“I could not move because history had me glued to the seat…it felt as though Harriet Tubman’s hands was pushing me down on one shoulder, and Sojourner Truth’s hand was pushing me down on the other shoulder.”—Claudette Colvin
Women’s History Month (WHM), like Black History Month, began as a week-long observance and then extended into a month-long celebration. In an interview with CBS News, Claudette Colvin describes the day in 1955 when she refused to give up her seat to, as Colvin recalls, “a young white lady.” This list of chapter, middle-grade, and young adult books for WHM features titles about Claudette Colvin, Rosa Parks, and many other Black women and girls who made history in the arts, sports, education, civil rights, and more. Some women are featured in multiple books. See 92 Picture Books: Black Women (and girls) Who Made History, Part 1 for more books.
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1. She Persisted: Simone Biles
Kekla Magoon | Gillian Flint | Philomel | October 17, 2023 | Chp Bk | Amazon | Bookshop
2. She Persisted: Marian Anderson
Katheryn Russell-Brown | Gillian Flint | Philomel | June 7, 2022 | Chp Bk | Amazon | Bookshop
3. My Name Is Phillis Wheatley: A Story of Slavery and Freedom
Afua Cooper | Kids Can Press | May 2, 2023 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop
4. She Persisted: Ella Fitzgerald
Andrea Davis Pinkney | Gillian Flint | Philomel | April 4, 2023 | Chp Bk | Amazon | Bookshop
5. Boundless
Chaunté Lowe | Scholastic Inc. | March 7, 2023 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop
6. She Persisted: Dorothy Height
Kelly Starling Lyons | Gillian Flint | Philomel | February 7, 2023 |Chp Bk | Amazon | Bookshop
7. Augusta Savage: The Shape of a Sculptor’s Life
Marilyn Nelson | Tammi Lawson | Henry Holt and Co. BYR | January 25, 2022 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop
8. She Raised Her Voice!: 50 Black Women Who Sang Their Way into Music History
Jordannah Elizabeth | Briana Dengoue | Running Press Kids | December 28, 2021 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop
9. She Persisted: Oprah Winfrey
Renée Watson | Gillian Flint | Philomel | December 21, 2021 | Chp Bk | Amazon | Bookshop
10. Black Ballerinas: My Journey to Our Legacy
Misty Copeland | Salena Barnes| Aladdin | November 2, 2021 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop
11. Faith Ringgold: Narrating the World in Pattern and Color
Sharna Jackson | Andrea Pippins | PDK Children | November 30, 2021 | Chp Bk | Amazon | Bookshop
12. She Persisted: Ruby Bridges
Kekla Magoon | Gillian Flint | Philomel | August 24, 2021 |Chp Bk | Amazon | Bookshop
13. She Persisted: Florence Griffith Joyner
Rita Williams-Garcia | Gillian Flint | Philomel | June 29, 2021 | Chp Bk | Amazon | Bookshop
14. VIP: Mahalia Jackson: Freedom’s Voice
Denise Lewis Patrick | Jennifer Bricking | HarperCollins | May 4, 2021 | ChBk | Amazon | Bookshop
15. Trailblazers: Beyoncé: Queen of the Spotlight
Ebony Joy Wilkins | Random House | January 14, 2020 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop
16. Proud: Living My American Dream
Ibtihaj Muhammad | Little, Brown BYR | August 20, 2019 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop
17. Taking Flight: From War Orphan to Star Ballerina
Michaela DePrince | Elaine Deprince | Ember | January 19, 2016 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop
18. She Persisted: Opal Lee
Shelia P. Moses | Gillian Flint | Philomel | December 19, 2023 | Chp Bk | Amazon | Bookshop
19. A Mighty Long Way: My Journey to Justice at Little Rock Central High School
Carlotta Walls LaNier | Lisa Frazier Page | Delacorte Press | January 17, 2023 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop
20. History Comics: Rosa Parks and Claudette Colvin: Civil Rights Heroes graphic
Tracey Baptiste | Shauna J. Grant | First Second | January 3, 2023 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop
