Related Works Reading List
[Junior] is suitable for Junior High School and many Middle School readers.
Non-Fiction
- Charles Ball and American Slavery -- Charles Ball
- True story of enslaved African American in the early 19th century.
- Nat Turner -- Terry Bisson
- A concise look at the life of the leader of the most famous 19th-century American slave revolt. [Junior]
- Charlotte Forten -- Peter Burchard
- Story of black teacher and granddaughter of leading abolitionist based on her diary and letters. [Junior]
- Undying Glory -- Clinton Cox
- The all-Black 54th Massachusetts Regiment and its battle history during the Civil War. [Junior]
- Black Heroes of the American Revolution -- Burke Davis
- A thumbnail historical account of several African American Revolutionary War soldiers. [Junior]
- A Rumor of Revolt -- T.J. Davis
- A comprehensive look at the New York City slave conspiracy of 1741 and the New York African community of that time.
- My Bondage and My Freedom -- Frederick Douglass
- Douglass's classic book about his life and escape from slavery.
- Frederick Douglass in His Own Words -- Edited by Milton Meltzer
- Frederick Douglass was perhaps the most renowned and influential black leader of the 19th century. This book is a selection of speeches he made and editorials he wrote during his lifetime. [Junior]
- The Middle Passage -- Tom Feelings
- Illustrations that tell of the cruel and horrifying journey of enslaved Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to the New World. [Junior]
- Classic Slave Narratives -- Henry Louis Gates
- Autobiographies relating the experiences of Olaudah Equiano, Mary Prince, Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs during slavery.
- North Star to Freedom -- Gena Gorrell
- Nicely illustrated examination of the Underground Railroad, related history and issues.
- Anthony Burns -- Virginia Hamilton
- Fugitive Slave Law and the case that shook up the nation. [Junior]
- Many Thousand Gone -- Virginia Hamilton
- A history of African Americans from slavery to freedom. [Junior]
- Between Two Fires -- Joyce Hansen
- Recreates the dramatic and neglected history of the 180,000 African Americans who were part of the Union Army during the Civil War. [Junior]
- Get on Board -- James Haskins
- The history of the Underground Railroad, including true stories of various escapes from Southern slavery. [Junior]
- Before Freedom -- Edited by Belinda Hurmence
- Peoples' stories of their enslavement.
- Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl -- Harriet Jacobs
- True story of an enslaved woman, the sexual exploitation she faced and the time she spent in New York City.
- Black Legacy, A History of New York's African Americans -- William Loren Katz
- A history of Black New York from the 1600s to the 1990s.
- Sojourner Truth -- Peter Krass
- A look at the former New York slave and her life, with several photographs and illustrations. [Junior]
- Sojourner Truth -- Patrica C. McKissack
- In-depth look at the former enslaved New Yorker turned freedom fighter. [Junior]
- Rebels Against Slavery -- Pat and Fred McKissack
- An examination of the major U.S. slave revolts of the 19th century.
- Crispus Attucks, Black Leader of Colonial Patriots -- Dharathula H. Millender
- The life of an African American man who is commonly considered to be the first person killed in the American Revolution. [Junior]
- Now Is Your Time -- Walter Dean Myers
- A history of African America from colonial to contemporary times. [Junior]
- Crispus Attucks, Patriot -- James Neyland
- Very brief look at the life of Revolutionary War patriot Crispus Attucks. [Junior]
- Sojourner Truth: A Life, a Symbol -- Nell Painter
- A comprehensive look at the life of Sojourner Truth and her relationship with the Abolitionist and Women's Rights Movements.
- Escape from Slavery, Five Journeys to Freedom -- Doreen Rappaport
- The author brings to life five actual tales of peoples' escape from slavery via the Underground Railroad. [Junior]
- Frederick Douglass, Patriot and Activist -- Marianne Ruuth
- This is a compact, easy to read biography with several illustrations and pictures. [Junior]
- Sojourner Truth and the Voice of Freedom -- Jane Shumate
- A brief view of Ms. Truth's life, with photographs and color illustrations. [Junior]
- Slave Songs -- Jerry Silverman
- Music created by African American slaves.
- Black Voices from Reconstruction -- John David Smith
- Covers the time period from 1865-1877 and discusses the problems that newly freed African Americans faced.
- Black Abolitionists and Freedom Fighters -- Kimberly Hayes Taylor
- Profiles several 19th-century African American activists.
