One of the goals of the Upper School Diversity Committee is to celebrate all types of cultures and identities. Therefore, we want to highlight and recognize Black History Month this February! Black History Month focuses on a part of American history that is specific to that identity, representation, and diversity among Black Americans and the African diaspora. Throughout the month, we would like you all to reflect on the importance of Black history and culture as well as the role it plays in American History. We have collaborated with MLK Club to come up with a list of book recommendations for Black History Month that go with this year’s theme of Resilience. We believe that this theme best represents Black History, especially in the context of this year. We would love for you to take a look at our list of our recommendations and consider reading a couple of books throughout the month of February, and hopefully for months to follow. These books cover many topics that tell Black stories that are mostly by Black authors. As you scroll you will find the books are categorized by grade division to best fit each reader! We took a lot of time to formulate this list and we hope that you have as much fun reading these books as we did!
Lower School Books
Bold Women in Black History by Vashti Harrison
Black is a Rainbow Color by Angela Joy
Dream Big Little one by Vashiti Harrison
If You Were a Kid During the Civil Rights Movement by Gwendolyn Hooks
The Watsons Go to Birmingham by Christopher Paul Curtis
Can I Touch Your Hair?: Poems of Race, Mistakes, and Friendship by Charles Waters and Irene Latham
Something Happened in Our Town by Donald Moses and Marianne Celano
Who was Series: Louis Armstrong, Martin Luther King Jr, Federick Douglas, Jesse Owens, George Washinton Carver, Sojourner Truth, Stevie Wonder, Booker T. Washington, Aretha Franklin, Ida B. Wells, Duke Ellington
Who is Series: Kamala Harris, Venus and Serena Williams, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Barack & Michelle Obama
One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
The ABC’s of Bldk History by Rio Cortez
Henry’s Freedom Box by Ellen Levine and Kadir Nelson
The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles
Rosa by Nikki Giovanni
Middle School Books
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
Little and Lion by Brandy Colbert
One Crazy Summer by Rita Willams-Garcia
Bud not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis
Monsters by Walter Dean Myers
Can I Touch Your Hair?: Poems of Race, Mistakes, and Friendship by Charles Waters and Irene Latham
Stella by Starlight by Sharon M. Draper
The Lions of Little Rock by Kristin Levine
The Blossoming Universe of Violet Diamond by Brenda Woods
Upper School Books
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sing by Maya Angelou
The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
Becoming by Michelle Obama
A Promise Land by Barack Obama
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
Assata: An Autobiography by Assata Shakur
Let Me Hear a Rhyme by Tiffany D. Jackson
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Beloved by Toni Morrison
Between the World and Me by Ta-nehisi Coates
The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
Can I Touch Your Hair?: Poems of Race, Mistakes, and Friendship by Charles Waters and Irene Latham
A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines
The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama
The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisis Coates
Days of Grace by Arthur Ashe
Malcolm X Speaks by George Breitman
Born A Crime by Trevor Noah
Best African American Essays 2009 by Gerald Early and Debra J. Dickerson
Best African American Fiction 2009 by Gerald Early and E. Lynn Harris
The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates by Wes Moore
Can You Hear Me Now? by Micheal Eric Dyson
The Micheal Eric Dyson Reader by Micheal Eric Dyson
The Soul of a Butterfly by Muhammad Ali
Dear Martin by Nic Stone
Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas
Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
Piecing Me Together by Renée Watson
Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson
On The Come Up by Angie Thomas
