Part three of our Black History Month (BHM) series features books for young adult (YA) readers, ages 12-18. Historian Carter G. Woodson, the second Black American to earn a Ph.D. from Harvard University—W. E. B. Du Bois was the first—started Negro History Week in 1926 after dedicating many years to researching the achievements of Black Americans. He believed that “those who have no record of what their forebears have accomplished lose the inspiration which comes from the teaching of biography and history.” The books in our series fulfill Woodson’s wishes to acknowledge significant people and events in history. Although Jim Haskins was a prolific writer, it was somewhat difficult to find nonfiction YA books written by Black authors; the choices were slim compared to the Part 1: PB and Part 2: Middle Grade selections. Therefore, of the 32 books listed, some are not specifically marketed to YA readers and may be hard reads; but they are good for reference purposes and discovering unsung heroines and heroes. For more books, see our “Genres, Themes, and…” page.
The Miseducation of the Negro – Carter G. Woodson
Slavery's Exiles: The Story of the American Maroons - Sylviane A. Diouf
To Tell the Truth Freely: The Life of Ida B. Wells – Mia Bay
Black Profiles in Courage: A Legacy of African-American Achievement – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar & Alan Steinberg
March: Book One – John Lewis & Andrew Aydin
Red Tail Captured, Red Tail Free: Memoirs of a Tuskegee Airman and POW – Alexander Jefferson w/Lewis H. Carlson
The Harlem Renaissance – James Haskins
Open Wide The Freedom Gates: A Memoir – Dorothy Height
Today the World Is Watching You: The Little Rock Nine and the Fight for School Integration, 1957 – Kekla Magoon
African American Art and Artists – Samella Lewis
Black Hoops: The History of African-Americans in Basketball – Fredrick McKissack Jr.
Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom: My Story of the Selma Voting Rights March – Lynda Blackmon Lowery (as told to Elspeth Leacock & Susan Buckley)
African American Women Chemists – Jeanette Brown
Unbought and Unbossed – Shirley Chisholm
Pennies to Dollars: The Story of Maggie Lena Walker – Muriel Miller Branch
Jacob Lawrence: The Migration Series – Elizabeth Alexander
Selected Writings and Speeches of Marcus Garvey – Marcus Garvey
The Inventive Spirit of African Americans: Patented Ingenuity – Patricia Carter Sluby
On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C.J. Walker – A’Lelia Bundles
Succeeding Against All Odds – John H. Johnson w/Lerone Bennett Jr.
The Power of Black Music: Interpreting Its History from Africa to the United States – Samuel Floyd
Charging the Net: A History of Blacks in Tennis from Althea Gibson and Arthur Ashe to the Williams Sisters – Cecil Harris
The Autobiography of Malcolm X: As Told to Alex Haley
Black Titan: A.G. Gaston and the Making of a Black American Millionaire – Carol Jenkins & Elizabeth Gardener Hines
Equal Justice Under Law: An Autobiography – Constance Baker Motley
Brown Sugar: Over 100 Years of America's Black Female Superstars – Donald Bogle
Black Theater in America – James Haskins
Find Where The Wind Goes: Moments from My Life – Mae Jemison
Black Firsts: 4,000 Ground-Breaking and Pioneering Historical Events - Jessie Carney Smith
Soul Train: The Music, Dance, and Style of a Generation – Questlove
Revelations: The Autobiography of Alvin Ailey – Alvin Ailey w/A. Peter Bailey
The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross – Henry Louis Gates Jr.
