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Celebrating Black History Month
Though seemingly impossible to believe, the eras of slavery and segregation were not too far back in American history. Many of our parents and grandparents remember a time when people of different races couldn't attend the same schools, eat at the same restaurants, use the same public bathrooms, or even ride on the same buses. Thankfully, African Americans have come a long way since then. To honor their ages-long struggles and monumental achievements, the U.S. has celebrated Black History Month every February since 1976.
We at Kidsreads.com have compiled a list of titles in commemoration of Black History Month. In this roundup you'll meet characters who have defied all odds by relying on their faith, personal strengths, devotion to family and friends, and hunger for justice and equality. Whether they're real historical figures or figments of an author's imagination, the individuals found in these books demonstrate the very best of what people as a whole are capable of doing. Through their immeasurable strength and courage and their unyielding determination, they embody the idea that change is possible. We hope these amazing stories will inspire you to open your minds and hearts, right wrongs, and always strive for something better in your own lives.
 CAMPY: The Story of Roy Campanella
David A. Adler
illustrated by Gordon C. James
Viking Children's Books
ISBN-10: 0670060410
ISBN-13: 9780670060412
Ages 5-8
40 pages
• Click here to buy from Amazon.com
Roy Campanella was only 15 when he started playing professional baseball. He eventually became the first African-American catcher to integrate the Major Leagues and won several MVP awards during his career as a Brooklyn Dodger. But a tragic car accident in 1958 left him paralyzed and unable to play the sport he loved. Nevertheless, with sheer will and determination, he became a coach for the Dodgers, held baseball clinics for teenagers and bravely advocated for the disabled.
 DIZZY
Jonah Winter
illustrated by Sean Qualls
Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic
ISBN-10: 0439507375
ISBN-13: 9780439507370
Ages 4-8
48 pages
• Click here to buy from Amazon.com
In this delightful story about a brilliant troublemaker who changed music forever, John Birks --- better known as Dizzy Gillespie --- broke all the rules. Using his jazz trumpet to play high notes, low notes and never-been-heard-before notes, he created a whole new kind of music: BEBOP.
 THE ESCAPE OF ONEY JUDGE: Martha Washington's Slave Finds Freedom
Emily Arnold McCully
Farrar Straus Giroux
ISBN-10: 0374322252
ISBN-13: 9780374322250
Ages 6-up
32 pages
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When General George Washington is elected the first President of the United States, his wife chooses young Oney Judge, a house slave who works as a seamstress at Mount Vernon, to travel with her to the nation's capital in New York City as her personal maid. When the capital is moved to Philadelphia, the Washingtons and Oney also move, and there Oney meets free blacks for the first time.
 FREEDOM SHIP
Doreen Rappaport
illustrated by Curtis James
Jump at the Sun/Hyperion Books for Children
ISBN-10: 0786806451
ISBN-13: 9780786806454
Ages 7-12
40 pages
• Click here to buy from Amazon.com
In 1862, as the Civil War rages through the country, Samuel and his father work on a Confederate Steamship out of Charleston, South Carolina. An end to their captivity, however, is within their sight --- the Atlantic Ocean is just beyond the harbor, teeming with Union ships. Based on a true account, Doreen Rappaport and Curtis James's stirring narrative and paintings chronicle how Samuel and his family risk their lives to sail to freedom.
 FRIENDSHIP FOR TODAY
Patricia C. McKissack
Scholastic Press
ISBN-10: 043966098X
ISBN-13: 9780439660983
Ages 9-12
240 pages
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In 1954, twelve-year-old Rosemary Patterson is about to make history by becoming one of the first African American students in her town to attend a once all-white school. To her dismay, she must endure a difficult and terrifying first day alone when her best friend is suddenly diagnosed with polio and hospitalized. Throughout the course of the school year, Rosemary learns about the power of friendship when the girl who had been most cruel to her becomes an unlikely ally.
 HENRY'S FREEDOM BOX
Ellen Levine
illustrated by Kadir Nelson
Scholastic Press
ISBN-10: 043977733X
ISBN-13: 9780439777339
Ages 4-8
40 pages
• Click here to buy from Amazon.com
Throughout his entire life, freedom has always been just beyond Henry's reach. As a child, he is torn away from his family and put to work in a warehouse. Much later on, when he has a family of his own, he is devastated once again when his wife and children are sold at a slave market. With nothing left to lose, Henry risks his life for the sake of freedom --- he packs himself into a wooden crate and mails himself North to "a place where there are no slaves!"
 JESSE OWENS: Fastest Man Alive
Carol Boston Weatherford
illustrated by Eric Velasquez
Walker Books for Young Readers
ISBN-10: 0802795501
ISBN-13: 9780802795502
Ages 6-11
32 pages
• Click here to buy from Amazon.com
Though Jesse Owens grew up during a time of segregation, he never let it slow him down. Setting world records for track in high school earned him a spot on the 1936 U.S. Olympic team, the year the Games were held in Berlin. German dictator Adolf Hitler wanted to show the world that Aryans were superior to all other races, but Jesse's skill and determination proved them wrong by winning four gold medals and setting two world records, and breaking all sorts of barriers along the way.
