Houghton Mifflin, 2006. “Josh, a teenage logger on the Ohio River, discovers his life's true mission as an abolitionist after his first encounter with a runaway slave. Josh first attempts to spread the abolitionist message by lecturing in remote towns about the evils of slavery--but his views often ignite strong disapproval. Frustrated, he makes a more daring choice and becomes an agent of the Underground Railroad. After dozens of successful rescues, Josh is captured by Kentucky slave owners and convicted of ‘enticing slaves to leave their owners.’ Locked away, he struggles to hold on to his ideals and sense of self. 

Moore, Wes. Discovering Wes Moore. Ember, 2013. “a story of two fatherless boys from Baltimore, both named Wes Moore. One is in prison, serving a life sentence for murder. The other is a Rhodes Scholar, an army veteran, and an author whose book is being turned into a movie produced by Oprah Winfrey.” BIOG; PRISON

Myers, Walter Dean. Harlem. Scholastic, 1997. “Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, and James Baldwin have sung their songs about Harlem. Now Newbery Honor author Walter Dean Myers joins their chorus in calling to life the deep, rich and hope-filled history of this community. Christopher Myers's boldly assembled art resonates with feeling and tells a tale all its own.” POETRY; URBAN 

Myers, Walter Dean. Malcom X: By Any Means Necessary. Scholastic, 1999. “portrays Malcolm X as prophet, dealer, convict, troublemaker, revolutionary, and voice of black militancy.” A Coretta Scott King Honor Book and an ALA Notable Children's Book. BIOG; CIVIL RIGHTS

Paulsen, Gary. Nightjohn. Delacorte, 1993. “Sarny, a female slave at the Waller plantation, first sees Nightjohn when he is brought there with a rope around his neck, his body covered in scars. He had escaped north to freedom, but he came back--came back to teach reading. Knowing that the penalty for reading is dismemberment Nightjohn still retumed to slavery to teach others how to read. And twelve-year-old Sarny is willing to take the risk to learn.Set in the 1850s.” SLAVERY, LITERACY 

Perry, Imani. Breathe: A Letter to My Sons. Beacon, 2019. “...a letter to her two sons, and to all Black boys, encouraging them to stand back up in the face of stumbling. Voiced the way an African American mom might say it when whites are not around, and told against the backdrop of police killings of Black men…” RACISM; ANTI-RACISM

Prince, Bryan. I Came as a Stranger The Underground Railroad. UToronto Press, 2004. “ Beginning with the slave trade as far back as the 1500s, it gives readers a brief history of events leading up to slavery in the United States and Canada. Stories about actual people involved and many black-and-white photographs and reproductions make the account come alive. Short chapters carry readers through each aspect of the history, introducing both slaves and abolitionists along the way. Through actual narratives and letters written in the late 1800s, the author tells stories of men and women wishing to be free. ...continues to tell the story of life after freedom. The final chapter, "Tracing Their Steps Today," gives information on related sites that can be visited today.” SLAVERY, UNDERGROUND RR 

Proudfoot, Ben. “Meet the First Woman Officially Drafted by the N.B.A.” New York Times Opinion video featuring Lusia Harris, 29 June 2021. “As a child growing up [in the 1970s] in rural Mississippi, Lusia “Lucy” Harris often stayed up past her bedtime watching her favorite N.B.A. players, dreaming of one day playing on the same courts. Reaching 6 feet 3 inches by the time she was in high school, Harris was often called “long and tall and that’s all” by her classmates — but she knew her height would be an asset on the court. And she wasn’t just tall enough to play the game. She was a rare talent who would go on to be a three-time national college champion and an Olympic silver medalist, making her a national sensation by the time she finished her college career.” SPORTS
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Race in America 5-book series: Race and Economics; Race and Policing;  Race in the Criminal Justice System; Roots of Racism; What are Race and Racism; White Privilege. ABDO, all 2018. RACISM

Reynolds, Jason and Ibram X. Kendi. Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You: A Remix of the National Book Award-winning Stamped from the Beginning. Little Brown 2020. For young readers. ANTI-RACISM 

Rippon, Jo. Rise Up! The Art of Protest. Charlesbridge, 2020. “Human rights belong to every single one of us, but they are often under threat. Developed in collaboration with Amnesty International, Rise Up! encourages young people to engage in peaceful protest and stand up for freedom.” ACTIVISM; ART 

Saad, Layla F. Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor. Sourcebooks, 2020. “this small but intense book which provokes readers to take personal ownership of the effort to dismantle systemic racism.” RACISM; ACTIVISM 

Shenkin, Steve. The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights. Square Fish, 2012. “...a fascinating story of the prejudice and injustice that faced black men and women in America's armed forces during World War II, and a nuanced look at those who gave their lives in service of a country where they lacked the most basic rights.”   A National Book Award Finalist; A YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction Finalist. CIVIL RIGHTS; WWII

Shetterly, Margot Lee. Hidden Figures. HarperCollins, 2016. “The phenomenal true story of the black female mathematicians at NASA whose calculations helped fuel some of America’s greatest achievements in space.” Also available as a Young Readers Edition and a major motion picture. BIOG; SPACE SCIENCES; WOMEN
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Stevenson, Bryan. Just Mercy (Adapted for Young People). Delacorte, 2018. You’ve likely heard the story of someone who served decades in prison for a crime they didn’t commit. How does that happen and how do we ensure people don’t disappear behind the bars and into bureaucratic systems that value process more than justice? MEMOIR; RACISM; PRISON 
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Zinn, Howard and Rebecca Stefoff. A Young People's History of the United States: Columbus to the War on Terror. Triangle Square, 2009 revision. “He tells us the untold story, the story of the world's poor, the world's workers, the world's homeless, the world's oppressed, the people who don't really qualify as real people in official histories.”