African American/Black Read in Color Recommended Reads

At the Cookout by Nadia Fisher (40 pp, G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers, 2026). CiCi just can’t wait to get to her Grandma’s house for the family’s first big cookout of the summer. There’s plenty to look forward to: the food, the games, the music, and seeing all her aunties and uncles. But most of all, Cici is excited to catch up with her big cousin Chase.

There’s just one problem: she can’t seem to find him anywhere! CiCi searches all over the party, asking everyone she meets if they’ve seen Chase, until she finally thinks to look for him in the most unexpected of places . . .

From the cousins playing Double Dutch, to the uncles throwing horseshoes, to the savory smells of Grandma’s cooking, this is a love letter to family, summer, and the magic that happens when we all get together. Ages 3 – 7.

Can’t Nobody Make a Sweet Potato Pie Like Our Mama! by Rose McGee, illustrated by Christopheraaron Deanes (32 pp, Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2023). Marie and Landon bicker about many things, but on one topic they agree: their grandmother, “Mama,” makes the best sweet potato pies. Those pies are so tasty, and their grandmother is so good at so many things. The twins sometimes wonder: Does Mama have superpowers? Ages 3 – 7.

Danté Plays His Blues by Allen R. Wells, illustrated by Shamar Knight-Justice (32 pp, HarperCollins, 2024). When Danté and his mother lose their housing, they move in with Uncle Ron and Uncle Joe. It’s tough at first, as Danté misses his friends and his neighborhood, so Uncle Ron teaches him to play the saxophone. Together they practice every day, DO-RE-MI-FA-RROOWWRR! Learning how to play is hard, especially when you have the blues. Can Danté turn his blues into his muse? Ages 4 – 8.

How Sweet the Sound by Kwame Alexander illustrated by Charly Palmer (48 pp, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2025). Listen to the sound of survival, courage, and democracy–the soundtrack of America. Hear Billie Holiday’s raspy, mournful voice, and tap your foot to Louis Armstrong’s trumpet. Scream with James Brown and bop your head to Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. Can you spot the 80+ references to artists like Robert Johnson, Ella Fitzgerald, Jimi Hendrix, Whitney Houston, Lauryn Hill, and Beyonce? Ages 4 – 8.

The Library in the Woods by Calvin Alexander Ramsey, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie (32 pp, Carolrhoda Books, 2025). After a storm devastates the farm his parents have been renting, Junior moves with his family to Roxboro, North Carolina. The year is 1959, and the nine-year-old boy has to navigate the realities of the segregated South while adjusting to life in town. Instead of farming, his father works at the lumberyard, and his mother takes in laundry from the white people in town. Junior meets new friends who have a TV–and their own books! These new friends offer to take Junior to the library, and he’s surprised to discover that in a clearing in the forest, there’s a log cabin that houses a library for Black residents. Ages 7 – 11.

Liftoff! by Nina Crews (32 pp, Millbrook Press, 2025). In 1969, people around the world watched as the Apollo 10 astronauts sent the first-ever live color television broadcasts from space. Abstract painter Alma Thomas was among those watching, and afterward, she began a series of bright, bold pieces inspired by the Moon missions and the marvels of space exploration. Ages 6 – 10.

Little Big Man by Varian Johnson, illustrated by Reggie Brown (40 pp, Orchard Books, 2025). Elijah can’t wait to take his brand-new kite for its first flight! But with a new baby in the family, Daddy has to work this weekend. Elijah finds a clever way to help out and pitch in with his family while also reminding his dad how to still have a little fun. Ages 4 – 8.

My Heart Speaks Kriolu by Stefanie Foster Brown, illustrated by Keisha Morris (40 pp, Denene Millner Books, 2025). Papa always speaks of someday bringing his granddaughter back home to Cabo Verde. But the young girl has never set foot on their ancestral island’s faraway shores. And each time Papa urges her to speak Kriolu, the Portuguese creole native to the West African country, the girl’s tongue betrays her, and she stumbles over her own words. If she can’t even get the language right, can her grandfather’s home ever truly be hers, too? Ages 4 – 8.

