It’s never too early to start talking to your children about race. These discussions can happen in age-appropriate ways, and reading books together is a wonderful way to start those conversations. (And, time spent reading together counts in our Summer Reading Challenge.)
If you’re looking for resources to foster a discussion with your children about race and racism, these books are great to start. If you know items we should consider, drop us a purchase suggestion.
We also can get you set up with access to our Digital Library, even if you don’t have a card, and we can help answer questions about resources, too.
We wish all of our community members safety and peace.
YOUNG KIDS
• The Youngest Marcher: the story of Audrey Faye Hendricks, a young civil rights activist by Cynthia Levinson EPL Book (opens in a new tab)
• Happy in Our Skin by Fran Manushkin EPL Book (opens in a new tab)
• The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson EPL Book (opens in a new tab)
• Freedom in Congo Square by Carole Boston Weatherford EPL Book (opens in a new tab) Hoopla Animated Storybook (opens in a new tab)
• We March by Shane W. Evans EPL Book (opens in a new tab)
• Let the Children March by Monica Clark-Robinson EPL Book (opens in a new tab) Hoopla Animated Storybook (opens in a new tab) Hoopla Read Along (opens in a new tab)
• Hands up! By Beanna J. McDaniel EPL Book (opens in a new tab)
• Don’t Touch My Hair! By Sharee Miller EPL Book (opens in a new tab)
• Hair Love by Matthew A. Cherry EPL Book (opens in a new tab) Hoopla Audiobook (opens in a new tab)
OLDER KIDS
• This Book is Anti-Racist by Tiffany Jewell EPL Book (opens in a new tab)
• Can I Touch Your Hair?: poems of race, mistakes, and friendship by Irene Latham EPL Book (opens in a new tab) OverDrive Audiobook (opens in a new tab)
• Not My Idea: a book about whiteness by Anastasia Higginbotham EPL Book (opens in a new tab)
• Little Leaders: bold women in Black history by Vashti Harrison EPL Book (opens in a new tab)
• A Good Kind of Trouble by Lisa Moore Ramée EPL Book (opens in a new tab) OverDrive ebook (opens in a new tab) Hoopla Audiobook (opens in a new tab)
• New Kid by Jerry Craft EPL Book (opens in a new tab) OverDrive ebook (opens in a new tab) OverDrive Audiobook (opens in a new tab) Hoopla ebook (opens in a new tab) Hoopla Audiobook (opens in a new tab)
• Woke: a young poet’s call to justice Mahogany L. Browne EPL Book (opens in a new tab)
• Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes OverDrive Audiobook (opens in a new tab)
• What’s Racism? Amy B. Rogers (opens in a new tab) Hoopla ebook (opens in a new tab)
• Roots of Racism Kelly Bakshi (opens in a new tab) Hoopla ebook (opens in a new tab)
• One Crazy Summer Rita Williams-Garcia (opens in a new tab) Hoopla ebook (opens in a new tab)
TEENS
• Stamped: racism, antiracism, and you by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi EPL Book (opens in a new tab)OverDrive ebook (opens in a new tab)
• All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely EPL Book (opens in a new tab) OverDrive ebook (opens in a new tab) OverDrive Audiobook (opens in a new tab)
• The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas EPL Book (opens in a new tab) OverDrive ebook (opens in a new tab) OverDrive Audiobook (opens in a new tab)
• Black Enough: stories of being young & black in America edited by Ibi Zoboi EPL Book (opens in a new tab)OverDrive ebook (opens in a new tab)Hoopla Audiobook (opens in a new tab)
• Monster by Walter Dean Myers EPL Book (opens in a new tab) OverDrive ebook (opens in a new tab) Hoopla ebook (opens in a new tab)
• Say Her Name by Zetta Elliott EPL Book (opens in a new tab)
• Just Mercy: a true story of the fight for justice (young reader’s edition) by Bryan Stevenson EPL Book (opens in a new tab)
• We Are Not Yet Equal: understanding our racial divide by Carol Anderson and Tonya Bolden EPL Book (opens in a new tab)
• Piecing Me Together by Renée Watson EPL Book (opens in a new tab) OverDrive ebook (opens in a new tab)
• I’m Not Dying With You Tonight by Kimberly Jones and Gilly Segal EPL Book (opens in a new tab) OverDrive Audiobook (opens in a new tab) Hoopla ebook (opens in a new tab)
• Dear Martin by Nic Stone EPL Book (opens in a new tab) OverDrive ebook (opens in a new tab) OverDrive Audiobook (opens in a new tab)
• Racism in America Meghan Green Hoopla ebook (opens in a new tab)
• Confronting Racism Maryellen Lo Bosco Hoopla ebook (opens in a new tab)
• Coping with Racial Profiling Del Sandeen Hoopla ebook (opens in a new tab)
Visit Gale Virtual Reference Library (opens in a new tab) for a special collection of educational ebooks for students, on the subjects of racism, protest, and the Black Lives Matter movement, located on the digital shelf below new books.