Here are a few titles to read during Black History Month. Lasted updated 2/8/18.
Chasing King’s Killer: The Hunt for Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Assassin by James L. Swanson
Ten years before his untimely assassination,
Martin Luther King, Jr. was almost fatally stabbed by a mentally ill woman
wielding a letter-opener. Beginning with this little-known attack on King’s
life, Swanson’s history chronicles not only his humble beginnings, but also his
meteoric rise from little-known minister to Civil Rights symbol, to his murder
in 1968. At the same time, we also get a peek into the mind of King’s killer,
career criminal James Earl Ray, and the path that led him to this infamous
crime. Recommended for Gr 7 Up.
Fortune’s
Bones: The Manumission Requiem by
Marilyn Nelson
In
this unique blend of nonfiction and poetry, Nelson explores the life and death
of Fortune, an 18th century slave whose bones were appropriated for
use as a “medical skeleton” by his owner, a bone surgeon. Recommended for Gr 6
Up.
The
Freedom Summer Murders by Don Mitchell
In
the summer of 1964, three Civil Rights advocates were killed in Neshoba County,
Mississippi by local Klansmen. This book delves into the short lives of these
young men, as well as events leading up to the murder, and the ensuing trial
that led to the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Recommended for Gr 7 Up.
Getting
Away with Murder: The True Story of the Emmett Till Case by Chris Crowe
In
the summer of 1955, a group of white men committed the kidnap-slaying of Emmett
Till, a Chicago-born teen who was visiting family in Mississippi when he was
accused of whistling at a white woman. Crowe’s book not only follows the
ensuing trial, but also probes national events that served as the backdrop for
this heinous crime. Recommended for Gr 7 Up.
In
the Shadow of Liberty: The Hidden History of Slavery, Four Presidents, and Five
Black Lives by Kenneth C.
Davis
This
book contains the biographies of five African Americans who found themselves
the property of four American presidents, in addition to a brief history of the
conditions endured in transatlantic slave trade. Recommended for Gr 7 Up.
No
Crystal Stair: A Documentary Novel of the Life and Work of Lewis Michaux,
Harlem Bookseller by Vaunda
Micheaux Nelson
Lewis
Michaux was Harlem’s first African American bookstore owner, and a life-long
advocate for African American literacy. In this fictional biography of him, the
author intersperses photographs, facsimiles, and drawings with the text to give
further depth to the story. Recommended for Gr 7 Up.
The
Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights by Steve Sheinkin
During
the summer of 1944, a devastating explosion at the segregated Navy base in Port
Chicago, California killed more than 300 sailors. Sheinkin’s book is an
examination of what happened afterward, when fifty African-American sailors
took a stand to protest the unsafe working conditions. Recommended for Gr 7 Up.
Turning
15 on the Road to Freedom: My Story of the 1965 Selma Voting Rights March by Lynda Blackmon Lowery, as told to Elspeth Leacock and
Susan Buckley
Selma-born
Lynda Blackmon was not yet 15 when she became the youngest person to
participate in the 1965 voting rights march. Although just a child, she marched
for the right for African Americans to register to vote without fear of
oppression, and was jailed nine times as a result. Here, she tells her story.
Recommended for Gr 5-8.
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