“We have a wonderful history behind us…and it is going to inspire us to greater achievements.” —Carter G. Woodson, The Father of Black History
In October 2021, Wade Hudson’s memoir, Defiant: Growing Up in the Jim Crow South (Crown BYR), was released. The description for Defiant states, “This powerful memoir reveals the struggles, joys, love, and ongoing resilience that it took to grow up Black in segregated America, and the lessons that carry over to our fight for a better future.” Wade and his wife, author Cheryl Willis Hudson, founded the publishing company, Just Us Books. Their incredible story is a testament to Carter G. Woodson’s lifelong efforts to ensure that each generation of Black children learn about stories of hope, inspiration, and triumph that will inspire them to greater achievements.
The nonfiction books featured on this list include picture, middle-grade, and young adult titles. Go here, here, and here to view more books for Black History Month and every day. Our stories matter.
1. Because Claudette
Tracey Baptiste | Tonya Engel | Dial Books | January 18, 2022 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
2. Opal Lee and What It Means to Be Free: The True Story of the Grandmother of Juneteenth
Alice Faye Duncan | Keturah A. Bobo | Thomas Nelson | January 11, 2022 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
3. When the Schools Shut Down: A Young Girl’s Story of Virginia’s “Lost Generation” and the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka Decision
Yolanda Gladden | Tamara Pizzoli | Keisha Morris | HarperCollins | January 11, 2022 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
4. The Faith of Elijah Cummings: The North Star of Equal Justice
Carole Boston Weatherford | Laura Freeman | Random House Studio | January 11, 2022 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
5. Saving the Day: Garrett Morgan’s Life-Changing Invention of the Traffic Signal
Karyn Parsons | R. Gregory Christie | Little, Brown BYR | December 7, 2021 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
6. Stitch by Stitch: Elizabeth Hobbs Keckly Sews Her Way to Freedom
Connie Schofield-Morrison | Elizabeth Zunon | Holiday House | November 9, 2021 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
7. More than Just a Game: The Black Origins of Basketball
Madison Moore | Lonnie Ollivierre | Albert Whitman & Company | September 15, 2021 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
8. Nina: A Story of Nina Simone
Traci Todd | Christian Robinson | G.P. Putnam’s Sons BYR | September 28, 2021 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
9. Pigskins to Paintbrushes: The Story of Football-Playing Artist Ernie Barnes
Don Tate | Abrams BYR | August 17, 2021 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
10. A Day for Rememberin’: Inspired by the True Events of the First Memorial Day
Leah Henderson | Floyd Cooper | Abrams BYR | May 11, 2021 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
11. Opening the Road: Victor Hugo Green and His Green Book
Keila V. Dawson | Alleanna Harris | Beaming Books | January 26, 2021 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
12. One Step Further: My Story of Math, the Moon, and a Mission
Katherine Johnson | Joylette Hylick | Katherine Moore | Charnelle Pinkney Barlow | January 5, 2021 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
13. The Highest Tribute: Thurgood Marshall’s Life, Leadership, and Legacy
Kekla Magoon | Laura Freeman | Quill Tree Books | January 5, 2021 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
14. Song in a Rainstorm: The Story of Musical Prodigy Thomas Blind Tom Wiggins
Glenda Armand | Brittany Jackson | Albert Whitman | January 1, 2021 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
15. Flying High: The Story of Gymnastics Champion Simone Biles
Michelle Meadows | Ebony Glenn | Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) | December 29, 2020 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
16. Kamala Harris: Rooted in Justice
Nikki Grimes | Laura Freeman | Atheneum BYR | August 25, 2020 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
17. Dream Builder: The Story of Architect Philip Freelon
Kelly Starling Lyons | Laura Freeman | Lee & Low Books | PB | January 14, 2020 | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
18. A Ride to Remember: A Civil Rights Story
Sharon Langley | Amy Nathan | Floyd Cooper | Abrams BYR | PB | January 7, 2020 | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
19. Buzzing with Questions: The Inquisitive Mind of Charles Henry Turner
Janice N. Harrington | Theodore Taylor III | Calkins Creek | November 5, 2019 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
20. A Likkle Miss Lou: How Jamaican Poet Louise Bennett Coverley Found Her Voice
Nadia Hohn | Eugenie Fernandes | Owlkids | August 13, 2019 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
21. The Vast Wonder of the World: Biologist Ernest Everett Just
Mélina Mangal | Luisa Uribe | Millbrook Press | November 1, 2018 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
22. Hammering for Freedom
Rita Lorraine Hubbard | John Holyfield | Lee & Low | September 4, 2018 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
23. Young Gifted and Black: Meet 52 Black Heroes from Past and Present
Jamia Wilson | Andrea Pippins | Wide Eyed Editions | February 1, 2018 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
24. Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library
Carole Boston Weatherford | Eric Velasquez | Candlewick | September 12, 2017 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
25. Tiny Stitches: The Life of Medical Pioneer Vivien Thomas
Gwendolyn Hooks | Colin Bootman | Lee & Low Books | May 15, 2016 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
26. It’s Her Story: Ida B. Wells: A Graphic Novel
Anastasia Magloire Williams | Alleanna Harris | November 15, 2021 | Chp Bk | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
