2013 Black History Month Recommended Reading from Just Read, Florida!

Grades PreK-3 · Grades 4-5 · Grades 6-8 · Grades 9-12

This recommended reading list, in celebration of Florida's Black History Month, highlights African-American literature. This list provides an excellent source of suggested books for children of all ages. Just Read, Florida! makes reading a priority in Florida's public schools and among the community groups and volunteer organizations that support them. For more information, please visit Just Read, Florida!

Elementary (Grades PreK-3)

• I Dream of Trains, by Johnson, Angela
• The Moon Over Star, by Aston, Dianna Hutts
• Let It Shine, by Bryan, Ashley
• Before John Was a Jazz Giant, by Weatherford, Carole Boston
• I’ve Seen the Promised Land: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., by Myers, Walter Dean
• Papa’s Mark, by Lavert, Gwendolyn
• In the Land of Words: New and Selected Poems, by Gilchrist, Jan Spivey
• Almost to Freedom, by Nelson, Vaunda Micheaux
• Thunder Rose, by Nolen, Jerdine
• Visiting Langston, by Collier, Bryan
• Freedom River, by Rappaport, Doreen
• In Daddy’s Arms I am Tall: African Americans Celebrating Fathers, by Schroeder, Alan
• Ashley Bryan’s ABC of African American Poetry, by Bryan, Ashley
• Minty: A Story of Young Harriet Tubman, by Schroeder, Alan
• Running the Road to ABC, by Lauture, Denize
• Neeny Coming, Neeny Going, by English, Karen
• Little Eight John, by Wahl, Jan
• All Night, all Day: A Child’s First Book of African American Spirituals, by Bryan, Ashley
• When I Am Old With You, by Johnson, Angela
• The Patchwork Quilt, by Flournoy, Valerie
• Bright Eyes, Brown Skin, by Hudson, Cheryl & Ford, Bernette
• Something Beautiful, by Wyeth, Sharon
• The Quilt, by Jonas, Ann
• Bill Pickett: Rodeo-Ridin Cowboy, by Pinkney, Andrea & Pinkney, Brian
• Drylongso, by Hamilton, Virginia
• I Am Rosa Parks, by Parks, Rosa Parks & Haskins, James
• Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., by Rappaport, Doreen
• Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt, by Hopkinson, Deborah
• The Dream Keeper and Other Poems, by Hughes, Langston & Pinkney, Brian
• The Palm of My Heart: Poetry by African American Children, by Christie, Gregorie
• The Invisible Hunters: A Legend from the Miskito Indians of Nicaragua, by Rohmer, Harriet et al
• Africa Dream, by Greenfield, Eloise
• Mary McLeod Bethune, by Greenfield, Eloise
• Ray Charles, by Mathis, Sharon Bell
• Jazzy Miz Mozetta, by Roberts, Brenda C.
• Family Plays Music, by Cox, Judy
• The Moon Ring, by DuBurke, Randy
• Freedom Summer, by Wiles, Deb
• The Piano Man, by Chocolate, Debbie
• Porch Lies: Tales of Slicksters, Tricksters, and Other Wily Characters, by McKissack, Patricia C. illustrated by Carrilho, Andre
• Beautiful Blackbird, by Bryan, Ashley
• Before There Was Mozart: The Story of Joseph Boulogne, Chevalier de Saint-George, by Cline-Ransome, Lesa
• Moses, by Weatherford, Carole
• My Brother Martin, by Farris, Christine King
• We are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball, by Nelson, Kadir
• Rosa, by Giovanni, Nickki
• Aunt Harriet's Underground Railroad in the Sky, by Ringgold, Faith
• Bad News for Outlaws: The Remarkable Life of Bass Reeves - Deputy U.S. Marshal, by Nelson, Vaunda Micheaux
• My People, by Hughes, Langston
• Molly Bannaky, by Soentpiet, Chris K. and McGill, Alice
• Dear Benjamin Banneker, by Pinkney, Andrea Davis and Pinkney, Brian
• Nelson Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, by van Wyk, Chris and Bouma, Paddy
• Wilma Unlimited: How Wilma Rudolph Became the World's Fastest Woman, by Krull, Kathleen and Diaz, David
• What Color Is My World?: The Lost History of African-American Inventors, by Abdul-Jabbar, Kareem, Obstfeld, Raymond, and Boos, Ben
• Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down, by Pinkney, Andrea Davis and Pinkney, Brian

Elementary (Grades 4-5)

