Of all the elements of our Black history studies, African American historical fiction is a runaway favorite for my children (and for me too!). These novels highlight stories from the 1800s that cover the periods of enslavement, the Civil War, and Reconstruction. In my book, A Place to Belong, I share the following:

“Rooted in reality but not hemmed in by factual occurrence, historical fiction often brings humanity to the triumph and credibly redeems tragedy. Some of these books are a gentle way to introduce tough topics, while others spur children to emulate heroes and ensure that some parts of history don’t repeat themselves on their watch.”

Amber O’Neal Johnston, A Place to Belong

I generally assign one African American historical fiction novel per term, but you’ll see that occasionally I include a couple of books in a single term if the books are shorter or if I know they’ll be high-interest reads for a particular child (which means they’ll read ahead enthusiastically).

In addition to their independent reading below, I’ll be reading Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis aloud to the entire family. Eleven-year-old Elijah is the first child in Buxton, Canada to be born free. In this settlement of runaway slaves near the American border, Elijah takes on a dangerous journey to help seek justice for a friend.

As with the African American biographies from this time period, the African American historical fiction free reads listed below are books that aren’t scheduled in my childrens’ lessons but are included in their silent reading options for the year. Basically, my kids can choose to read these in any order, at their leisure, without assigned page numbers or chapters. They’re just as good and important as the books that I schedule (so feel free to swap with confidence), and there’s a high probability that they’ll all be read.

Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, I may earn commissions from qualifying purchases of these African American historical fiction chapter books covering Enslavement, the Civil War, and Reconstruction using these links, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support.

4th grader

My son will enjoy reading this collection of African American historical fiction novels aloud to me as his school books gradually increase in vocabulary, text density, and complexity. The free reads will be easier for him to enjoy on his own. Especially Corey’s Underground Railroad Diary series because those books have a larger font and simpler sentence structure while presenting an appropriately mature topic, a combination that’s not always easy to find. For the assigned reading, I intentionally chose books dealing with the latter half of the century because that’s the part of the 1800s that is often most neglected.

Term 1: Which Way Freedom? by Joyce Hansen (Book 1 of 3)

This book is about a young enslaved man who makes a daring run for freedom, then battles to free his people. “Obi had never forgotten the sounds of his mother’s screams on the day he was sold away from her. Making plans to run away to find her was a secret game he played with his friend Buka, an old African who lived at the edge of the farm. When the Civil War began, Obi knew it was time to run—or be sold again.”

Term 2: Forty Acres and Maybe a Mule by Harriette Gillem Robinet – My girls really loved this book when they read it a couple of years ago. Read more: Historical Fiction We Love

Two recently freed, formerly enslaved brothers work to protect the new life they’ve built during the Reconstruction after the Civil War. “Like other ex-slaves, Pascal and his older brother Gideon have been promised forty acres and maybe a mule. With the found family they have built along the way, they claim a place of their own. But the notorious night riders have plans to take it away, threatening to tear the beautiful freedom that the two boys are enjoying for the first time in their young lives.”

Term 3: Storm Warriors by Elisa Carbone

“Driven from his home by the Ku Klux Klan and still reeling from the death of his mother, Nathan moves with his father and grandfather to the desolate Pea Island on the Outer Banks of North Carolina to start a new life. But the reality of post-Civil War racism starts to show itself as he gradually realizes the futility of his biggest dream. And then another dream begins to take shape, one that Nathan refuses to let anyone take from him.”

Free reads

The Journal of Joshua Loper, A Black Cowboy (My Name Is America) by Walter Dean Myers

In 1871 Joshua Loper, a sixteen-year-old black cowboy, records in his journal his experiences while making his first cattle drive under an unsympathetic trail boss.

Sugar by Jewell Parker Rhodes

Ten-year-old Sugar lives on the River Road sugar plantation along the banks of the Mississippi. Slavery is over, but laboring in the fields all day doesn’t make her feel very free. She has always yearned to learn more about the world, and she sees her chance when Chinese workers are brought in to help harvest the cane. What unfolds is a story of unlikely friendships and how they can change our lives forever.