Nell Plants a Tree by Anne Wynter, illustrated by Daniel Miyares (40 pp, Clarion Books, 2023). Before her grandchildren climbed the towering tree, explored its secret nests, raced to its sturdy trunk, read in its cool shade, or made pies with its pecans…

Nell buried a seed.

And just as Nell’s tree grows and thrives with her love and care, so do generations of her close-knit family.

Inspired by the pecan trees of the creators’ own childhoods, Anne Wynter’s lyrical picture book, brought to life with breathtaking illustrations by Daniel Miyares, brims with wonder and love. Ages 4 – 8.

The Polar Bear and the Ballerina by Eric Velasquez (48 pp, Holiday House, 2025). A wordless story of unlikely friendship that celebrates art and its ability to connect us. However, this picture book also opens a conversation about alienation and empathy. Who is kept out of the theater? How can we welcome them in? A deeply personal story, author Eric Valqueuez sees himself in this tale. Ages 3 – 5.

Rica Baptista: The Box of Possibilities by Janet Costa Bates, illustrated by Gladys Jose (128 pp, Candlewick, 2025). Rica and her best friend Laini are bubbling over with curiosity. A mystery box has appeared on Rica’s doorstep, and nobody will open it! Momma says they must wait for Uncle Moose, who mailed the box to himself. But he’s on vacation in Cape Verde and won’t be home for days. So Rica and Laini speculate about what’s inside: a fold-up car from the future, a stuffed giraffe who turns into a real giraffe, magical perma-frozen ice cream? Or even better, superpowers! Rica and Laini practice their own superpowers—like flying (zip line and jumping) and invisibility (tiptoeing and hiding)—to get ready for the big reveal, even in the face of Rica’s cousin Serenity’s disbelief. Could superpowers be real, and will Rica’s true superpower emerge when Uncle Moose finally returns? A funny story of family and possibility, enhanced by charming illustrations. Ages 6 – 9.

Sam and the Incredible African and American Food Fight by Shannon Gibney, illustrated by Charly Palmer (48 pp, University of Minnesota Press, 2023). Rice and okra soup: Sam’s auntie from Liberia made it, and it’s Dad’s favorite. Mom, homegrown in Minnesota, made spaghetti and meatballs. And Sam? He’s just hungry, but no matter what he chooses to eat, someone will be disappointed. Caught in the middle of his family’s African and American food fight, Sam gets a little help from his grumbling stomach–and readers of this seriously funny book by Shannon Gibney get a peek at cultures colliding in a family kitchen that work out in a very delicious way. Charly Palmer’s vibrant and captivating illustrations make this gentle lesson in getting along a bright and colorful visual feast as well. Ages 5 – 9.

Sarah Rising by Ty Chapman, illustrated by Deann Wiley (40 pp, Beaming Books, 2022). Sarah starts her day like any other day: she eats her toast and feeds her bugs. But today isn’t a day like any other day. Today, her dad brings her to a protest to speak out against police violence against Black people. The protesters are loud, and Sarah gets scared. When Sarah spots a beautiful monarch butterfly and follows it through the crowd, she finds herself inside the no-man’s land between the line of police and protesters. In the moments that follow, Sarah is confronted with the cruelty of those who are supposed to protect her and learns what it feels like to protect and be protected. Ages 5 – 8.

Saturday Morning at the ‘Shop by Keenan Jones, illustrated by Ken Daley (32 pp, Beach Lane Books, 2025). The barbershop is a sound booth, an art gallery, a playground, a classroom, and so much more. It’s a place for artistry and comradery and, most importantly, community. Come spend the day feeling all the style and wisdom and joy at the ’shop! Ages 4 – 8.

We Miss You, George Floyd by Shannon Gibney, illustrated by Leeya Rose Jackson (32 pp, University of Minnesota Press, 2020). In this candid and powerful book, a young girl hears about an unfolding tragedy in her neighborhood. It’s on the news, on the radio, and talked about in her community, and she learns of the murder of George Floyd–and about who he was. As she tries to reckon with the senseless violence of his killing, she finds solace at George Floyd Square. The space is filled with the art of protest and resistance, and she is moved to create her own signs and drawings, lifting her voice to harmonize with the outpouring: “We miss you, George Floyd.”

