Showing results for "Civil Rights" in Literature & Fiction

When 6-year-old Ruby Bridges and her mother went to William Frantz Elementary School on November 14, 1960, they arrived to find an angry crowd of white people shouting racist insults. For her safety, Ruby had to be escorted to school every day by U.S. Marshals. But despite the hateful attitudes of others, Ruby didn't miss a single day of school that year.

It's March 2, 1955, and an ordinary 15-year-old girl from Montgomery, Alabama is about to do something extraordinary. When a white bus driver orders Claudette Colvin to give up her seat for a white passenger, she refuses to move. After Claudette is arrested, her brave actions help inspire Civil Rights leaders organize bus boycotts and perform similar acts to defy segregation laws.

This powerful picture book biography spotlights Septima Poinsette Clark, the civil rights leader who taught Black adults how to combat Jim Crow-era voting regulations. Written by Septima’s granddaughter, Yvonne Clark-Rhines, along with acclaimed author Monica Clark-Robinson, this is a...

Relive the moments when African Americans fought for equal rights, and made history. Even though slavery had ended in the 1860s, African Americans were still suffering under the weight of segregation a hundred years later. They couldn't go to the same schools, eat at the same restaurants, or...

In this Bank Street College of Education Best Children's Book of the Year, Paula Young Shelton, daughter of Civil Rights activist Andrew Young, brings a child’s unique perspective to an important chapter in America’s history. Paula grew up in the deep south, in a world where Whites had and Blacks did not. With an activist father and a community of leaders surrounding her, including Uncle Martin (Martin Luther King), Paula watched and listened to the struggles, eventually joining in the historic march from Selma to Montgomery.

When Sharon Langley was born in the early 1960s, many amusement parks were segregated; African-American families were not allowed entry. This interesting tale reveals how in the summer of 1963, due to demonstrations and public protests, Maryland's Gwynn Oak Amusement Park became desegregated and opened to all for the first time. Co-author Sharon Langley was the first African-American child to ride the carousel. This was on the same day of Martin Luther King Jr.’s March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Langley’s ride to remember demonstrated the possibilities of King’s dream.

A vivid historical fiction account of the community activism behind San Diego's Chicano Park—home to the largest outdoor mural collection in the U.S.—and just one example of the Mexican American community’s rich history of resistance and resilience. Barrio Logan, one of San Diego’s...

With the freeing of four million enslaved people after the Civil War, the Reconstruction period brought new victories and challenges in the fight for Black rights. Learn more about this crucial period in US history.

A girl learns how the history of redlining has affected her neighborhood in this intergenerational audiobook about racism, community action, and resilience by two New York Times bestselling authors. Olivia can’t wait to invite her friends to the 62nd annual Main Street Block Party. But when...

Twelve-year-old Ann Maria Weems works from sunup to sundown, wraps rags around her feet in the winter, and must do whatever her master or mistress orders--but she has something that many plantation slaves don't have. She has her wonderful family around her. To Ann, her teasing brothers, her...

From the March on Washington to March for Our Lives to Black Lives Matter, the powerful stories of kid-led protest in America.   Kids have always been activists. They have even launched movements. Long before they could vote, kids have spoken up, walked out, gone on strike, and marched for...

Part memoir, part call to action, this young readers’ edition dives into the inspiring life of the late U.S. Representative Elijah Cummings—from childhood through his time as chairman of the House Oversight Committee—and his tireless fight for justice. Growing up as the child of former...

In the tumult of 1970s New York City, seventh graders are bussed from their neighborhood in Queens to integrate a new school in South Jamaica. Jamila Clarke. Josie Rivera. Francesca George. Three mixed-race girls, close friends whose immigrant parents worked hard to settle their families in a...

Chris Nicola's life is complicated. He lives on the Penacook Indian Reservation and goes to school in town. At school, things are going great--he's been selected to lead a group project on using Indian names for sporting teams. But it's another story at home. The Penacook are divided over...

Debut novelist Lisa Lewis Tyre vibrantly brings a small town and its outspoken characters to life, as she explores race and other community issues from both the Civil War and the present day. Lou might be only twelve, but she’s never been one to take things sitting down. So when her Civil...

Throughout history, black women have blazed trails across the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Black Women in Science brings something special to black history books for kids, celebrating incredible black women in STEM who have used their brains, bravery, and ambition to beat the odds. Black Women in Science stands out amongst other black history books for kids - featuring 15 powerful stories of fearless female scientists that advanced their STEM fields and fought to build a legacy.

A comprehensive, entertaining look at heroes, heroines, and critical moments from African American history -- from the slave trade to the Black Lives Matter movement -- by award-winning author Jabari Asim. Jabari Asim goes beyond what's taught in the classroom to reveal a fact-filled history of...

An inspiring account of an event that shaped American history She had not sought this moment but she was ready for it. When the policeman bent down to ask "Auntie, are you going to move?" all the strength of all the people through all those many years joined in her. She said, "No." Fifty years...

A moving true story for children ages 6 to 9 about growing up in Japanese American incarceration camps during World War II—from the iconic Star Trek actor, activist, and author of the New York Times bestselling graphic memoir They Called Us Enemy. February 19, 1942. George Takei is four years...

Inspired by the #1 New York Times bestseller She Persisted by Chelsea Clinton and Alexandra Boiger, a chapter book series about women who spoke up and rose up against the odds--including Pura Belpré! Pura Belpré grew up in Puerto Rico surrounded by stories. When she moved to New York and was...