March is Women’s History Month! In case you missed it, our Women’s History Month: 68 Picture Books by Black Authors list features well-known, history-making women and some lesser-known trailblazers. Although picture books are for everyone, here are some selections for older readers. Rebecca Lee Crumpler, Bridget Mason, Augusta Savage, Ona Judge, STEM sheroes, voting rights pioneers, music icons, and more are all waiting to be discovered in the chapter, middle-grade, and young adult books listed.
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1. Stagecoach Mary: Fearless Old West Mail Carrier
Wayne L. Wilson | Curious Fox Books | February 25, 2025 | Chp Bk
2. The Story of Fannie Lou Hamer
Margeaux Weston | Callisto Kids | January 7, 2025 | Chp Bk
3. Shirley Chisholm: Champion of Change
Tonya Allen | Chasity Hampton | Planting People Growing Justice Press | January 1, 2025 | Chp Bk
4. Hitting Her Way to the Negro Leagues: A Graphic Novel Biography of Toni Stone
Myra Faye Turner | Markia Jenai | Capstone | January 1, 2025 | Chp Bk
Crystal Hubbard | Penguin Workshop | December 24, 2024 | MG
6. Finding Rebecca: The Forgotten Life of Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler
Shani Mahiri King | Nicole Tadgell | Tilbury House | October 15, 2024 | Chp Bk
Crystal Hubbard | Gregory Copeland | Penguin Workshop | October 15, 2024 | MG
8. The Story of Serena Williams
Shadae B. Mallory | Tequitia Andrews | Callisto Kids | August 13, 2024 | Chp Bk
9. The Untold Story of Bridget Mason: A Freedwoman Becomes an Entrepreneur
Dr. Artika R. Tyner | Capstone | August 1, 2024 | Chp Bk
10. Marian Anderson Sings for a Nation
Myra Faye Turner | Katura Gaines | Capstone Press | August 1, 2024 | Chp Bk
11. She Persisted: Naomi Osaka
Kekla Magoon | Gillian Flint | Philomel Books | July 2, 2024 | Chp Bk
12. Mae Jemison: Shooting for the Stars: The First Black Woman in Space
Chris Singleton | Ryan G. Van Cleave | Adriana Pérez Perales | Bushel & Peck | May 7, 2024 | Chp Bk