For children working through George Floyd’s murder and the police violence plaguing our country, and for the grown-ups trying to help them, this book is an invitation to open up difficult conversations. With striking illustrations reflecting Floyd’s world and a child’s perspective, Shannon Gibney’s clear-eyed account offers healing and inspiration for the strength and solidarity we need to build a more peaceful and just future. Ages 6 – 10.

Where They Gather by Teresa Rodrigues, illustrated by Jamiel Law (40 pp, Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2026). A newly freed Black couple plant a pecan tree. The tree grows alongside each new generation of their family, weathering various seasons of change from the Jim Crow era to the Civil Rights period and into present day. Through difficult winters and the promise of spring, the tree continues to rise, mirroring the strength, resilience, and celebration of the family throughout time. Ages 4 – 8.

While We’re Here by Anne Wynter, illustrated by Micha Archer (40 pp, Clarion Books, 2026). Anne Wynter perfectly captures the hurry and hustle of a busy day. But when plans change and a girl and her mother slow down to savor small pleasures, the real celebration begins.

Dazzling, kaleidoscopic cut paper artwork from Caldecott Honor artist Micha Archer highlights each special moment in this sweet tribute to time spent together. Ages 4 – 8.

All the Blues in the Sky by Renée Watson (208 pp, Bloomsbury Children’s Books, 2025). Sage’s thirteenth birthday was supposed to be about movies and treats, staying up late with her best friend and watching the sunrise together. Instead, it was the day her best friend died. Without the person she had to hold her secrets and dream with, Sage is lost. In a counseling group with other girls who have lost someone close to them, she learns that not all losses are the same, and healing isn’t predictable. There is sadness, loneliness, anxiety, guilt, pain, love. And even as Sage grieves, new, good things enter her life-and she just may find a way to know that she can feel it all. Ages 10 – 14.

The Family I’m In by Sharon G. Flake (288 pp, Scholastic Press, 2025). Sharon G. Flake’s groundbreaking novel The Skin I’m In ushered in a new voice that lit up the literary landscape and became a modern classic, passed down through generations. The Life I’m In, its sequel, furthered the power of unmistakable voices, opening the hearts and minds of teens everywhere. Now The Family I’m In presents John-John and Caleb, friends since childhood who have come face-to-face with the struggles and triumphs of growing into young men. They’re living in a world where many Black boys are up against generational expectations, fears of the future, and how to navigate being “nice” kids who just want to be seen for who they are. Together, Caleb and John-John work through family illness, divorced parents, teachers who ask hard questions, and girls who think they have all the answers. Ages 14 and up.

Nigeria Jones by Ibi Zoboi (384 pp, HarperCollins, 2024). Warrior Princess. That’s what Nigeria Jones’s father calls her. He has raised her as part of the Movement, a Black separatist group based in Philadelphia. Nigeria is homeschooled and vegan and participates in traditional rituals to connect her and other kids from the group to their ancestors. But when her mother—the perfect matriarch of their Movement—disappears, Nigeria’s world is upended. She finds herself taking care of her baby brother and stepping into a role she doesn’t want. Ages 13 and up.

One Crazy Summer: The Graphic Novel by Rita Williams Garcia, illustrated by Sharee Miller (304 pp, Quill Tree Books, 2025). Eleven-year-old Delphine is like a mother to her two younger sisters, Vonetta and Fern. She’s had to be, ever since their mother, Cecile, left them seven years ago for a radical new life in California.

But when the sisters arrive from Brooklyn to spend the summer with their mother in Oakland, Cecile is nothing like they imagined. While the girls hope to go to Disneyland and meet Tinker Bell, their mother sends them to a day camp run by the Black Panthers.

Unexpectedly, Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern learn much about their family, their country, and themselves during one truly crazy summer. Ages 8 – 12.

The Rule of Three by Heather Murphy Capps (304 pp, Carolrhoda Books, 2025). Wyatt has a three-part Plan for Life, and it starts now, at the beginning of seventh grade, with tryouts for his local travel baseball team. A biracial kid in a mostly white town, he’s always felt like a bit of an outsider. The baseball field is the only place where he feels like he truly belongs. If he can just make the team, everything else will fall into place: school, friends, even his relationship with his often-distant dad. Ages 11 – 14.

