2011 Black History Month Recommended Reading List
Grades 6-8
This recommended reading list, in celebration of Florida's Black History Month, highlights African-American literature. This list provides an excellent source of suggested books for children of all ages. Just Read, Florida! makes reading a priority in Florida's public schools and among the community groups and volunteer organizations that support them.
Middle School (Grades 6-8)
* The Legend of Buddy Bush, Sheila P. Moses
* Days of Tears: A Novel in Dialogue, Julius Lester
* Maritcha: A Nineteenth-Century American Girl, Tonya Bolden
* Dark Sons, Nikki Grimes
* The Road to Paris, Nikki Grimes
* Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story, Ben Carson
* Days of Jubilee: The End of Slavery in the United States, Patricia C. and Frederick L. McKissack
* Locomotion, Jacqueline Woodson
* The Battle of Jericho, Sharon Draper
* The Red Rose Box, Brenda Woods
* The Land, Mildred Taylor
* Miracle’s Boys, Jacqueline Woodson
* Let It Shine! Stories of Black Women Freedom Fighters, Andrea Davis Pinkney
* Francie, Karen English
* Black Hands, White Sails: The Story of African American Whalers, Patricia C. & Frederick L. McKissack
* Bayard Rustin: Behind the Scenes of the Civil Rights Movement, James Haskins
* Christmas in the Big House, Christmas in the Quarters, Patricia C. and Frederick L. McKissack
* The Captive, Joyce Hansen
* Now is Your Time: The African American Struggle for Freedom, Walter Dean Myers
* A Thief in the Village and Other Stories, James Berry
* Which Way Freedom, Joyce Hansen
* Junius Over Far, Virginia Hamilton
* The Words of Martin Luther King, Jr., Coretta Scott King
* Forged by Fire, Sharon M. Draper
* Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush, Virginia Hamilton
* Breaking Ground, Breaking Silence: The Story of New York’s African Burial Ground, Joyce Hansen and Gary McGowan
* I See the Rhythm, Toyomi Igus
* Heaven, Angela Johnson
* The Other Side: Shorter Poems, Angela Johnson
* Toning the Sweep, Angela Johnson
* Rebels Against Slavery: American Slave Revolts, Patricia C. and Frederick L. McKissack
* Soujourner Truth: Ain’t I a Woman?, Patricia C. and Frederick L. McKissack
* Justin and the Best Biscuits in the World, Mildred Pitts Walter
* Let the Circle Be Unbroken, Mildred D. Taylor
* Childtimes: A Three-Generation Memoir, Eloise Greenfield and Lessie Jones Little
* Andrew Young: Young Man With a Mission, James Haskins
* The Way a Door Closes, Hope Anita Smith
* The Skin I’m In, Sharon Flake
* Another Way to Dance, Martha Southgate
* Elijah of Buxton – Christopher Paul Curtis
* Twelve Rounds to Glory: The Story of Muhammad Ali – Charles R. Smith, Jr.
* We are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball, Kadir Nelson
* Keeping the Night Watch, Hope Anita Smith
* Maizon at Blue Hill, Jacqueline Woodson
* W.E.B. Du Bois, David Levering Lewis
* Separate Fountains, Patti Wilson Byars
Taken directly from http://www.justreadflorida.com/bhm.asp?style=print