13. Hoop Queens 2
Charles R. Smith Jr. | Candlewick | May 7, 2024 | MG
Shelia P. Moses | Gillian Flint | Philomel | December 19, 2023 | Chp Bk
15. She Persisted: Simone Biles
Kekla Magoon | Gillian Flint | Philomel | October 17, 2023 | Chp Bk
16. My Name Is Phillis Wheatley: A Story of Slavery and Freedom
Afua Cooper | Kids Can Press | May 2, 2023 | MG
17. She Persisted: Ella Fitzgerald
Andrea Davis Pinkney | Gillian Flint | Philomel | April 4, 2023 | Chp Bk
18. Boundless
Chaunté Lowe | Scholastic | March 7, 2023 | MG
19. She Persisted: Dorothy Height
Kelly Starling Lyons | Gillian Flint | Philomel | February 7, 2023 |Chp Bk
20. 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
21. History Comics: Rosa Parks and Claudette Colvin: Civil Rights Heroes
Tracey Baptiste | Shauna J. Grant | First Second | January 3, 2023 | MG
22. The Untold Story of Sarah Keys Evans: Civil Rights Soldier
Artika R. Tyner | Capstone Press | January 1, 2023 | Chp Bk
23. The Untold Story of Annie Turnbo Malone: Hair Care Millionaire
Artika R. Tyner | Capstone Press | January 1, 2023 | Chp Bk
24. Who Is Ketanji Brown Jackson?
Shelia P. Moses | Who HQ | Dede Putra | November 29, 2022 | MG
25.The Courageous Six Triple Eight: The All-Black Female Battalion of World War II
Artika R. Tyner | Cynthia Paul | Capstone | August 1, 2022 | ChpBk
26. She Persisted: Marian Anderson
Katheryn Russell-Brown | Gillian Flint | Philomel | June 7, 2022 | Chp Bk
27. Pauli Murray: Shouting for the Rights of All People
Deborah Nelson Linck | Angela Corbin | Morehouse Publishing | May 17, 2022 | MG
28. She Persisted: Wangari Maathai
Eucabeth Odhiambo | Gillian Flint | Philomel | February 1, 2022 | Chp Bk
29. Augusta Savage: The Shape of a Sculptor’s Life
Marilyn Nelson | Tammi Lawson | Henry Holt and Co. BYR | January 25, 2022 | YA
30. Star Child: A Biographical Constellation of Octavia Estelle Butler
Ibi Zoboi | Dutton BYR | January 25, 2022 | MG
31. VIP: Stacey Abrams: Voting Visionary
Andrea J. Loney | Shellene Rodney | HarperCollins | January 18, 2022 | Chp Bk
32. 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
33. Kamala Harris
Tonya K. Grant | National Geographic Kids | January 4, 2022 | Chp Bk
34. Speak Up, Speak Out!: The Extraordinary Life of Fighting Shirley Chisholm
Tonya Bolden | National Geographic Kids | January 4, 2022 | Chp Bk
35. 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
36. 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
37. She Persisted: Oprah Winfrey
Renée Watson | Gillian Flint | Philomel | December 21, 2021 | Chp Bk
38. Faith Ringgold: Narrating the World in Pattern and Color
Sharna Jackson | Andrea Pippins | PDK Children | November 30, 2021 | Chp Bk
39. It’s Her Story: Ida B. Wells
Anastasia Magloire Williams | Alleanna Harris | November 15, 2021 | MG
40. Black Ballerinas: My Journey to Our Legacy
Misty Copeland | Salena Barnes| Aladdin | November 2, 2021 | MG
41. She Persisted: Ruby Bridges
Kekla Magoon | Gillian Flint | Philomel | August 24, 2021 | Chp Bk
42. She Persisted: Florence Griffith Joyner
Rita Williams-Garcia | Gillian Flint | Philomel | June 29, 2021 | Chp Bk
43. Harriet Tubman: Toward Freedom
Whit Taylor | Kazimir LeeLittle | Brown BYR | June 15, 2021 | MG
44. VIP: Mahalia Jackson: Freedom’s Voice
Denise Lewis Patrick | Jennifer Bricking | HarperCollins | May 4, 2021 | ChBk
45. The Story of Michelle Obama
Christine Platt | Callisto Kids | April 6, 2021 | Chp Bk
46. Becoming (Adapted for Young Readers)
Michelle Obama | Delacorte BYR | March 2, 2021 | MG
47. She Persisted: Claudette Colvin
Lesa Cline Ransome | Gillian Flint | Philomel | February 2, 2021 | Chp Bk
Dovey Johnson Roundtree | Katie McCabe | Jabari Asim | Roaring Brook Press | December 15, 2020 | MG
49. Claudette Colvin Refuses to Move: Courageous Kid of the Civil Rights Movement
Ebony Joy Wilkins | Mark Simmons | PB | August 1, 2020 | MG
50. Lifting as We Climb: Black Women’s Battle for the Ballot Box
Evette Dionne | Viking BYR | April 21, 2020 | MG
51. Changing the Equation: 50+ US Black Women in STEM
Tonya Bolden | Abrams BYR | March 3, 2020 | MG
52. Trailblazers: Beyoncé: Queen of the Spotlight
Ebony Joy Wilkins | Random House | January 14, 2020 | MG
53. Brave. Black. First.: 50+ African American Women Who Changed the World
Cheryl Willis Hudson | Erin K. Robinson | Crown BYR | January 7, 2020 | MG
54. March Forward, Girl: From Young Warrior to Little Rock Nine
Melba Pattillo Beals | Frank Morrison | Clarion Books | December 24, 2019 | YA
55. The Women Who Caught the Babies: A Story of African American Midwives
Eloise Greenfield | Daniel Minter | Alazar Press | September 1, 2019 | MG
56. Proud: Living My American Dream
Ibtihaj Muhammad | Little, Brown BYR | August 20, 2019 | MG
57. The Truths We Hold: An American Journey (Young Readers Edition)
Kamala Harris | Philomel Books | May 7, 2019 | YA
58. Never Caught, the Story of Ona Judge (Young Readers Edition)
Erica Armstrong Dunbar | Kathleen Van Cleve | Aladdin | January 8, 2019 | MG
59. This Promise of Change: One Girl’s Story in the Fight for School Equality
Jo Ann Allen Boyce | Debbie Levy | Bloomsbury | January 8, 2019 | YA
60. All about Madam C. J. Walker
Lelia Bundles | Kirsten Halvorsen | Blue River Press | January 1, 2018 | MG
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