Trouble Don’t Last by Shelley Pearsall

Eleven-year-old Samuel was born as Master Hackler’s slave, and working the Kentucky farm is the only life he’s ever known—until one dark night in 1859, that is. With no warning, cranky old Harrison, a fellow slave, pulls Samuel from his bed and, together, they run. As they move from one refuge to the next on the Underground Railroad, Samuel uncovers the secret of his own past—and future.

Corey’s Underground Railroad Diary (Books 1,2, and 3): Freedom’s Wings, Flying Free, and Message in the Sky by Sharon Dennis Wyeth

Corey Birdsong is a lively young boy in search of freedom in the same country that made an economy of slavery. He and his family are owned by the Hart family of Kentucky. But, when Corey’s father, Roland, flees to the North, Corey and his mother follow. Corey records his daily life on the Hart farm with incredible insight and honesty, and later he describes the difficult journey along the Underground Railroad to the North to be reunited with his father. With the help of many kind strangers, Corey, his parents, and his new baby sister arrive safely in Canada.

6th grader

This child LOVES historical fiction, and if this year is any indication, she’ll read all of her books during school hours and her older sister’s selections in her free time. I’m giving her a good mix of writing styles, scenarios, and authors (including three female writers, which she’ll notice and appreciate) along with a mix of older and more contemporary options.

Term 1: Nightjohn (Book 1) & Sarny (Book 2) by Gary Paulsen

Sarny, a female slave at the Waller plantation, first sees Nightjohn when he is brought there with a rope around his neck, his body covered in scars. He had escaped north to freedom, but he came back–came back to teach reading. Knowing that the penalty for reading is dismemberment Nightjohn still retumed to slavery to teach others how to read. And twelve-year-old Sarny is willing to take the risk to learn.

In the sequel, Sarny is a free woman in search of her sold-away children until she finds them and begins a new life. Sarny’s story gives a panoramic view of America in a time of trial, tragedy, and hoped-for change, until her last days in the 1930s.

Term 2: Silent Thunder: A Civil War Story by Andrea Davis Pinkney

Each of us has a “silent thunder” – a quiet desire that rumbles from deep-down. For eleven-year-old Summer and her older brother Rosco, their secret dreams seem far out of reach. Both are slaves on a Virginia plantation in the year 1862. More than anything, Summer wants to learn to read and write. Rosco is eager to join the Union Army so that he can fight for the cause that would allow all people to be free. Told in alternating voices, this piece of African American historical fiction is written by one of our family favorites, Andrea Davis Pinkney.

Term 3: Crow by Barbara Wright

One generation away from slavery, a thriving African American community—enfranchised and emancipated—suddenly and violently loses its freedom in turn-of-the-century North Carolina when a group of local politicians stages the only successful coup d’etat in US history.

Free reads

I Thought My Soul Would Rise and Fly: The Diary of Patsy, a Freed Girl (Dear America Series) by Joyce Hansen

This is an easy read that my daughter will enjoy. She’s mostly outgrown the series, but we have a lot of these fictional diaries, and she still enjoys them. The novel is set in Mars Bluff, South Carolina 1865 immediately after the end of the American Civil War. 12-year-old Patsy continues living on the Davis plantation as she records the changes she’s experiencing in her diary. Her ability to read and write, a secret she has so far kept from others, allows her to forge a better life for herself and her community. 

Chariot in the Sky by Arna Bontemps (Read online for free at archive.org)

Written in 1951 by Arna Bontemps, major literary figure of the Harlem Renaissance and close friend of Langston Hughes, Chariot in the Sky tells a fictional story of the real-life Jubilee Singers through the life of a young slave boy, Caleb, who becomes one of their earliest members. I’m not assigning this book because we’ll also be reading a nonfiction book on the history of Fisk University’s Jubilee Singers, but I’m guessing that my older kids will be intrigued enough to explore this one on their own.

The Glory Field by Walter Dean Myers

This is the story of one family, told over multiple generations, from enslavement to the Civil War, Reconstruction, the civil rights movement, and beyond. It includes the time period we’re covering but also extends beyond it. A family ancestor is captured, shackled, and brought to this country from Africa in 1753, and the family can still see remnants of the shackles that held some of its members captive – even today (1994, actually). “It is a story of pride, determination, struggle, and love. And of the piece of the land that holds them together throughout it all.”