- Amos Fortune, Free Man -- Elizabeth Yates
- This African prince, captured at the age of fifteen, was enslaved in Massachusetts. This book is the story of his life and struggle for freedom. [Junior]
- Young Oxford History of African Americans, volumes 1 through 4 -- (various authors)
- African and African American history from 1502 to 1860.
- Chelsea House Publishers Milestones in Black American History, volumes 2 through 8 -- (various authors)
- African and African American history from the age of discovery to reconstruction.
Fiction
- Steal Away -- Jennifer Armstrong
- Story of two girls, one black escaping southern slavery, the other a white orphan trying to make it home. [Junior]
- Ajeemah and His Son -- James Berry
- Father and son kidnapped in Africa and brought to different plantations in the South. [Junior]
- Jump Ship to Freedom -- James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
- Young Daniel Arabus on a ship bound for the West Indies and certain slavery jumps ship in New York City and attempts to travel a long and dangerous road to freedom. [Junior]
- War Comes to Willy Freeman -- James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
- Enslaved New York girl witnesses her father's death at the hands of British soldiers. [Junior]
- Who Is Carrie? -- James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
- Carrie is an enslaved orphan who works at a now-famous restaurant known as Faunces Tavern in New York City. When she travels with her boss to the home of George Washington, she finds out about her past. [Junior]
- Family -- J. California Cooper
- Four generations just before and after the Civil War.
- The Longest Memory -- Fred D'Aguiar
- A young man leads a slave revolt.
- The Slave Dancer -- Paula Fox
- Life on board a slave ship and the story of a boy whose musical talent, to his horror, has made him the one to play music for the slaves to dance to. [Junior]
- The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman -- Ernest J. Gaines
- The story of Jane Pittman's life from slavery to freedom.
- The Magical Adventures of Pretty Pearl -- Virginia Hamilton
- Young African God travels to the New World to free the slaves. [Junior]
- The Captive -- Joyce Hansen
- Ashanti boy captured and sold into slavery. [Junior]
- Tancy -- Belinda Hurmence
- At the end of the Civil War, a young former slave searches for her mother.
- Middle Passage -- Charles Johnson
- Drunken petty thief sneaks on board a slave ship to begin a frightening, funny and horrible adventure.
- The Women of Plums -- Dolores Kendrick
- Poems in the voices of enslaved women.
- Long Journey Home -- Julius Lester
- Rambler was a runaway who roamed the countryside with a guitar slung over his shoulder. Louis ran away when he heard the plantation he grew up on was for sale. There are six stories in this book, all based on real people who had one thing in common: they were enslaved in our country. [Junior]
- This Strange New Feeling -- Julius Lester
- Stories of three couples lives right after slavery. Mr. Lester's accounts are based on true stories. [Junior]
- Letters from a Slave Girl -- Mary E. Lyons
- Story of her escape from an evil master and her life as a fugitive. [Junior]
- Fragments of the Ark -- Louise Meriwether
- While the Civil War rages, an enslaved African American seaman commandeers a Southern boat and makes to it the North.
- The Glory Field -- Walter Dean Myers
- Spanning nearly two hundred and fifty years, a family's history from the 18th to 20th centuries.
- NightJohn -- Gary Paulsen
- Sarny, an enslaved girl, learns the power of reading. [Junior]
- Sarny -- Gary Paulsen
- Sarny as a woman continues to teach people to read as she tries to locate her daughter. [Junior]
- Tituba of Salem Village -- Ann Petry
- An enslaved woman is accused of being a witch. [Junior]
- Pink and Say -- Patricia Polaccio
- Based on a true story of African American soldiers in the Civil War. [Junior]
- Wolf by the Ears -- Ann Rinaldi
- Sally Hemmings, rumored to be the daughter of Thomas Jefferson, must chose freedom or slavery.
- If You Please, President Lincoln -- Harriette Gillem Robinet
- Story of young black man in Haiti. [Junior]
- The Confessions of Nat Turner -- William Styron
- The story of Nat Turner's slave revolt.
- I, Juan de Pareja -- Elizabeth Borton de Trevino
- The story of an enslaved painter in 16th-century Spain. [Junior]
- Jubilee -- Margaret Walker
- Jubilee's father is a white plantation owner, her mother an enslaved African American woman in Georgia during the Civil War.
- Second Daughter -- Mildred Pitts Walter
- Enslaved girl watches her sister sue for her freedom as Americans fight in the Revolutionary War. [Junior]