Teaching Materials

Freewater

Book — Historical fiction. By Amina Luqman-Dawson. 2023. 416 pages.
A lyrical, accessible historical middle-grade novel about two enslaved children‘s escape from a plantation and the many ways they find freedom.
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Kin: Rooted in Hope

Book — Historical Fiction. By Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Jeffery Boston Weatherford. 2024. 208 pages.
A portrait of a Black family tree shaped by enslavement and freedom, rendered in poems and artwork.
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Forge

Book — Historical fiction. By Laurie Halse Anderson. 2012. 320 pages.
A historical middle grade story about a young Revolutionary War soldier.
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Ashes

Book — Historical fiction. By Laurie Halse Anderson. 2017. 320 pages.
A historical fiction middle grade adventure about a struggle for freedom during the Revolutionary War.
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Rebellion 1776

Book — Historical fiction. By Laurie Halse Anderson. 2025. 416 pages.
A historical fiction middle grade adventure about a girl struggling to survive amid a smallpox epidemic, the public’s fear of inoculation, and the seething Revolutionary War.
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Will’s Race for Home

Book — Historical fiction. By Jewell Parker Rhodes. 2025. 208 pages.
A chapter book on the experience of a late 19th century era Black family participating in the Oklahoma Land Rush.
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When the Mapou Sings

Book — Fiction. By Nadine Pinede. 2024. 432 pages.
This story blends first love and political intrigue with a quest for justice and self-determination in 1930s Haiti.
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Ida in the Middle

Book — Fiction. By Nora Lester Murad. Illustrated by Kate Cosgrove. 2022. 223 pages.
A coming of age story that explores identity, place, voice, and belonging through a Palestinian-American girl named Ida.
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colorful but haunting painting of a small reform school surrounded by trees and shadows

The Reformatory: A Novel

Book — Historical fiction. By Tananarive Due. 2023. 576 pages.
Follow 12-year-old Robbie Stephens Jr., who journeys into the terrors of the Jim Crow South and the very real horror of the school they call The Reformatory.
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hands holding up a sign reading "Your Plantation Prom is Not Okay"

Your Plantation Prom Is Not Okay

Book — Fiction. By Kelly McWilliams. 2023. 320 pages.
This young adult novel introduces readers to the history of slavery and its legacy today, challenging the Lost Cause narrative offered to visitors at most plantations (prison labor camps).
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Regina, a Native girl, runs in the mountains on this book cover

Indian No More

Book — Historical fiction. By Charlene Willing McManis and Traci Sorell. 2016. 224 pages.
This award-winning children's book follows a young Indigenous girl's quest to understand her identity as an Indian despite being so far from home.
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Black boy swimming, book cover of Being Clem

Being Clem

Book — Fiction. By Lesa Cline-Ransome. 2021. 256 pages.
The final novel in the award-winning Finding Langston trilogy, this novel examines mid-twentieth century America through the eyes of Clem, a young boy whose family is torn apart after his father's untimely death.
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Running (Book Cover)

Running

Book — Fiction. By Natalia Sylvester. 2020. 328 pages.
A story that celebrates young people who find themselves as they come to political consciousness and commitment.
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Black Was the Ink

Book — Fiction. By Michelle Coles. Illustrations by Justin Johnson. 2021. 368 pages.
A powerful coming-of-age story and an eye-opening exploration of the Reconstruction era.
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Paradise on Fire

Book — Fiction. By Jewell Parker Rhodes. 2023 paperback release. 256 pages.
A powerful coming-of-age survival tale exploring issues of race, class, and climate change.
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The Mystery Woman in Room Three

Book — Fiction. By Aya de León. Serialized in six parts at Orion Magazine. 2021.
A young adult novel that deals with immigration rights, climate justice, the Green New Deal, and youth activism. Available for free download at Orion Magazine.
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47

Book — Fiction. By Walter Mosley. 2006. 272 pages.
A young boy learns to survive under slavery and struggles for his own liberation with help from a mysterious stranger, Tall John.
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Standing Up

Book — Fiction. By Ellen Bravo and Larry Miller. 2021. 284 pages.
This collection of stories highlights the importance of collective struggle, both in the workplace and in the community.
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The Journey of Little Charlie (Book) | Zinn Education Project

The Journey of Little Charlie

Book — Fiction. By Christopher Paul Curtis. 2018. 256 pages.
A novel for young adults that that shows how slavery was state-sanctioned terrorism and the impact of the Fugitive Slave Law.
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Warning from My Future Self (Book) | Zinn Education Project

Warning from My Future Self

Book — Fiction. By Jean Tepperman. Illustrated by Alfred Twu. 2017. 34 pages.
A dystopian call-to-action story about the threat of climate change and the need for young people to act now.
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