Black History Month Book List for Kids, Tweens and Teens.

This book list includes a celebration of black history, achievement, and innovation of black men, women and children through the years. These children and teen information books have received starred reviews, and/or prestigious awards such as the Michael L. Printz Award, Boston Globe/Horn Book Nonfiction Award, Newbery Honor Award, Coretta Scott King Award, School Library Journal Best Book of the Year Award, ALSC Notable Children's Book to name a few. All the books on this list are available through the Sussex County Library System.

Updated January 15, 2026
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Sussex County Library System (NJ) Sussex County Library System (NJ)
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Black History Month Book List for Kids, Tweens and Teens.

This book list includes a celebration of black history, achievement, and innovation of black men, women and children through the years. These children and teen information books have received starred reviews, and/or prestigious awards such as the Michael L. Printz Award, Boston Globe/Horn Book Nonfiction Award, Newbery Honor Award, Coretta Scott King Award, School Library Journal Best Book of the Year Award, ALSC Notable Children's Book to name a few. All the books on this list are available through the Sussex County Library System.

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Black heroes of the wild west /
Smith, James Otis
Paper Book
"The racial and cultural diversity of the Old West gets the comic-book treatment in Smith's exploration of the lives and adventures of three Black historical figures...It's about time."-Kirkus Reviews NYPL'S TOP 10 BOOKS ​FOR KIDS A Junior Library Guild Gold...
The book itch : freedom, truth & Harlem's greatest bookstore
Nelson, Vaunda Micheaux
Ebook
In the 1930s, Lewis's dad, Lewis Michaux Sr., had an itch he needed to scratch--a book itch. How to scratch it? He started a bookstore in Harlem and named it the National Memorial African Bookstore. And as far as Lewis Michaux Jr. could tell, his father's bookstore was one of a kind....
Everywhere beauty is Harlem : the vision of photographer Roy DeCarava
Golio, Gary
Paper Book
A Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book A Shelf Awareness Best Book of the Year A Kirkus Best Picture Book of the Year A Kirkus Best Picture Book Biography CCBC Choices 2025 A Kirkus Reviews Most Anticipated Book of 2024 The New York Public Library Best...
The fierce 44 : black Americans who shook up the world
Reiss, Stephen
Ebook
A dynamic collective biography that presents 44 of America's greatest Black movers and shakers, from Frederick Douglass to Aretha Franklin to Barack Obama, written by ESPN's TheUndefeated and illustrated with dazzling portraits by Rob Ball. From visionaries to entrepreneurs, athletes...
Garvey's choice :
Grimes, Nikki
Paper Book
Award-winning author Nikki Grimes's beloved novel in verse Garvey's Choice is now a graphic novel, imaginatively and dramatically illustrated by Little Shaq artist Theodore Taylor III.  Garvey's father has always wanted Garvey to be athletic, but Garvey is...
I have a dream
King, Martin Luther, Jr.
Paper Book
Experience history with this picture book of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s iconic speech, including an audio CD. This Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book will inspire young readers! From Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s daughter, Dr. Bernice A. King: "My father's dream...
The highest tribute : Thurgood Marshall's life, leadership, and legacy
Magoon, Kekla
Paper Book
A brilliant picture book biography about Thurgood Marshall, who fought for equality during the Civil Rights Movement and served as the first Black justice on the Supreme Court, from Coretta Scott King Honor winners Kekla Magoon and Laura Freeman. Growing up in Baltimore, Thurgood Marshall...
Invincible : fathers and mothers of Black America
Hudson, Wade
Ebook
This lyrical picture book explores the birth of Black America, focusing on the little-known men and women who fought for justice and for an America where freedom truly rang for all. We're familiar with the founding fathers of white America, but who are the founding fathers (and...
King : a life
Eig, Jonathan
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE 2024 PULITZER PRIZE FOR BIOGRAPHY Featured on Amazon''s Al Woolworth''s Top 10 Books of the Past 25 Years A finalist for the 2023 National Book Critics Circle Award | Named one of the ten best books of 2023 by The Washington Post<...
Lizzie demands a seat! : Elizabeth Jennings fights for streetcar rights
Anderson, Beth
Paper Book
In 1854, Elizabeth "Lizzie" Jennings, an African American schoolteacher, fought back when she was unjustly denied entry to a New York City streetcar, sparking the beginnings of the long struggle to gain equal rights on public transportation. One hundred years before Rosa Parks...
A long time coming : a lyrical biography of race in America from Ona Judge to Barack Obama
Shepard, Ray Anthony
Paper Book
This YA biography-in-verse of six important Black Americans from different eras, including Ona Judge, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Ida B. Wells, Martin Luther King Jr., and Barack Obama, chronicles the diverse ways each fought racism and shows how much-and how little-has changed for Black...
Memphis, Martin, and the mountaintop : the sanitation strike of 1968
Duncan, Alice Faye
Paper Book
Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book * School Library Journal Best Book of the Year * Booklist Editors' Choice * Kirkus Reviews Best Children's Book * Booklist Top 10 Diverse Books for Middle Grade or Older Readers * Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Books This award...
Ordinary hazards : a memoir
Grimes, Nikki
Paper Book
Michael L. Printz Honor Book Robert F. Sibert Honor Book Boston Globe/Horn Book Nonfiction Honor Book Arnold Adoff Poetry Award for Teens Six Starred Reviews--★Booklist ★BCCB ★The Horn Book ★Publishers Weekly ★School Library Connection...
Seeking freedom : the untold story of Fortress Monroe and the ending of slavery in America
Castrovilla, Selene
Paper Book
A New York Public Library Best Book for Kids In this dramatic Civil War story, a courageousenslaved fugitive teams with a cunning Union general to save a Union fort from the Confederates-and triggers the end ofslavery in the United States. This is the first children's nonfiction book...
The teachers march! : how Selma's teachers changed history
Wallace, Sandra Neil
Paper Book
Demonstrating the power of protest and standing up for a just cause, here is an exciting tribute to the educators who participated in the 1965 Selma Teachers' March. Reverend F.D. Reese was a leader of the Voting Rights Movement in Selma, Alabama. As a teacher and principal, he...
This is the rope : a story from the Great Migration
Woodson, Jacqueline.
Paper Book
The story of one family's journey north during the Great Migration starts with a little girl in South Carolina who finds a rope under a tree one summer. She has no idea the rope will become part of her family's history. But for three generations, that rope is passed down, used for everything from...
The Underground Railroad
Messner, Kate
Ebook
Myths! Lies! Secrets! Uncover the hidden truth about the Underground Railroad and Black Americans' struggle for freedom. Perfect for fans of I Survived! and Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales. Before the Civil War, there was a crack team of abolitionists who used quilts...
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