Suggested reading on civil rights movement and Martin Luther King Jr.
The Mid-Continent and Kansas City public libraries suggest these books about the civil rights movement for K-12 students.
Elementary school
“Seeds of Freedom: The Peaceful Integration of Huntsville, Alabama” by Hester Bass; illustrated by E. B. Lewis
“Granddaddy’s Turn: A Journey to the Ballot Box” by Michael S. Bandy and Eric Stein; illustrated by James E. Ransome
“Stella by Starlight” by Sharon M. Draper
“We March” by Shane W. Evans
“Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down” by Andrea Davis Pinkney; illustrated by Brian Pinkney
“Belle, the Last Mule at Gee’s Bend” by Calvin Alexander Ramsey and Bettye Stroud; illustrated by John Holyfield
“28 Days: Moments in Black History that Changed the World” by Charles R. Smith; illustrated by Shane W. Evans
“Separate Is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and Her Family’s Fight for Desegregation” by Duncan Tonatiuh
“Henry Aaron’s Dream” by Matt Tavares
“Love Will See You Through: Martin Luther King Jr.’s Six Guiding Beliefs (as told by his niece)” by Angela Farris Watkins; illustrated by Sally Wern Comport
“One Crazy Summer” by Rita Williams-Garcia (followed by the sequels: P.S. Be Eleven and Gone Crazy in Alabama)
“Lillian’s Right to Vote” by Jonah Winter; illustrated by Shane Evans
“Ashes” by Laurie Halse Anderson
“Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life” by Ashley Bryan
“The First Step: How One Girl Put Segregation on Trial” by Susan E. Goodman
“Cleo Edison Oliver, Playground Millionaire” by Sundee Tucker Frazier
“Freedom in Congo Square” by Carole Boston Weatherford
Middle school
“Marching to the Mountaintop: How Poverty, Labor Fights, and Civil Rights Set the Stage for Martin Luther King Jr.’s Final Hours” by Ann Bausum
“Birmingham Sunday” by Larry Dane Brimner
“I See the Promised Land: A Life of Martin Luther King Jr.” by Arthur Flowers; illustrated by Manu Chitraker
“The Girl from the Tar Paper School: Barbara Rose Johns and the Advent of the Civil Rights Movement” by Teri Kanefield
“Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom: My Story of the 1965 Selma Voting Rights March” by Lynda Blackmon Lowery as told to Elspeth Leacock and Susan Buckley; illustrated by PJ Loughran
“Miles to Go for Freedom: Segregation and Civil Rights in the Jim Crow Era” by Linda Barrett Osborne
“The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights” by Steve Sheinkin
“Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer: The Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement” by Carole Boston Weatherford; illustrated by Ekua Holmes
“Revolution” by Deborah Wiles
“Brown Girl Dreaming” by Jacqueline Woodson
“Brown v. Board of Education: A Fight for Simple Justice” by Susan Goldman Rubin
“As Brave as You” by Jason Reynolds
High school and older
“Black & White: The Confrontation Between Reverend Fred L. Shuttlesworth and Eugene ‘Bull’ Connor” by Larry Dane Brimner
“Caleb’s Wars” by David L. Dudley
“We’ve Got a Job: The 1963 Birmingham Children’s March” by Cynthia Levinson
“March: Book One” by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin; illustrated by Nate Powell
“March: Book Two” by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin; illustrated by Nate Powell
“March: Book Three” by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin; illustrated by Nate Powell
“The Silence of Our Friends: The Civil Rights Struggle Was Never Black and White” by Mark Long and Jim Demonakos; illustrated by Nate Powell
“A Wreath for Emmett Till” by Marilyn Nelson; illustrated by Philippe Lardy
“No Crystal Stair: A Documentary Novel of the Life and Work of Lewis Michaux, Harlem Bookseller” by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson; illustrated by R. Gregory Christie
“Marching for Freedom: Walk Together, Children, and Don’t You Grow Weary” by Elizabeth Partridge
“Freedom Summer: The 1964 Struggle for Civil Rights in Mississippi” by Susan Goldman Rubin
“X” by Ilyasah Shabazz
“Martin Luther King Jr.: A King Family Tribute” by Angela Farris Watkins
“A Call to Conscience: The Landmark Speeches of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.” Edited by Clayborne Carson and Kris Shepard
“Death of a King: The Real Story of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Final Year” by Tavis Smiley
“The King Years: Historic Moments in the Civil Rights Movement” by Taylor Branch
“The March on Washington — Jobs, Freedom and the Forgotten History of Civil Rights” by Williams P. Jones
This story was originally published January 15, 2017 at 7:00 AM with the headline "Suggested reading on civil rights movement and Martin Luther King Jr.."