• Romare Bearden: Collage of Memories, by Greenberg, Jan
• Against All Odds: Artist Dean Mitchell's Story, by James, Betty R.
• Talkin' About Bessie: The Story of Aviator Elizabeth Coleman, by Grimes, Nikki
• Only Passing Through: The Story of Sojouner Truth, by Rockwell, Anne
• I Have Heard of a Land, by Thomas, Joyce Carol
• Duke Ellington: The Piano Prince and His Orchestra, by Pinkney, Andrea Davis
• The Hunterman and the Crocodile, by Diakitč, Baba Waguč
• The Singing Man, by Medearis, by Shelf, Angela
• Meet Danitra Brown, by Grimes, Nikki
• Soul Looks Back in Wonder, by Fogelman, Phyllis
• The Origin of Life on Earth: An African Creation Myth, by Anderson, David A.
• Night on the Neighborhood Street, by Greenfield, Eloise
• The Road to Memphis, by Taylor, Mildred
• Aida, by Price, Leontyne
• Nathaniel Talking, by Greenfield, Eloise
• Mirandy and Brother Wind, by McKissack, Patricia
• Under the Sunday Tree, by Greenfield, Eloise
• Storm in the Night, by Stolz, Mary
• Maritcha, by Bolden, Tonya
• Ellington Was Not a Street, by Shange, Ntozake & Nelson, Kadir
• The Bat Boy and His Violin, by Curtis, Gavin
• The Great Migration: An American Story, by Lawrence, Jacob
• Harlem, by Myers, Walter Dean
• Circle of Gold, by Boyd, Candy Dawson
• A Little Love, by Hamilton, Virginia
• The Strange New Feeling, by Lester, Julius
• Rainbow Jordan, by Childress, Alice
• Skates of Uncle Richard, by Fenner, Carol
• Something on My Mind, by Grimes, Nikki
• Brothers in Hope: The Story of the Lost Boys of Sudan, by Christie, R. Gregory
• Fly High!: The Story of Bessie Coleman, by Borden, Louise & Kroeger, Mary Kay
• Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans, by Nelson, Kadir
• Michelle, by Hopkinson, Deborah
• Portraits of African-American Heroes, by Bolden, Tonya and Pitcairn, Ansel
• Through My Eyes, by Bridges, Ruby
• The Kidnapped Prince: The Life of Olaudah Equiano, by Cameron, Ann
• Buxton: A Black Utopia in the Heartland, by Schwieder, Dorothy, Hraba, Joseph, and Schwieder, Elmer

Middle School (Grades 6-8)

• The Legend of Buddy Bush, by Moses, Sheila P.
• Days of Tears: A Novel in Dialogue, by Lester, Julius
• Maritcha: A Nineteenth-Century American Girl, by Bolden, Tonya
• Dark Sons, by Grimes, Nikki
• The Road to Paris, by Grimes, Nikki
• Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story, by Ben Carson
• Days of Jubilee: The End of Slavery in the United States, by McKissack, Patricia C. and Frederick L.
• Locomotion, by Woodson, Jacqueline
• The Battle of Jericho, by Draper, Sharon
• The Red Rose Box, by Woods, Brenda
• The Land, by Taylor, Mildred
• Miracle's Boys, by Woodson, Jacqueline
• Let It Shine! Stories of Black Women Freedom Fighters, by Francie, Andrea Davis Pinkney, English, Karen
• Black Hands, White Sails: The Story of African American Whalers, by McKissack, Patricia C. & Frederick L.
• Now is Your Time: The African American Struggle for Freedom, by Myers, Walter Dean
• The Words of Martin Luther King, Jr., by Coretta Scott King
• Forged by Fire, by Draper, Sharon M.
• Breaking Ground, Breaking Silence: The Story of New York's African Burial Ground, by Hansen, Joyce and McGowan, Gary
• I See the Rhythm, by Igus, Toyomi
• The Other Side: Shorter Poems, by Johnson, Angela
• Toning the Sweep, by Johnson, Angela
• Rebels Against Slavery: American Slave Revolts, by McKissack, Patricia C. and Frederick L.
• Soujourner Truth: Ain't I a Woman?, by McKissack, Patricia C. and Frederick L.
• Justin and the Best Biscuits in the World, by Walter, Mildred Pitts
• Let the Circle Be Unbroken, by Taylor, Mildred D.
• Childtimes: A Three-Generation Memoir, by Greenfield, Eloise and Little, Lessie Jones
• Andrew Young: Young Man With a Mission, by Haskins, James
• The Way a Door Closes, by Smith, Hope Anita
• The Skin I'm In, by Flake, Sharon
• Another Way to Dance, by Southgate, Martha
• Elijah of Buxton, by Curtis, Christopher Paul
• Twelve Rounds to Glory: The Story of Muhammad Ali, by Smith Jr., Charles R.
• Keeping the Night Watch, by Smith, Hope Anita
• Maizon at Blue Hill, by Woodson, Jacqueline
• My People, by Hughes, Langston, illustrated by Charles R. Smith, Jr.
• 1001 Things People Should Know about African American History, by Steward, Jeffrey C.
• To Be a Slave, by Lester, Julius
• Chains, by Anderson, Laurie Halse
• A Friendship for Today, by McKissack, Patricia C.
• Never Forgotten, by McKissack, Patricia
• Nightjohn, by Paulsen, Gary
• Freedom Walkers: The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, by Freedman, Russell
• The Watsons Go to Birmingham, by Curtis, Christopher Paul
• Numbering all the Bones, by Rinaldi, Ann
• Powerful Words, by Hudson, Wade

