It’s February—Black History Month! This time of the year always brings celebration, joy, and remembrance. As with “Images and Inspirations (Part 1)” we must mention and give honor to Carter G. Woodson for the vigilance that allowed him to observe and speak out against the negative images of people of African descent that inundated the media, literature, and society as a whole. Part 2 of Images and Inspirations features books for chapter and middle-grade readers and contain fiction and nonfiction stories.
1 Take Back the Block
Chrystal D. Giles | Random House BYR | January 26, 2021 | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
2 Have I Ever Told You Black Lives Matter
Shani King | Bobby C. Martin Jr. | Tilbury House Publishers | January 19, 2021 | Amazon | IndieBound
3 Lewis Latimer: Engineering Wizard
Denise Lewis Patrick | Daniel Duncan | HarperCollins | January 5, 2021 | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
4 Root Magic
Eden Royce | Walden Pond Press | January 5 , 2021 | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
5 What Is the Civil Rights Movement? (What Was?)
Sherri L. Smith | Tim Foley | Penguin Workshop | December 29, 2020 | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
6 I Love Being Me! (Step into Reading)
Mechal Renee Roe | Random House BYR | December 15, 2020 | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
7 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 | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
8 Serena Says
Tanita S. Davis | HarperCollins/Tegen Books | November 3, 2020 | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
9 GLORY: Magical Visions of Black Beauty
Kahran Bethencourt | Regis Bethencourt | St. Martin’s Press | October 20, 2020 | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
10 Class Act (Bk. 2 of 2)
Jerry Craft | Quill Tree | October 6, 2020 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
11 Twins (Twins Bk. 1)
Varian Johnson | Shannon Wright | Graphix | October 6, 2020 | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
12 Becoming Muhammad Ali
Kwame Alexander | James Patterson | Dawud Anyabwile | Jimmy Patterson | October 5, 2020 | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
13 Black Heroes of the Wild West: Featuring Stagecoach Mary, Bass Reeves, and Bob Lemmons: A TOON Graphic
James Otis Smith | TOON Graphics | September 15, 2020 | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
14 The True Definition of Neva Beane
Christine Kendall | Scholastic | September 15, 2020 | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
15 Ty’s Travels: Zip, Zoom!
Kelly Starling Lyons | Nina Mata | HarperCollins | September 1, 2020 | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
16 Jayla Jumps In
Joy Jones | Albert Whitman & Company | September 1, 2020 | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
17 Isaiah Dunn is My Hero
Kelly J. Baptist | Crown BYR | August 18, 2020 | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
18 Bee Fearless: Dream Like a Kid
Mikaila Ulmer | G.P. Putnam’s Sons BYR | August 18, 2020 | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
19 The Magic in Changing Your Stars
Leah Henderson | Sterling Children’s Books | August 4, 2020 | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
20 Sadiq and the Bridge Builders
Siman Nuurali | Anjan Sarkar | Picture Window Books | August 1, 2020 | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
21 A Star Like Jesse Owens (Smithsonian Historical Fiction)
Nikki Shannon | Lisa Manuzak Wiley | Capstone Press | August 1, 2020 | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
22 Claudette Colvin Refuses to Move: Courageous Kid of the Civil Rights Movement (Courageous Kids)
Ebony Joy Wilkins | Mark Simmons | Capstone Press | August 1, 2020 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
23 The Magnificent Makers: How to Test a Friendship (Bk. 1 of 3)
Theanne Griffith | Reggie Brown | Random House BYR | May 19, 2020 | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
24 Ways to Make Sunshine
Renée Watson | Bloomsbury Children’s Books | April 28, 2020 | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
25 Lifting as We Climb: Black Women’s Battle for the Ballot Box
Evette Dionne | Viking BYR | MG | April 21, 2020 | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
26 Great Escapes #2: Journey to Freedom, 1838
Sherri Winston, | James Bernardin | April 28, 2020 | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
27 Summer in the City (Mango Delight Bk. 2 of 2)
Fracaswell Hyman | Sterling Children’s Books | MG | March 31 | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
28 Woke: A Young Poet’s Call to Justice
Mahogany L. Browne | Elizabeth Acevedo | Olivia Gatwood | Theodore Taylor III | Roaring Brook | March 10, 2020 | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
29 The Only Black Girls in Town
Brandy Colbert | Little, Brown BYR | March 10, 2020 | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
30 Changing the Equation: 50+ US Black Women in STEM
Tonya Bolden | Abrams Books for Young Readers | March 3, 2020 | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
31 King and the Dragonflies
Kacen Callender | Scholastic Press | February 4, 2020 | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
32 From the Desk of Zoe Washington
Janae Marks | Katherine Tegen Books | January 14, 2020 | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
33 Brave. Black. First.: 50 African American Women Who Led the Way
Cheryl Hudson | Erin K. Robinson | Crown BYR | January 7, 2020 | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
34 What Were the Negro Leagues?
Varian Johnson | Who HQ | Stephen Marchesi | Penguin Workshop | MG | December 24, 2019 | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
35 Reach for the Skai: How to Inspire, Empower, and Clapback
Skai Jackson | Crown BYR | October 1, 2019 | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
36 Mo’s Bows: A Young Person’s Guide to Startup Success: Measure, Cut, Stitch Your Way to a Great Business
Moziah Bridges, Tramica Morris | Running Press Kids | October 15, 2019 | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
37 Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky (A Tristan Strong Novel, Bk 1 of 2)
Kwame Mbalia | Rick Riordan Presents | October 15, 2019 | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
38 The Last Last-Day-of-Summer (A Legendary Alston Boys Adventure) (Bk 1 of 3)
Lamar Giles | Dapo Adeola | Versify | April 2, 2019 | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
39 A Black Woman Did That!
Malaika Adero | Chante Timothy | MG | Downtown Bookworks | January 29, 2019 | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
40 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 | IndieBound
41 Never Caught, the Story of Ona Judge: George and Martha Washington’s Courageous Slave Who Dared to Run Away, (YRE)
Erica Armstrong Dunbar | Kathleen Van Cleve | Aladdin | January 8, 2019 | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
42 Dragons in a Bag
Zetta Elliott | Geneva B | Random House BYR | October 23, 2018 | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
43 The Season of Styx Malone
Kekla Magoon | Wendy Lamb Books | October 16, 2018 | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
44 Tight
Torrey Maldonado | Nancy Paulsen Books | September 4, 2018 | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
45 Jake the Fake Keeps it Real (Bk 1 of 3)
Craig Robinson | Adam Mansbach | Keith Knight | September 4, 2018 | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
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