Race Relations Bibliography        back to resources page

Elementary
1.Chicken Sunday by Patricia Polacco.. A story of intergenerational, interracial friendship and creativity.
2. Tar Beach by Faith Ringgold. Gr. K-2. Summer evenings spent atop her Harlem rooftop inspire eight-year-old Cassie Lightfoot to imagine herself flying high above the city, righting all wrongs. Crown. 1991.
3. Through My Eyes by Ruby Bridges.  For ages 8-12.  As a first-grader, she integrated an all-white school in New Orleans.
4. Zora Neale Hurston, Writer and Storyteller by Patricia McKissack. Traces life of the Harlem Renaissance writer and folklorist.
5. The Friendship by Mildred Taylor. Four children witness a confrontation between an elderly African American man and a white storekeeper in rural Mississippi in the 1930s. gr. 3-6
6. When Marian Sang:  The True Recital of Marian Anderson: The Voice of a Century by Pam Munoz Ryan.  Marian Anderson sang with her eyes closed but opened the eyes of others to the need to abolish segregation and prejudice. 
7. Martins Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by Doreen Rappaport  This picture book biography of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. brings his life and the profound nature of his message to young children through his own words.
8. Freedom School, yes! by Amy Littlesugar.  This story is about a young girl named Jolie who lived during the Civil Rights Era. Her town's battle to educate their children is a touching story that emphasizes the value of education.
9. Freedom Summer by Deborah Wiles. This story conveys the experience of racial prejudice by focusing on two boys and their life experiences.
10.  Going north by Janice Harrington.  A heartwarming story which shows how a young black girl’s views change as she moves North from Alabama.
11. Let’s Talk About Race by Julius Lester. Mr. Lester shares his own story as he explores what makes each of us special.
12.  Bein’ With You This Way by W. Nikola-Lisa, A poem about human differences and similarities. (A young girl leads a cumulative rap about individual differences.)
13. Mary McLeod Bethune : a great teacher by Patricia and Fredrick McKissack.  Traces the life and achievements of the black educator who fought bigotry and racial injustice and sought equality for blacks in the areas of education and political rights.
14. Yo! Yes? by Chris Rashka.  Two lonely characters, one black and one white, meet on the street and become friends.
15. Cracking the Wall, the Struggles of the Littlerock Nine by Eileen Lucas. A brief introduction to the nine African-American students who integrated Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957.
16.  First in the Field: A Baseball Hero Jackie Robinson by Derek Dingle. A biography which discusses the discrimination faced by Jackie Robinson, the baseball legend who became the first African-American to play Major League baseball.
17. Happy Birthday Addy!, A Springtime Story by Connie Rose Porter. In the spring of 1865, Addy finds inspiration from a new friend and chooses a birthday for herself as she and her parents try to shape a new life of freedom in Philadelphia despite the racial prejudice they encounter throughout the city.
18. Crossing Jordan by Andrea Fogelin.  Twelve-year-old Cass meets her new African-American neighbor, Jemmie, and despite their families' prejudices, they build a strong friendship around their mutual talent for running and a pact to read Jane Eyre.
18. Cool as Ice by Matt Christopher and Paul Mantell.  Two friends try to prove that size and race do not matter when playing hockey or any other sport. Gr 4-7.
19. Education of Mary, a Little Miss of Color, 1832 by Mary Rinaldi.  In 1832, Prudence Crandall begins admitting black girls to her exclusive Connecticut school. Gr. 4-7.
20. Fishing Day by Andrea Davis Pinkney. When Reenie and her mother, who are African Americans, go fishing, Reenie decides to share the secret of their success with their needy white neighbors. K-3.
 