21. The Untold Story of Sarah Keys Evans: Civil Rights Soldier
Artika R. Tyner | Capstone Press | January 1, 2023 | Chp Bk | Amazon | Bookshop
22. Who Is Ketanji Brown Jackson?
Shelia P. Moses | Who HQ | Dede Putra | November 29, 2022 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop
23. The Courageous Six Triple Eight: The All-Black Female Battalion of World War II (Graphic)
Artika R. Tyner | Cynthia Paul | Capstone | August 1, 2022 | ChpBk | Amazon | Bookshop
24. Pauli Murray: Shouting for the Rights of All People
Deborah Nelson Linck | Angela Corbin | Morehouse Publishing | May 17, 2022 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop
25. VIP: Stacey Abrams: Voting Visionary
Andrea J. Loney | Shellene Rodney | HarperCollins | January 18, 2022 | Chp Bk | Amazon | Bookshop
26. Who Sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott?: Rosa Parks: A Who HQ Graphic Novel
Insha Fitzpatrick | Who HQ | Abelle Hayford | Penguin Workshop | January 11, 2022 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop
27. Kamala Harris
Tonya K. Grant | National Geographic Kids | January 4, 2022 | Chp Bk | Amazon | Bookshop
28. Speak Up, Speak Out!: The Extraordinary Life of Fighting Shirley Chisholm
Tonya Bolden | National Geographic Kids | January 4, 2022 | Chp Bk | Amazon | Bookshop
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
30. It’s Her Story: Ida B. Wells: A Graphic Novel
Anastasia Magloire Williams | Alleanna Harris | November 15, 2021 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop
31. Harriet Tubman: Toward Freedom: The Center for Cartoon Studies Presents
Whit Taylor | Kazimir LeeLittle | Brown BYR | June 15, 2021 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop
32. Becoming: Adapted for Young Readers
Michelle Obama | Delacorte BYR | March 2, 2021 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop
33. She Persisted: Claudette Colvin
Lesa Cline Ransome | Gillian Flint | Philomel | February 2, 2021 | Amazon | Bookshop
34. Mighty Justice (Young Readers Ed.): The Untold Story of Civil Rights Trailblazer Dovey Johnson Roundtree
Dovey Johnson Roundtree | Katie McCabe | Jabari Asim | Roaring Brook Press | December 15, 2020 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop
35. Claudette Colvin Refuses to Move: Courageous Kid of the Civil Rights Movement
Ebony Joy Wilkins | Mark Simmons | PB | August 1, 2020 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop
36. Lifting as We Climb: Black Women’s Battle for the Ballot Box
Evette Dionne | Viking BYR | April 21, 2020 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop
37. Never Caught, the Story of Ona Judge
Erica Armstrong Dunbar | Kathleen Van Cleve | Aladdin | January 8, 2019 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop
38. March Forward, Girl: From Young Warrior to Little Rock Nine
Melba Pattillo Beals | Frank Morrison | Clarion Books | December 24, 2019 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop
39. This Promise of Change: One Girl’s Story in the Fight for School Equality
Jo Ann Allen Boyce | Debbie Levy | Bloomsbury | January 8, 2019 | Amazon | Bookshop
40. The Untold Story of Annie Turnbo Malone: Hair Care Millionaire
Artika R. Tyner | Capstone Press | January 1, 2023 | Chp Bk | Amazon | Bookshop
41. She Persisted: Wangari Maathai
Eucabeth Odhiambo | Gillian Flint | Philomel | February 1, 2022 | Amazon | Bookshop
42. All about Madam C. J. Walker
Lelia Bundles | Kirsten Halvorsen | Blue River Press | January 1, 2018 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop
43. Star Child: A Biographical Constellation of Octavia Estelle Butler
Ibi Zoboi | Dutton BYR | January 25, 2022 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop
44. Changing the Equation: 50+ US Black Women in STEM
Tonya Bolden | Abrams BYR | March 3, 2020 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop
45. The Women Who Caught the Babies: A Story of African American Midwives
Eloise Greenfield | Daniel Minter | Alazar Press | September 1, 2019 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop
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