Celebrate Freedom & Learn About Our History

This Juneteenth reading list includes recommendations from the National Museum of African American History and Culture, with some additions from our librarians. The books included cover a variety of reading levels.

Updated May 18, 2023
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How the word is passed : a reckoning with the history of slavery across America
Smith, Clint
Paper Book
ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S FAVOURITE BOOKS OF THE YEAR A NUMBER ONE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR NON-FICTION 'A beautifully readable reminder of how much of our urgent, collective history resounds in places all...
Conjure Women A Novel
Atakora, Afia.
Paper Book
A Stylist Best Book of 2020 You're free to decide your future. But how do you escape the ghosts of the past? A stunning debut novel with echoes of Yaa Gyasi's Homegoing and Sara Collins' The Confessions of Frannie Langton The pale-skinned, black-eyed baby is a...
Four hundred souls : a community history of African America, 1619-2019
Kendi, Ibram X.
Paper Book
*THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER* Four Hundred Souls is an epoch-defining history of African America, the first to appear in a generation, told by ninety leading Black voices -- co-curated by Ibram X. Kendi, author of the million-copy bestseller How To Be an...
Juneteenth for Mazie
Cooper, Floyd
Ebook
Mazie is ready to celebrate liberty. She is ready to celebrate freedom. She is ready to celebrate a great day in American history. The day her ancestors were no longer slaves. Mazie remembers the struggles and the triumph, as she gets ready to celebrate Juneteenth.
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. ...
Get up, stand up
Marley, Cedella
Paper Book
The music of Bob Marley has inspired listeners from all over the world with messages of peace, love, and truth. In this empowering adaptation of one of his most loved songs, a new generation can take heart from his joyful call to action, which shows that the way to counter injustice is to lift...
The underground railroad : a novel
Whitehead, Colson
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR FICTION 2017 WINNER OF THE ARTHUR C. CLARKE AWARD 2017 LONGLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2017 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER 2016 AMAZON.COM #1 BOOK OF THE YEAR 2016 ...
Libertie : a novel
Greenidge, Kaitlyn
Paper Book
From the critically acclaimed and Whiting Award-winning author of We Love You, Charlie Freeman comes a book about what freedom actually means - and where to find it.

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