 
Middle Grades 
1. Just Like Martin by Ossie Davis. Gr. 4 and up. In 1963 Alabama, Stone has met Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and wants to be a preacher, but his father sees nonviolence as cowardly and refuses to embrace it. Simon & Schuster. 1992.
2. The Watsons Go To Birmingham -- 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis. A hilarious, touching and tragic novel about civil rights and the impact of violence on one black family. Delacorte,1995.
3. Forbidden Schoolhouse: The True and Dramatic Story of Prudence Crandall and Her Students
by Suzanne Jurmain (Houghton Mifflin) gr. 5-8.
4. Red-Tail Angels; The Story of the Tuskegee Airmen of World War II, New York by McKissack, Pat and McKissack, Frederick: Walker & Co., 1995. A Best Book For YAs 1996. Award winning account.
5. Maizon at Blue Hill by Jacqueline Woodson. Gr. 5-7. One of five African-American students at a private girls' school, Maizon feels misplaced and lonely as she tries to fit in. Delacorte. 1992.
6. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor. Gr. 6-8. The first in a series of stories about an African-American family living in rural Mississippi during the Depression, told from the point of view of their eldest daughter, Cassie. Dial, 1976.
7. Let The Circle Be Unbroken by Mildred Taylor.  Gives an understanding of what it was like to be black in the South in the 1930's.
8. The Voice That Challenged A Nation:  Marion Anderson and the Struggle for Equal Rights by Russell Freedman. The author captures the audiences eager anticipation, describes the controversy sparked by the refusal of some to allow Anderson to appear at Constitution Hall, and mentions the significance of the concert at Constitution Hall.
9. Through My Eyes by Ruby Bridges and Margo Lundell.  Surrounded by federal marshals, 6-year-old Ruby Bridges became the first black student ever at the all-white William Frantz Public School in New Orleans, Louisiana, on November 14, 1960.
10. Christmas in the Big House, Christmas in the Quarters by Patricia and Fredrick McKissack.  As they describe the goings-on during the weeks before Christmas as well as the actual rituals of the day, the McKissacks carefully and convincingly delineate the discrepancies between the two milieux-from the physical settings to the people's differing appreciations of the holiday's riches.
11. Words by Heart by Ouida Sebestyen.  A young black girl struggles to fulfill her papa's dream of a better future for their family in the southwestern town where, in 1910, they are the only blacks.
12. The American Civil Rights Movement:  The African-American Struggle for Equality by Linda Jacobs Altman.  Traces the African-American struggle for equality from slavery to the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s and beyond.
13. Ida B. Wells-Barnett:  Mother of the Civil Rights Movement by Dennis and Judith Fradin.  Born a slave, she went on to become a schoolteacher, probation officer, journalist, and activist who fought for the right of black women to vote, helped to create the NAACP, and almost single-handedly halted the horrific practice of lynching.
14. Iggie’s house by Judy Blume. When an African American family with three children moves into the white neighborhood, eleven-year-old Winnie learns the difference between being a good neighbor and being a good friend.
15. The jacket by Andrew Clements.  After a false accusation and scuffle, Phil and Daniel end up in the principal's office. Because of this incident, Phil realizes for the first time that he has prejudices.
16. Jefferson’s children:  The Story of one American Family by Shannon Lanier and Jane Feldman. This is the story of the Jefferson and bi-racial Hemings families, and their efforts to be recognized and united as proud descendants of this great American genius
15.  The Land by Mildred Taylor. Living in the South in the not-so-distant past, the Logans are the only black family to own farmland, while most of their black neighbors are sharecroppers on white-owned land.
18. Lost Goat Lane by Rosa Jordan.  Two families--one white, one black--living near one another in rural Florida overcome their suspicions of each other and find ways to work together, with the help of their children and a few goats.
19. Sit-ins and Freedom Rides:  The Power of Nonviolent resistance by Jake Miller.
20. Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli.  An orphaned adolescent boy with a legendary talent for running goes on a journey of self-discovery learning about racism and what it means to belong.
21. Dangerous Skies by Susanne Fisher Staples.  Hypocrisy and prejudice twist events in such a way as to implicate two children, one from a prominent white family and the other an African-American, in a murder.
  
