12 yo African American girl is taught to read by Nightjohn, an escaped slave who knows the value of education.
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Nightjohn
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Sugar
10 yo African American girl, former slave, still works on plantation, alongside newly arrived Chinese Americans. Illustrates difficult life for African Americans after Civil War and Emancipation Proclamation.
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Box: Henry Brown Mails Himself to Freedom
Picture book biography in verse of life of Henry “Box” Brown, an African American slave who mailed himself to freedom. With back matter.
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Pink and Say
15 yo gravely wounded white Union soldier is rescued on the battlefield by African American boy soldier, about the same age. The wounded boy is nursed back to health by the other boy’s mother, but then they are captured by Confederates. Based on the author’s family history.
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Show Way
Picture book depicts generations of African American women from author’s family and their special quilts containing secret messages and maps to freedom
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Forty Acres and Maybe a Mule
12 yo African American orphan boy, a former slave, and his older brother, a runaway and a Union veteran of the Civil War, set out from their South Carolina plantation to claim their own Forty Acres. Along the way to Georgia they are joined by an 8 yo slave girl and others. They eventually create a successful farm, but are threatened with loss when the rules are changed.
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To Kill a Mockingbird
A 6 yo girl comes of age in small town America and witnesses racism first hand when her lawyer father tries to defend a wrongfully accused African American man.
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Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life
Based on historical documents, this picture book depicts eleven African American slaves for sale. Each slave describes in verse his or her own dreams, as contrasted against the reality of their lives.
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