Antiracist Baby by Ibram X. Kendi, illus. by Ashley Lukashevsky
National Book Award winner Kendi addresses the youngest of readers in this board book introduction to combating racism, which outlines nine steps for raising accountable kids. A mindful companion for families striving together toward a more equitable future.
Stamped: Racism, Anti-Racism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi
Reynolds lends his signature flair to remixing Kendi’s award-winning Stamped from the Beginning into a powerful “not a history book” primer on the historical roots and present-day manifestations of antiblack racism in America. In five sections, Reynolds discusses the influential figures, movements, and events that have propagated racist ideas, beginning in 1415 with the publication of the infamous work that laid the groundwork for subsequent religious justifications of enslaving African peoples and continuing through the “war on drugs” and #BlackLivesMatter.
Black Brother, Black Brother by Jewell Parker Rhodes
In this middle grade novel, Rhodes tells the story of two biracial brothers, Donte and Trey, navigating racism, colorism, and bullying. This novel offers relatable, three-dimensional characters considering identity, who will teach readers about colorism’s effects.
Blended by Sharon M. Draper
After her parents’ divorce, competitive pianist Isabella, 11, divides her time between her white diner-waitress mother and her wealthy Black father. When a history class discussion about student protests and the history of lynching ends with a noose being placed in a black classmate’s locker, Isabella’s awareness of racist behavior skyrockets, as does her need to define who she is for herself.
For Black Girls Like Me by Mariama J. Lockington
In this middle grade debut (told without commas in a mix of narration, letters, and poetry), Lockington introduces budding poet Makeda Kirkland, 11, a Black girl adopted by a white family. With intimate authenticity, she explores how fierce but “colorblind” familial love can result in erasure and sensitively delineates the pain of facing casual racism, as well as the disconcerting experience of being the child of a mentally ill parent.
Genesis Begins Again by Alicia D. Williams
Forced to start over time and again because of a series of evictions, Genesis Anderson has a dearth of self-confidence (and a list of 96 reasons that she hates herself), and trouble making new friends. That slowly begins to change when her African American family moves to an upscale white suburb, and Genesis begins questioning the colorism that has seeped into her own psyche.
Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Sixth grader Stephen is growing up in Brooklyn; he loves “superheroes, fantasy, sci-fi” and basketball, as well as hanging out with his best friend Dan, the same as he always has. But though his white mother calls him “mixed,” since he’s half Black and half white, Stephen’s beginning to realize the world now sees him as “what they imagine or what the media teaches them to think about Black men.” In relatively few words, Maldonado elucidates matters related to racial profiling, police violence against Black people, and allyship.
SLAY by Brittany Morris
This debut explores gaming culture and the diversity of the African diaspora. Black teen Kiera Johnson has created a virtual reality game called SLAY as a safe space for Black gamers, but must keep her identity as its developer secret from her family and friends.
Counting on Community by Innosanto Nagara
Building on the success of A Is for Activist, this counting book celebrates active communities, devoting pages to everything from urban farming and chalk drawing to potlucks and protests.
Someday is Now by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich, illus. by Jade Johnson
In this sensitive story based on African American educator and activist Clara Luper, who, in 1958, organized students to take part in a lunch counter sit-in in Oklahoma City, Rhuday-Perkovich depicts Luper’s early awakening to racial inequity that led her to channel her energies into teaching Black children about history and the power of nonviolent demonstration. An authentic tribute to a brave and compassionate activist.
Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer by Carole Boston Weatherford
In this multi-award winning volume, Weatherford shares the story of Fannie Lou Hamer, a champion of civil rights from the 1950s until her death in 1977. Integral to the Freedom Summer of 1964, Hamer gave a speech at the Democratic National Convention that, despite President Johnson’s interference, aired on national TV news and spurred the nation to support the Freedom Democrats.
This Promise of Change by Jo Ann Allen Boyce and Debbie Levy
Boyce, one of 12 Black students who integrated Clinton, Tenn.’s public high school in August 1956, following racial desegregation, relays the story of that harrowing experience in verse. Addressing the duplicity of the court-ordered integration, Boyce poignantly describes the cruelty of white students, while never losing hope in the belief that racial equality is attainable and that she can help make it happen.
We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices edited by Wade Hudson and Cheryl Willis Hudson
Wade and Cheryl Willis Hudson, founders of Just Us Books, offer this empowering anthology to counter today’s often-unsettling political climate for children of varying ethnicities, faiths, identities, and abilities, presenting 30 illustrated essays, poems, stories, and letters from more than 50 diverse children’s book creators. Contributions aim to calm, sustain, and inspire children.
