Black History Month: Teen Nonfiction

Updated February 3, 2026
Drag items up and down to your preferred order then select the "Save Order" button.
A mighty long way : my journey to justice at Little Rock Central High School
LaNier, Carlotta Walls
Paper Book
Follow the story of Carlotta Walls LaNier, who in 1957 at the age of fourteen was one of nine black students who integrated the all-white Little Rock Central High School and became known as the Little Rock Nine. At fourteen years old, Carlotta Walls was the youngest member of the...
Illustrated Black history : honoring the iconic and the unseen
McCalman, George
Paper Book
*AWARD WINNER* of the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work - Debut Author / and the NCBR Recognition Award A gorgeous collection of 145 original portraits that celebrates Black pioneers--famous and little-known--in politics, science, literature, music, and more-...
Call him Jack : the story of Jackie Robinson, Black freedom fighter
Williams, Yohuru
Paper Book
An enthralling, eye-opening portrayal of this barrier-breaking American hero as a lifelong, relentlessly proud fighter for Black justice and civil rights. According to Martin Luther King, Jr., Jackie Robinson was "a sit-inner before the sit-ins, a freedom rider...
Revolution in our time : the Black Panther Party's promise to the people
Magoon, Kekla
Paper Book
A National Book Award Finalist A Coretta Scott King Author Award Honor Book A Michael L. Printz Honor Book A Walter Dean Myers Honor Book With passion and precision, Kekla Magoon relays an essential account of the Black...
The burning : Black Wall Street and the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921
Beard, Hilary
Paper Book
One of the worst acts of racist violence in American history took place in 1921, when a White mob numbering in the thousands decimated the thriving Black community of Greenwood in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The Burning recreates Greenwood at the height of its prosperity, explores...
The rebellious life of Mrs. Rosa Parks
Theoharis, Jeanne
Paper Book
"Jeanne's book not only inspired the documentary but has been a catalyst in changing our national understanding of Rosa Parks. Highly recommend!"-Soledad O'Brien, executive producer of the Peabody Award-winning documentary The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks "A must...
Stolen justice : the struggle for African American voting rights
Goldstone, Lawrence
Paper Book
A thrilling and incisive examination of the post-Reconstruction era struggle for and suppression of African American voting rights in the United States.Following the Civil War, the Reconstruction era raised a new question to those in power in the US: Should African Americans, so many of them...
Stamped : racism, antiracism, and you
Reynolds, Jason
Paper Book
Don't miss this "fresh and conversational" (TIME Magazine), "potent and provocative" (The San Francisco Chronicle), #1 New York Times bestselling exploration of racism--and antiracism--in America. ...
Lifting as we climb : black women's battle for the ballot box
Dionne, Evette
Paper Book
For African American women, the fight for the right to vote was only one battle. This Coretta Scott King Author Honor book tells the important, overlooked story of black women as a force in the suffrage movement--when fellow suffragists did not accept them as equal...
Accused! : the trials of the Scottsboro Boys : lies, prejudice, and the Fourteenth Amendment
Brimner, Larry Dane
Paper Book
This chilling and harrowing account tells the story of the Scottsboro Boys, nine African-American teenagers who, when riding the rails during the Great Depression, found their lives destroyed after two white women falsely accused them of rape. Award-winning author Larry Dane Brimner explains how...
Unpunished murder : massacre at Colfax and the quest for justice
Goldstone, Lawrence
Paper Book
The riveting story of how the Supreme Court turned a blind eye on justice, stripped away the equal rights promised to all Americans, and ushered in the era of Jim Crow.On Easter Sunday of 1873, just eight years after the Civil War ended, a band of white supremacists marched into Grant Parish,...
In the shadow of Liberty : the hidden history of slavery, four presidents, and five black lives
Davis, Kenneth C.
Paper Book
Did you know that many of America's Founding Fathers--who fought for liberty and justice for all--were slave owners? Through the powerful stories of five enslaved people who were "owned" by four of our greatest presidents, this book helps set the record straight about the role...
Courage has no color : the true story of the Triple Nickles : America's first Black paratroopers
Stone, Tanya Lee.
Paper Book
They became America's first black paratroopers. Why was their story never told? Sibert Medalist Tanya Lee Stone reveals the history of the Triple Nickles during World War II. World War II is raging, and thousands of American soldiers are fighting overseas against the injustices...
Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, an American slave, written by himself : a new critical edition
Douglass, Frederick
Paper Book
Details the life of the internationally famous abolitionist Frederick Douglass, from his birth into slavery in 1818 to his escape to the North in 1838 - how he endured the daily physical and spiritual brutalities of his owners and drivers, how he learned to read and write, and how he grew into a man...
I know why the caged bird sings
Angelou, Maya.
Paper Book
Maya Angelou's debut memoir is a modern American classic beloved worldwide. Her life story is told in the documentary film And Still I Rise, as seen on PBS's American Masters. Here is a book as joyous and painful, as mysterious and memorable, as childhood itself....

Library staff! You can create and contribute to lists. Contact your catalog administrator or log in here.