High School (Grades 9-12)

• Copper Sun, by Draper, Sharon
• The Magnificent Twelve: Florida's Black Junior Colleges, by Smith, Ph.D., Walter L.
• Fortune's Bones: The Manumission Requiem, by Nelson, Marilyn
• Carver: A Life in Poems, by Nelson, Marilyn
• Malcolm X: By Any Means Necessary, by Myers, Walter Dean
• Mississippi Challenge, by Walter, Mildred Pitts
• Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Freedom Movement, by Patters, Lillie
• We Beat the Street: How a Friendship Led to Success, by Davis, Sampson, Jenkins, George, Hunt, Rameck and Draper, Sharon
• Fallen Angels, by Myers, Walter Dean
• Anthony Burns: The Defeat and Triumph of a Fugitive Slave, by Hamilton, Virginia
• Trouble's Child, by Walter, Mildred Pitts
• The Magical Adventures of Pretty Pearl, by Hamilton, Virginia
• Lena Horne, by Haskins, James
• The Middle Passage: White Ships Black Cargo, by Feelings, Tom
• This Life, by Poitier, Sidney
• Don't Explain: A Song of Billie Holiday, by De Veaux, Alexis
• The Young Landlords, by Myers, Walter Dean
• James Van Der Zee: The Picture Takin' Man, by Haskins, James
• Let the Lion Eat Straw, by Southerland, Ellease
• Cornrows, by Yarborough, Camille
• Benjamin Banneker, by Patterson, Lillie
• Barbara Jordan, by Haskins, James
• Darkness Before Dawn, by Draper, Sharon
• Coretta Scott King, by Patterson, Lillie
• I Have a Dream, by King, Martin Luther, Jr.
• Portia: The Life of Portia Washington Pittman, the Daughter of Booker T. Washington, by Stewart, Ruth Ann
• The Legend of Africana, by Robinson, Dorothy
• I Never Had It Made: the Autobiography of Jackie Robinson, as told, by Duckett, Alfred
• My Chill Wind, by McDonald, Janet
• Lou in the Limelight, by Hunter, Kristin
• Movin' Up, by Gordy, Berry
• Marvin and Tige, by Glass, Frankcina
• Black Troubador: Langston Hughes, by Rollins, Charlemae
• Martin Luther King, Jr.: Man of Peace, by Patterson, Lillie
• Monster, by Myers, Walter Dean
• The First Part Last, by Johnson, Angela
• Just Another Hero, by Draper, Sharon M.
• Remember: The Journey to School Integration, by Morrison, Toni
• Becoming Billie Holiday, by Weatherford, Carole Boston
• A Wreath For Emmett Till, by Nelson, Marilyn
• The Freedom Business, by Nelson, Marilyn
• Street Love, by Myers, Walter Dean
• Harlem Hustle, by McDonald, Janet
• The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing - Traitor to the Nation, by Anderson, M. T.
• Mare's War, by Davis, Tanita S.
• The Negro Speaks of Rivers, by Hughes, Langston and Lewis, E. B.
• Giants: The Parallel lives of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln, by Stauffer, John
• Autobiography of My Dead Brother, by Myers, Walter Dean
• The Pact: Three Young Men Make a Promise and Fulfill a Dream, by Davis, Sampson, Jenkins, George, Hunt, Rameck, with Page, Lisa Frazier
• Black, Blue, and Gray: African Americans in the Civil War, Haskins, Jim
• Black Boy, Wright, Richard
• A Raisin in the Sun, Hansberry, Lorraine
• Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston, Zora Neale
• Mining for Freedom: Black History Meets the California Gold Rush, Roberts, Sylvia Alden