Saving Savannah by Tonya Bolden
Following Inventing Victoria, Bolden returns to the world of upper-class African American society in historical Washington, D.C., where she explores the tumultuous changes of 1919—the fight for women’s suffrage, the New Negro movement, the growth of anarchism—through the eyes of 17-year-old Savannah Riddle, who has grown increasingly embarrassed, even repulsed, by her privileged life. Enhanced by a comprehensive author’s note, this is a valuable portrayal of affluent African American society and of post-WWI life.
I Am Enough by by Grace Byers, illus. by Keturah A. Bobo
An ode to self-confidence and kindness from actor and activist Grace Byers, this picture book depicts girls of diverse body shapes and skin tones.
The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson
In this picture book, former National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Woodson imagines being “an only” in the classroom—what it’s like to be the only one with an accent (“No one understands the way words curl from your mouth”), the only one who stayed home during summer vacation (“What good is this/ when other students were flying/ and sailing”), the only one whose lunch box is filled with food “too strange or too unfamiliar for others to love as you do.” Without prescribing sympathy, Woodson’s poetic lines give power to each child’s experience.
Magnificent Homespun Brown by by Samara Cole Doyon, illus. by Kaylani Juanita
Browns of all kinds are lauded through a natural lens in this celebration of community and belonging. Inclusive mixed media art by Juanita portrays scenes of comfort and abundance: families laughing and cuddling; women enjoying bounty; children engaging in leaping, lively play. Throughout, the creators draw the beauty of the natural world—a forest, a snowstorm—into relationship with the characters until the twined concepts become part of a quilted family tree.
Ways to Make Sunshine by Renée Watson
In this series opener, a loose reimagining of Ramona Quimby’s exploits, Watson adroitly captures the uncertainty of growing up amid change through the eyes of an irrepressible Black girl. In vignette-style chapters, Watson warmly weaves together slice-of-life moments that capture youthful doubt alongside moments of loss and joy, showing a tight-knit family navigating difficulties with plenty of courage and plenty of love.
King and Dragonflies by Kacen Callender
In this tale of grief, intersectional identity, and love, 12-year-old Kingston “King” Reginald James has lost his beloved older brother, Khalid, 16, three months before the story starts, though King believes Khalid has become a dragonfly and visits nightly in his dreams. When Charles “Sandy” Sanders—the son of the racist sheriff and King’s former friend—disappears, and King realizes he was the last to see Sandy, he ponders his obligation to tell anyone; King knows Sandy is a victim of domestic abuse and suspects Sandy’s father is the perpetrator. King shines wholly real as a Black child learning to negotiate shifting interpersonal relationships and navigate sociocultural pressures and expectations.
From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks
On her 12th birthday, aspiring pastry chef Zoe Washington receives a letter from Marcus, the biological father she’s never met, who has been serving time for murder since just before Zoe’s birth. Zoe’s mother and stepfather don’t want her in touch with Marcus, but Zoe, curious, strikes up a correspondence with the help of her maternal grandmother, who believes Marcus to be “a good person at heart.” When Marcus tells Zoe he is innocent, and her grandmother agrees, Zoe begins to learn about inequality in the criminal justice system, and she sets out to find the alibi witness who can prove his innocence.
Clean Getaway by Nic Stone
Part history lesson, part road trip, this middle grade debut by the YA author stars William “Scoob” Lamar, a biracial, Black-presenting 12-year-old, as he heads off on a road trip with his beloved grandmother, G’ma, who is white. He mostly goes to escape a punishment from his father, but as the two make their way through the South, Scoob learns more about the grandfather whom he never met, the interracial couple’s 1963 road trip, which G’ma aims to complete, and the ways in which the world has changed and remained the same.
So Done by Paula Chase
Growing up together in a housing project, 13-year-olds Tai and Mila are longtime best friends, but they couldn’t be more opposite, and their differences only increase after Mila spends the summer in the suburbs with her aunt and older sister. When she returns home, Tai senses that something in Mila has changed, and it causes a rift, leaving only their mutual love of dance and the upcoming audition for a program designed for fine arts students. Chase vividly conjures the triumphs, tensions, and worries percolating in the girls’ low-income neighborhood alongside the growing anticipation about who will be chosen for the program and whether Mila will divulge her secret.
The Last Last-Day-of-Summer by Lamar Giles
In the Virginia county that’s home to African American cousins and renowned sleuths Otto and Sheed Alston, curious goings-on are commonplace, but on the last day of summer vacation, things “get stranger than usual”—by a lot. A fantastical time war plays out at a dizzying pace as Giles interjects affecting realism with themes of reconciliation, family, identity, and destiny.