7th grader

My daughter will be a teenager by the time she reads these books and trying to find mature options that she’ll enjoy digging into without encountering more than I deem appropriate is a challenge. I feel like I’ve struck a great balance with these picks, but if you’re concerned, I recommend that you pre-read them. The reading level and text density of these books vary with some being quicker reads and others being more involved. Two of the books have significant scenes that take place in the present, and I know that my daughter will appreciate how those authors bring history forward.

Term 1: Day of Tears and This Strange New Feeling by Julius Lester

On March 2 and 3, 1859, the largest auction of slaves in American history took place in Savannah, Georgia. More than 400 slaves were sold. On the first day of the auction, the skies darkened and torrential rain began falling. The rain continued throughout the two days, stopping only when the auction had ended. The simultaneity of the rainstorm with the auction led to these two days being called “the weeping time.” In Day of Tears, author Julius Lester “uses multiple voices of enslaved Africans and their owners to tell a little-known, all-true event in American history. He transforms it into a heartbreaking and powerfully dramatic epic on slavery, and the struggle to affirm humanity in the midst of it.”

This Strange New Feeling is a mature text aimed at teens due to the atrocities of slavery that are shared. “In two short stories and one novella, Julius Lester has created a rich, layered, and ringing portrait of the slave experience in America, and of the perseverance and bravery it took to seek out love and freedom during that time.”

Term 2: Inventing Victoria by Tonya Bolden

I chose Inventing Victoria because it gives a view into the upper echelons of Black society in the late 1800s, something my daughter has never read about. Bolden is an author I’ve been following more closely lately, and she also co-wrote one of my nonfiction Black history books for this time period.

“As a young black woman in 1880s Savannah, Essie’s dreams are very much at odds with her reality. Ashamed of her beginnings, but unwilling to accept the path currently available to her, Essie is trapped between the life she has and the life she wants. Until she meets a lady named Dorcas Vashon, the richest and most cultured black woman she’s ever encountered. When Dorcas makes Essie an offer she can’t refuse, she becomes Victoria.”

Term 3: Black Was the Ink by Michelle Coles

This is a less traditional choice for historical fiction, and I think my daughter is really going to enjoy it. Black Was the Ink is the powerful and modern coming-of-age story of Malcolm Williams, a teen living in an increasingly violent D.C. neighborhood. After being sent away to his family’s farm in Mississippi, he begins to experience the world as his ancestor Cedric Johnson in 1866. This unique story provides an eye-opening exploration of Reconstruction, an era that defined modern America. Lee & Low Books has a great description of the book along with sample pages and an interview with the author. Warning: This book contains repeated curse words.

Free reads

Chariot in the Sky by Arna Bontemps (Read online for free at archive.org)

Written in 1951 by Arna Bontemps, major literary figure of the Harlem Renaissance and close friend of Langston Hughes, Chariot in the Sky tells a fictional story of the real-life Jubilee Singers through the life of a young slave boy, Caleb, who becomes one of their earliest members. I’m not assigning this book because we’ll also be reading a nonfiction book on the history of Fisk University’s Jubilee Singers, but I’m guessing that my older kids will be intrigued enough to explore this one on their own.

The Glory Field by Walter Dean Myers

This is the story of one family, told over multiple generations, from enslavement to the Civil War, Reconstruction, the civil rights movement, and beyond. It includes the time period we’re covering but also extends beyond it. A family ancestor is captured, shackled, and brought to this country from Africa in 1753, and the family can still see remnants of the shackles that held some of its members captive – even today (1994, actually). “It is a story of pride, determination, struggle, and love. And of the piece of the land that holds them together throughout it all.”

Enjoy these books!

I’m excited about all of these African American historical fiction selections, and I hope you’ve found something here that may interest you and your children. If you’ve read or are planning other interesting titles, please share in the comments so we can all benefit. I’m always looking for new-to-me stories!

You can find me on Instagram @heritagemomblog. Hope to see you there!