Most of the titles in this booklist of Black American fiction are truly historical fiction, taking readers to a past time and place. However, a couple of the titles are present-day stories with substantial dialogue or narration from the past, making them hybrid books, in my opinion. My oldest experienced this type of parallel setting while reading Black Was the Ink last year, and she enjoyed it, so I sought out more of the same for this time period. There are also two contemporary stories that shine a light on some of today’s most pressing social issues.

Please note: I’ve listed the ages of my children that will be reading each book at the end of the book description. I based my decision on the difficulty of the text, the plot of the story, and what I thought would best engage a particular child. You can certainly choose different ages for your children.

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Sounder by William H. Armstrong – The boy knows that times are tough for his family. Every night, his father goes out hunting with their great coon dog, Sounder, to try to put food on the table. But even with the little they bring back, there is still never enough for the family to eat. When the boy awakens one morning to a sweet-smelling ham on the table, it seems like a blessing. But soon, the sheriff and his deputies come to the house and take the boy’s father away in handcuffs. Suddenly the boy must grow up fast in a world that isn’t fair, keeping hope alive through the love he has for his father’s faithful dog, Sounder. This one is a tear-jerker! (10-year-old)

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor – I adore this book. I read it in elementary school, and it changed my entire relationship with literature. I’m aware that many parents choose to wait until middle school or even high school to assign this book, but I always read it with my children around the same age that I experienced it, and it’s been beautiful. Set in Mississippi at the height of the Depression, this is the story of one family’s struggle to maintain their integrity, pride, and independence in the face of racism and social injustice. (10-year-old)

[I shared more details about the previous two Black American fiction books (both of which are set in 1933) in this post about African American Historical Fiction if you’d like to hear more of my thoughts.]

Midnight Without a Moon by Linda Williams Jackson – It’s Mississippi in the summer of 1955, and Rose Lee Carter can’t wait to move north. But for now, she’s living with her sharecropper grandparents on a white man’s cotton plantation. Then, one town over, an African American boy, Emmett Till, is killed for allegedly whistling at a white woman. When Till’s murderers are unjustly acquitted, Rose realizes that the South needs a change . . . and that she should be part of the movement. (12-year-old)

A Sky Full of Stars by Linda Williams Jackson – In this sequel to Midnight Without a Moon, Jackson continues Rosa’s coming-of-age tale. (12-year-old)

Bird in a Box by Andrea David Pinkney – In a small upstate New York town during the Great Depression, three children – Hibernia, Willie, and Otis -are about to meet. Each of them is looking for hope, and they all find it in the thrilling boxing matches of young Joe Louis. They know Joe has a good chance of becoming the country’s next heavyweight champion. What they don’t know is that during this unforgettable year, the three of them will become friends. (10-year-old)

Marked by Fire by Joyce Carol Thomas – Abyssinia Jackson grew up under a vast Oklahoma sky shaded with pecan trees and dotted by endless rows of cotton-pickers cotton. She had the gift of song, a storyteller’s talent, the love of her parents, and the affection and pride of her community. Then a tornado hits and drives Abby’s family apart. A deranged neighbor targets her for a campaign of vengeful terror. And a vicious physical assault all but breaks her will. In a triumphant story of faith and fortitude, Abby emerges clearly as a young woman who faces pain and joy with the dignity of her heritage and the determination of spirit. (12-year-old)

Zora and Me by Victoria Bond – This is a fictionalized account of the childhood of African-American literary giant Zora Neale Hurston. At the turn of the 20th century, in the all-black town of Eatonville, Fla., Young Zora is considered both a brilliant storyteller and the town liar. Her best friend, Carrie, the “me” of the title, is drawn into Zora’s family and story world after her father leaves for work and never returns home. [Read more] (12 and 14-year-old)

Saving Savannah by Tonya Bolden – As a daughter of an upper-class African American family in Washington D.C., Savannah Riddle attends one of the most rigorous public schools in the nation – black or white – and has her pick among the young men in her set. But lately, the structure of her society – the fancy parties, the Sunday teas, the pretentious men, and shallow young women – has started to suffocate her. Then Savannah meets Lloyd, a young West Indian man from the working class who opens Savannah’s eyes to how the other half lives. Inspired to fight for change, Savannah starts attending suffragist lectures and socialist meetings, finding herself drawn more and more to Lloyd’s world. This is the same author Inventing Victoria, one of my recommendations for last school year. If your child enjoyed that one, I think they’ll love this one too. (14-year-old)

The Length of a String by Elissa Brent Weissman – Imani knows exactly what she wants as her big bat mitzvah gift: to find her birth parents. She loves her family and her Jewish community in Baltimore, but she has always wondered where she came from, especially since she’s black and almost everyone she knows is white. Then her mom’s grandmother–Imani’s great-grandma Anna–passes away, and Imani discovers an old journal among her books. It’s Anna’s diary from 1941, the year she was twelve and fled Nazi-occupied Luxembourg alone, sent by her parents to seek refuge in Brooklyn, New York. Anna’s diary records her journey to America and her new life with an adoptive family of her own. And as Imani reads the diary, she begins to see her family, and her place in it, in a whole new way. (12-year-old)

Mare’s War by Tanita S. Davis – Meet Mare, a World War II veteran and a grandmother like no other. She was once a willful teenager who escaped her less than perfect life in the deep South and lied about her age to join the African American Battalion of the Women’s Army Corps. Now she is driving her granddaughters—two willful teenagers in their own rite—on a cross-country road trip. The girls are initially skeptical of Mare’s flippy wigs and stilletos, but they soon find themselves entranced by the story she has to tell. (14-year-old)

Check out this video for a quick preview of the inside of each book:

Have questions or suggestions about this booklist of Black American fiction? Please leave a comment and jump into the conversation below. You can find me on Instagram @heritagemomblog. I hope to see you there!