 M. L. K.: JOURNEY OF A KING
Tonya Bolden
edited by Bob Adelman
Abrams Books for Young Readers
ISBN-10: 0810954761
ISBN-13: 9780810954762
Ages 9-12
112 pages
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In this tribute to one of America's greatest figures, author Tonya Bolden brings together words and pictures to tell the life story of Martin Luther King Jr. Included are over 80 photographs, depicting King doing what he was best known for: preaching, leading marches, and overcoming violence and prejudice. The book's poignant text highlights King's belief in agape --- the selfless love for one's neighbor that binds all people together.
 MOSES: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom
Carol Boston Weatherford
illustrated by Kadir Nelson
Jump at the Sun/Hyperion Books for Children
ISBN 10: 0786851759
ISBN 13: 9780786851751
Ages 5-8
44 pages
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A slave her entire life, Harriet Tubman decides one summer evening to escape from the plantation where she works, with nothing but her faith to guide her. This moving portrait by Carole Boston Weatherford describes Tubman's spiritual journey on that fateful night, the first of 19 trips to bring herself and many others to freedom. Her bravery and determination, beautifully captured in MOSES, make her one of the most inspiring figures of the Underground Railroad.
 NIGHT BOAT TO FREEDOM
Margot Theis Raven
illustrated by E. B. Lewis
Farrar Straus Giroux
ISBN-10: 0374312664
ISBN-13: 9780374312664
Ages 6-up
40 pages
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Christmas John is only 12 when Granny Judith asks him to row escaping slaves across the river from their Kentucky plantation to the Free State of Ohio. After each trip, she asks him for the color his passenger wore --- she is sewing a quilt from squares of these "freedom colors." As life on the plantation becomes more and more dangerous for Granny and Christmas John, and only two spaces remain on the quilt, will they be able to discover their own colors of freedom?
 NOBODY GONNA TURN ME 'ROUND: Stories and Songs of the Civil Rights Movement
Doreen Rappaport
illustrated by Shane W. Evans
Candlewick Press
ISBN-10: 0763619272
ISBN-13: 9780763619275
Ages 9-12
64 pages
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In this third installment of a trilogy about the African American experience, Doreen Rappaport draws on songs, poems and stories that have been passed down through the generations to describe 10 turbulent years in U.S. history. >From the 1955 Bus Boycott to the passing of the Voting Act in 1965, NOBODY GONNA TURN ME 'ROUND takes a look at some of the famous and lesser known events in the ongoing struggle for equality and civil rights.
 ROSA PARKS: CIVIL RIGHTS PIONEER
The editors of Time for Kids, with Karen Kellaher
Collins
ISBN-10: 0060576243
ISBN-13: 9780060576240
Ages 7-9
48 pages
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Time For Kids offers a close-up look at Rosa Parks, a woman from Montgomery, Alabama whose small but defiant decision to keep her seat on a public bus triggered the American Civil Rights Movement. This rich and inspiring biography is packed with historical and contemporary photos, sidebars, a timeline, and an interview with an expert, illustrating how one person's actions can make a world of difference.
 SOJOURNER TRUTH: PATH TO GLORY
Peter Merchant
illustrated by Julie Denos
Aladdin
ISBN-10: 0689872070
ISBN-13: 9780689872075
Ages 6-8
48 pages
• Click here to buy from Amazon.com
Sojourner Truth was born into slavery and treated horribly by the families she worked for. But when she was finally freed in 1827, she became one of the most inspirational and influential women in American history by actively supporting black troops during the Civil War and working to get the government to give these soldiers and former slaves land. She also became a Pentecostal minister, traveling and preaching throughout the Northeast about abolition, women's rights and many other important causes.
 STEALING HOME: The Jackie Robinson Story
Robert Burleigh
illustrated by Mike Wimmer
Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books
ISBN-10: 0689862768
ISBN-13: 9780689862762
Ages 6-9
32 pages
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During game one of the 1955 World Series, at a time when baseball was still strictly a white player's game, Jackie Robinson did the unbelievable. Not only did he steal home, he also crossed the color line of major league baseball!
 STOMPIN' AT THE SAVOY
Bebe Moore Campbell
illustrated by Richard Yarde
Philomel/Penguin Young Readers Group
ISBN-10: 0399241973
ISBN-13: 9780399241970
Ages 4-8
40 pages
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The night before her big jazz dance recital, Mindy decides that she's just too nervous to go. But then she finds herself magically transported back to 1920s Harlem, to the famous Savoy Ballroom. Home to legendary swing musicians, dancers who move like acrobats and all-night parties, Mindy becomes inspired to join in all the fun around her and move her happy feet.
--- Compiled and written by Marisa Emralino
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