27. Who Were the Tuskegee Airmen? (Who Was?)
Sherri L. Smith | Who HQ | Jake Murray | Penguin Workshop | August 7, 2018 | Chp Bk | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
28. Pauli Murray: The Life of a Pioneering Feminist and Civil Rights Activist
Rosita Stevens-Holsey | Terry Catasús Jennings | Yellow Jacket | January 25, 2022 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
29. Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me ‘Round: My Story of the Making of Martin Luther King Day
Kathlyn J. Kirkwood | Steffi Walthall | Versify | January 4, 2022 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
30. Amanda Gorman: Inspiring Hope with Poetry
Artika R. Tyner | Lerner Publications | January 1, 2022 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
31. Segregated Skies: One Pilot’s Trailblazing Journey to Rise Above Racial Barriers
Michael H. Cottman | National Geographic Kids | December 21, 2021 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
32. Revolution in Our Time: The Black Panther Party’s Promise to the People
Kekla Magoon | Candlewick | November 23, 2021 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
33. Black Artists Shaping the World
Sharna Jackson | Zoé Whitley | Thames & Hudson | November 23, 2021 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
34. Black Ballerinas: My Journey to Our Legacy
Misty Copeland | Salena Barnes | Aladdin | November 2, 2021 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
35. A Man Called Horse: John Horse and the Black Seminole Underground Railroad
Glennette Tilley Turner | Abrams BYR | September 21, 2021 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
36. Dovey Undaunted: A Black Woman Breaks Barriers in the Law, the Military, and the Ministry
Tonya Bolden | Norton Young Readers | August 31, 2021 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
37. Becoming Muhammad Ali
Kwame Alexander | James Patterson | Dawud Anyabwile | Jimmy Patterson | October 5, 2020 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
38. VIP: Lewis Latimer: Engineering Wizard
Denise Lewis Patrick | Daniel Duncan | HarperCollins | January 5, 2021 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
39. The Compton Cowboys: Young Readers’ Edition: And the Fight to Save Their Horse Ranch
Walter Thompson-Hernandez | HarperCollins | April 28, 2020 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
40. Infinite Hope: A Black Artist’s Journey from World War II to Peace
Ashley Bryan | Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy | October 15, 2019 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
41. DEFIANT: Growing Up in the Jim Crow South
Wade Hudson | Crown BYR | October 12, 2021 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
42. Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance (Adapted for Young Adults)
Barack Obama | Delacorte Press | October 5, 2021 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
43. Robert Smalls (From the Tales of the Talented Tenth Series , Vol. 3)
Joel Christian Gill | Chicago Review Press – Fulcrum | May 3, 2021 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
44. Becoming: Adapted for Young Readers
Michelle Obama | Delacorte BYR | March 2, 2021 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
45. This Is Your Time
Ruby Bridges | Delacorte Press | November 10, 2020 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
46. Ordinary Hazards: A Memoir
Nikki Grimes | Wordsong | October 08, 2019 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
47. March Forward, Girl: From Young Warrior to Little Rock Nine
Melba Pattillo Beals | Frank Morrison | Clarion Books | December 24, 2019 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
48. It’s Trevor Noah: Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood (Adapted for Young Readers)
Trevor Noah | Delacorte Press | April 9, 2019 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
49. Becoming Kareem: Growing Up On and Off the Court
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar| Raymond Obstfeld | Little, Brown BYR | November 21, 2017 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
50. Brown Girl Dreaming
Jacqueline Woodson | Nancy Paulsen Books | August 28, 2014 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
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