Black Lives Matter: Chapter Books for Family Reading

Black Lives Matter. Here you will find books for all ages that are perfect for sharing aloud as a family.

Clean getaway

Nic Stone

eBOOK
Black Lives Matter, Read Woke, Adventure, Black History, Travel

"For the life of him, William "Scoob" Lamar can't seem to stay out of trouble--and now the run-ins at school have led to lockdown at home. So when G'ma, Scoob's favorite person on Earth, asks him to go on an impromptu road trip, he's in the RV faster than he can say FREEDOM. With G'ma's old maps and a strange pamphlet called the 'Travelers' Green Book' at their side, the pair takes off on a journey down G'ma's memory lane. But adventure quickly turns to uncertainty: G'ma keeps changing the license plate, dodging Scoob's questions, and refusing to check Dad's voice mails. And the farther they go, the more Scoob realizes that the world hasn't always been a welcoming place for kids like him, and things aren't always what they seem--G'ma included."--Jacket flap.

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A clandestine road trip, The Green Book, and a rad G'Ma--Nic Stone's first middle grade novel is perfection!
- Casey

Some places more than others

Renée Watson

jFICTION Watson Renee
Black Lives Matter, Read Woke, Fiction

Amara visits her father's family in Harlem for her twelfth birthday, hoping to better understand her family and herself, but New York City is not what she expected.--

Bud, not Buddy

Christopher Paul Curtis

eBOOK
Black Lives Matter, Read Woke, Historical Fiction, Adventure, Classics

Ten-year-old Bud, a motherless boy living in Flint, Michigan, during the Great Depression, escapes a bad foster home and sets out in search of the man he believes to be his father--the renowned bandleader, H.E. Calloway of Grand Rapids.

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This won the Newbery Award when I was about the same age as Bud. It's just as meaningful now as I remember it being at 11.
- Casey

Tristan Strong punches a hole in the sky

Kwame Mbalia

eBOOK
Black Lives Matter, Read Woke, Adventure

Seventh-grader Tristan Strong tumbles into the MidPass and, with allies John Henry and Brer Rabbit, must entice the god Anansi to come out of hiding and seal the hole Tristan accidentally ripped in the sky.

The crossover : a basketball novel

Kwame Alexander

eBOOK
Black Lives Matter, Read Woke, Sports, Poetry

Fourteen-year-old twin basketball stars Josh and Jordan wrestle with highs and lows on and off the court as their father ignores his declining health.

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Poetry that is devastatingly beautiful and fabulous storytelling make this 2014 Newbery Medal and Coretta Scott King Award winner a powerful read. Pick this one up, you'll be glad you did.
- Casey

The jumbies

Tracey Baptiste

jFICTION Baptiste Tracey
Black Lives Matter, Read Woke, Horror

Eleven-year-old Corinne must call on her courage and an ancient magic to stop an evil spirit and save her island home.

The Parker inheritance

Varian Johnson

eBOOK
Black Lives Matter, Read Woke, Mystery, Adventure

Twelve-year-old Candice Miller is spending the summer in Lambert, South Carolina, in the old house that belonged to her grandmother, who died after being dismissed as city manager for having the city tennis courts dug up looking for buried treasure--but when she finds the letter that sent her grandmother on the treasure hunt, she finds herself caught up in the mystery and, with the help of her new friend and fellow book-worm, Brandon, she sets out to find the inheritance, exonerate her grandmother, and expose an injustice once committed against an African American family in Lambert.

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Varian Johnson tells a touching story featuring multiple difficult conversations about systemic racism and oppression, with grace and humor. Dedicate yourself to unlocking the mystery here and you won't be disappointed.
- Casey

Last last-day-of-summer

L. R. Giles

eBOOK
Black Lives Matter, Read Woke, Adventure, Science Fiction

When adventurous cousins Otto and Sheed Alston accidentally extend the last day of summer by freezing time, they find the secrets between the unmoving seconds are not as much fun as they expected.

One crazy summer

Rita Williams-Garcia

eBOOK
Black Lives Matter, Read Woke, Historical Fiction

In the summer of 1968, after travelling from Brooklyn to Oakland, California, to spend a month with the mother they barely know, eleven-year-old Delphine and her two younger sisters arrive to a cold welcome as they discover that their mother, a dedicated poet and printer, is resentful of the intrusion of their visit and wants them to attend a nearby Black Panther summer camp.

Dragons in a bag

Zetta Elliott

eBOOK
Black Lives Matter, Read Woke, Fantasy, Adventure

In Brooklyn, nine-year-old Jax joins Ma, a curmudgeonly witch who lives in his building, on a quest to deliver three baby dragons to a magical world, and along the way discovers his true calling.

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Dragon's in a Bag is truly magical--don't miss out!
- Casey