The Secret Library by Kekla Magoon (384 pp, Candlewick, 2025). Since Grandpa died, Dally’s days are dull and restricted. She’s eleven and a half years old, and her exacting single mother is already preparing her to take over the family business. Starved for adventure and release, Dally rescues a mysterious envelope from her mother’s clutches, an envelope Grandpa had earmarked for her. The map she finds inside leads straight to an ancient vault, a library of secrets where each book is a portal to a precise moment in time. As Dally “checks out” adventure after adventure—including an exhilarating outing with pirates—she begins to dive deep into her family’s hidden history. Ages 8-12.

The Summer Scrapbook by Florence Migga (328 pp, Carolrhoda Books, 2026). Outgoing Ava is dragged to London by her family.

Anxious Becca is sent to summer camp.

Quiet Cat is left at home.

Phones aren’t allowed at Becca’s camp, and Ava’s parents restrict her use of devices, so to make the separation bearable, they vow to collect materials for a joint scrapbook that they’ll compile at the end of the summer. But as they work on their separate parts of the scrapbook, they step out of their comfort zones–and out of the roles they each play in the trio. Ages 10 – 14.

All That She Carried by Tiya Miles (416 pp, Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2022). In 1850s South Carolina, an enslaved woman named Rose faced a crisis: the imminent sale of her daughter Ashley. Thinking quickly, she packed a cotton bag for her with a few items, and, soon after, the nine-year-old girl was separated from her mother and sold. Decades later, Ashley’s granddaughter Ruth embroidered this family history on the sack in spare, haunting language. 

Black AF History by Michael Harriot (432 pp, Dey Street Books, 2023). From acclaimed columnist and political commentator Michael Harriot, a searingly smart and bitingly hilarious retelling of untold American history that corrects the record and showcases the perspectives and experiences of Black Americans.

America’s backstory is a whitewashed mythology implanted in our collective memory. It is the story of the pilgrims on the Mayflower building a new nation. It is George Washington’s cherry tree and Abraham Lincoln’s log cabin. It is the fantastic tale of slaves that spontaneously teleported themselves here with nothing but strong backs and negro spirituals. It is a sugarcoated legend based on an almost true story.

It should come as no surprise that the dominant narrative of American history is blighted with errors and oversights—after all, history books were written by white men with their perspectives at the forefront. It could even be said that the devaluation and erasure of the Black experience is as American as apple pie.

Black in Blues by Imani Perry (256 pp, Ecco, 2025). Throughout history, the concept of Blackness has been remarkably intertwined with another color: blue. In daily life, it is evoked in countless ways. Blue skies and blue water offer hope for that which lies beyond the current conditions. But blue is also the color of deep melancholy and heartache, echoing Louis Armstrong’s question, “What did I do to be so Black and blue?” In this book, celebrated author Imani Perry uses the world’s favorite color as a springboard for a riveting emotional, cultural, and spiritual journey—an examination of race and Blackness that transcends politics or ideology.

Colored Television by Danzy Senna (304 pp, Riverhead Books, 2025). Jane has high hopes that her life is about to turn around. After a long, precarious stretch bouncing among sketchy rentals and sublets, she and her family are living in luxury for a year, house-sitting in the hills above Los Angeles. The gig magically coincides with Jane’s sabbatical, giving her the time and space she needs to finish her second novel—a centuries-spanning epic her artist husband, Lenny, dubs her “mulatto War and Peace.” Finally, some semblance of stability and success seems to be within her grasp.

Four Hundred Souls by Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain (528 pp, One World, 2022). The story begins in 1619—a year before the Mayflower—when the White Lion disgorges “some 20-and-odd Negroes” onto the shores of Virginia, inaugurating the African presence in what would become the United States. It takes us to the present, when African Americans, descendants of those on the White Lion and a thousand other routes to this country, continue a journey defined by inhuman oppression, visionary struggles, stunning achievements, and millions of ordinary lives passing through extraordinary history. 

