×
Black History Month - 2023 - Fiction

It's February and time to celebrate Black History Month.  From picture books to novels, fiction lets us explore the world from different points of view.  Reading books from authors of different cultures and backgrounds can help us learn and understand history (and hopefully ourselves as well).

This list contains books by contemporary black authors as well as books which feature black characters and community in history.  The list includes picture books, graphic novels, early chapter books and longer novels as well. 

Note: This list was updated January 2023


Born On The Water

by Nikole Hannah-Jones


Black is a rainbow color

by Angela Joy




Grandma's purse

by Vanessa Brantley-Newton


Your name is a song

by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow


Rise of the jumbies

by Tracey Baptiste


The forgotten girl

by India Hill Brown




Last stop on Market Street

by Matt de la Pen~a


Lab magic

by Kelly Starling Lyons


EllRay Jakes the recess king!

by Sally Warner


When Winter Robeson came

by Brenda Woods


Last last-day-of-summer

by Lamar Giles


Forever this summer

by Leslie C. Youngblood




Isaiah Dunn Is My Hero

by Kelly J. Baptist.






From the desk of Zoe Washington

by Janae Marks


What lane?

by Torrey Maldonado


Take back the block

by Chrystal D. Giles


Shuri : the vanished

by Nic Stone


The magic in changing your stars

by Leah Henderson


One crazy summer

by Rita Williams-Garcia


The journey of little Charlie

by Christopher Paul Curtis


The Parker inheritance

by Varian Johnson.


Stella by starlight

by Sharon Draper


Tristan Strong punches a hole in the sky

by Kwame Mbalia


It all comes down to this

by Karen English


The stars beneath our feet

by David Barclay Moore


The only black girls in town

by Brandy Colbert


Skin of the sea

by Natasha Bowen










Long way down : the graphic novel

by Jason Reynolds


When stars are scattered

by Victoria Jamieson


Freewater

by Amina Luqman-Dawson


Standing in the Need of Prayer

by Frank Morrison


Before the Ever After

by Jacqueline Woodson


Gone Crazy in Alabama

by Rita Williams-Garcia


Elijah of Buxton

by Christopher Paul Curtis


Mae Among the Stars

by Ahmed, Roda




Goin’ Someplace Special

by Pat McKissack




Hair Love

by Matthew A. Cherry


Stacey’s Extraordinary Words

by Stacey Abrams


The Watsons Go To Birmingham

by Christopher Paul Curtis


The Year We Learned to Fly

by Jacqueline Woodson


Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls: 100 Real-Life Tales of Black Girl Magic

by Lilly Workneh


The Day You Begin

by Jacqueline Woodson


Why?: A Conversation about Race

by Taye Diggs


All Are Welcome

by Alexandra Penfold


All Aboard the Schooltrain

by Glenda Armand


A Flag for Juneteenth

by Kim Taylor


Impossible Moon

by Breanna McDaniel