High School 
1. Hurry Freedom:  African Americans in Gold Rush California by Jerry Stanley.  More than just a look at life in Gold Rush California, Stanley's brief, fascinating account provides a microcosmic look at the early African-American experience that will most likely have a profound effect on readers.
2. Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd.  When Lily's black nanny insults a group of angry white men on her way to register to vote in the 1960s, Lily and Rosaleen flee and are taken in by three bee-keeping sisters.
3. Bronx Masquerade by Nikki Grimes.  The teen characters in this novel share poetry that is alike in it’s sense of isolation and yearning to belong. Whether their poems...are in rap, free verse, or conscious rhyme, these kids surprise one another in part with how much they are the same.
4. Toning the Sweep by Angela Johnson.  On a visit to her grandmother Ola, who is dying of cancer in her house in the desert, fourteen-year-old Emmie hears many stories about the past and her family history.
5. The Road to Memphis by Mildred Taylor.  In 1941 a black youth, sadistically teased by two white boys in rural Mississippi, severely injures one of them with a tire iron and enlists Cassie's help in trying to flee the state.
6. A Free Black Girl before the Civil War:  The diary of Charlotte Forten, 1854.  The diary of a sixteen-year-old free African-American who lived in Massachusetts in 1854 records her schooling, participation in the antislavery movement, and concern for an arrested fugitive slave.
7. Freedom’s Children:  young civil rights activists tell their own stories by Ellen Levine.  Southern African-Americans who were young and involved in the civil rights movement during the 1950s and 1960s describe their experiences.
8. The Jim Crow laws and racism in American history by David Fremon.  Traces the struggles of African Americans from the end of slavery through the period of Jim Crow segregation in the South, to the civil rights movement and legal equality.
9. Mississippi trial, 1955 by Cris Crowe. In Mississippi in 1955, a sixteen-year-old finds himself at odds with his grandfather over issues surrounding the kidnapping and murder of a fourteen-year-old African-American from Chicago.
10. There comes a time: the struggle for civil rights by Milton Meltzer.  Presents an overview of the events in African American history that culminated in the United States during the 1950s and 1960s and represented a striving for equal rights.
11. To kill a mockingbird by Harper Lee.  Scout Finch, the young daughter of a local attorney in the Deep South during the 1930s, tells of her father's defense of an African-American man charged with the rape of a white girl.
12. Wolf whistle: a novel by Lewis Nordan.  A fictitious account of a young African American boy who is killed after whistling at a white women in Mississippi and the two men who are acquitted of the murder.
13. So what is tolerance anyway? By John LaMachia.  Examines the importance of practicing tolerance for others, the causes and effects of prejudice and discrimination, and the problems that may occur when people are intolerant.
14. Danger Zone by David Klass.  Basketball, racism, and international terrorism combine in this story of an international high school basketball player's confrontation of fear.
15. Francie by Karen English.  When the sixteen-year-old boy whom she tutors in reading is accused of attempting to murder a white man, Francie gets herself in serious trouble for her efforts at friendship.
16. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café by Fannie Flagg. This is the story of special friendships in the south and a racial incident at it’s climax.
17. I know why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou.  Maya Angelou recounts a youth filled with disappointment, frustration, tragedy, and finally hard-won independence
18.  I Shall Not Be Moved by Maya Angelou. A collection of poetry describing the pain and triumph of being black and telling of history and heartbreak and love.
19. The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman by Earnest Gaines.  Eloquently covers the story of the Black Experience--from the Civil War to the civil rights movement--all told from the memories of a fictional 110-year old slave.
20. A Jar of Dreams by Uchida Yoshika.  A young girl grows up in a closely-knit Japanese American family in California during a time of great prejudice.
21. Finding my Voice by Marie Lee.  As she tries to enjoy her senior year and choose which college she will attend, Korean American Ellen Sung must deal with the prejudice of some of her classmates and pressure from her parents to get good grades.
22. Letters to America; Contemporary American Poetry on Race, edited by Jim Daniels.  A collection of poems that explore the issues surrounding race relations in American society, told from the experience of Black, Native American, Asian, Arabic, Hispanic, and white cultures.
23.  Black and White by Paul Volponi.  Two star high school basketball players, one black and one white, experience the justice system differently after committing a crime together and getting caught.
24.  Stones of Mourning Creek by Diane Les Bequets.  In Alabama in the 1960s, fourteen-year-old Francie develops a controversial and dangerous friendship with a "colored girl" her own age.
 
 
Some Videos and DVD’s
1. Maniac Magee, Aims Multimedia - An orphaned adolescent boy with a legendary talent for running goes on a journey of self-discovery learning about racism and what it means to belong.
2. Teaching Tolerance, Weston Woods. Contains three stories that illustrate tolerance.
3. Follow the Drinking Gourd, Great Plains Nebraska, Reading Rainbow Series;  Lavar Burton introduces the audience to the history, heroes and stories of the Underground Railroad.
4.  Ruby Bridges, Disney Educational Productions. Features the true story of six-year-old Ruby Bridges, one of the first black students to integrate public elementary schools in New Orleans. Middle.
5.  Selma, Lord Selma, Disney Educational Productions. Explains how Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other civil rights leaders created a non-violent movement and advanced the fight for equality in Selma, Alabama. Lower grades through middle.
6. Race, Discovery Channel School. Explores race and the biases and prejudices we all hold. Middle and upper grades.
 
 
Electronic Resources
1. African American Writers – Online E-texts
 http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/afroonline.htm
2. African-American websites, Diversity and Ethnic Studies  
 http://www.public.iastate.edu/~savega/afr_amer.htm
3. Teaching Tolerence
www.teachingtolerance.org
4. Amistad America
http://www.amistadamerica.org/