His Name is George Floyd by Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa (448 pp, Penguin Books, 2024). The events of that day are now tragically familiar: on May 25, 2020, George Floyd became the latest Black person to die at the hands of the police, murdered outside of a Minneapolis convenience store by white officer Derek Chauvin. The video recording of his death set off the largest protest movement in the history of the United States, awakening millions to the pervasiveness of racial injustice. But long before his face was painted onto countless murals and his name became synonymous with civil rights, Floyd was a father, partner, athlete, and friend who constantly strove for a better life.

How the Word Is Passed by Clint Smith (352 pp, Little, Brown Paperbacks, 2022). Beginning in his hometown of New Orleans, Clint Smith leads the reader on an unforgettable tour of monuments and landmarks–those that are honest about the past and those that are not–that offer an intergenerational story of how slavery has been central in shaping our nation’s collective history, and ourselves.

Inciting Joy by Ross Gay (272 pp, Algonquin Books, 2024). In these gorgeously written and timely pieces, prizewinning poet and author Ross Gay considers the joy we incite when we care for each other, especially during life’s inevitable hardships. Throughout Inciting Joy, he explores how we can practice recognizing that connection, and also, crucially, how we can expand it.

Junie by Erin Crosby Eckstine (368 pp, Ballantine Books, 2025). Sixteen years old and enslaved since she was born, Junie has spent her life on Bellereine Plantation in Alabama, cooking and cleaning alongside her family, and tending to the white master’s daughter, Violet. Her daydreams are filled with poetry and faraway worlds, while she spends her nights secretly roaming through the forest, consumed with grief over the sudden death of her older sister, Minnie.

A Little Devil in America by Hanif Abdurraquib (320 pp, Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2022). “I was a devil in other countries, and I was a little devil in America, too.” Inspired by these few words, spoken by Josephine Baker at the 1963 March on Washington, MacArthur “Genius Grant” Fellow and bestselling author Hanif Abdurraqib has written a profound and lasting reflection on how Black performance is inextricably woven into the fabric of American culture. Each moment in every performance he examines—whether it’s the twenty-seven seconds in “Gimme Shelter” in which Merry Clayton wails the words “rape, murder,” a schoolyard fistfight, a dance marathon, or the instant in a game of spades right after the cards are dealt—has layers of resonance in Black and white cultures, the politics of American empire, and Abdurraqib’s own personal history of love, grief, and performance.

Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley (288 pp, Vintage, 2023). Kiara and her brother, Marcus, are scraping by in an East Oakland apartment complex optimistically called the Regal-Hi. Both have dropped out of high school, their family fractured by death and prison.

But while Marcus clings to his dream of rap stardom, Kiara hunts for work to pay their rent—which has more than doubled—and to keep the nine-year-old boy next door, abandoned by his mother, safe and fed. One night, what begins as a drunken misunderstanding with a stranger turns into the job Kiara never imagined wanting but now desperately needs: nightcrawling. Her world breaks open even further when her name surfaces in an investigation that exposes her as a key witness in a massive scandal within the Oakland Police Department.

These Heathens by Mia McKenzie (272 pp, Random House, 2025). Where do you get an abortion in 1960 Georgia, especially if your small town’s midwife goes to the same church as your parents? For seventeen-year-old Doris Steele, the answer is Atlanta, where her favorite teacher, Mrs. Lucas, calls upon her brash, wealthy childhood best friend, Sylvia, for help. While waiting to hear from the doctor who has agreed to do the procedure, Doris spends the weekend scandalized by, but drawn to, the people who move in and out of Sylvia’s orbit: celebrities whom Doris has seen in the pages of Jet and Ebony, civil rights leaders such as Coretta Scott King and Diane Nash, women who dance close together, boys who flirt too hard and talk too much, atheists! And even more shocking? Mrs. Lucas seems right at home.

Reconsidering Reparations by Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò (286 pp, Haymarket Books, 2025). A clear, new case for reparations as a “constructive,” future-oriented project that responds to the weight of history’s injustices with the equitable distribution of benefits and burdens. Centuries ago, Táíwò explains, European powers engineered the systems through which advantages and disadvantages still flow. Colonialism and transatlantic slavery forged schemes of injustice on an unprecedented scale, a world order he calls “global racial empire.” The project of justice must meet the same scope.