Resource Type: Books: Non-Fiction

Below is a collection of our recommended non-fiction books for readers at middle school level and above. You can find non-fiction illustrated books for children in our Picture Books collection.

Reconsidering Reparations

Book — Non-fiction. By Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò. 2025. 286 pages.
Táíwò’s take on reparations and distributive justice has wide implications for views of justice, racism, the legacy of colonialism, and climate change policy.
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Fight for the Right to Read

Book — Historical non-fiction. By Jeff Gottesfeld and Michelle Y. Green, and illustrated by Kim Holt. 2025. 36 pages.
The story of Samuel Wilbert Tucker, who organized a sit-in and subsequent court cases to challenge the exclusion of African Americans from public libraries.
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Black History Is for Everyone

Book — Non-fiction. By Brian Jones. 2025. 208 pages.
A look at how the study of Black history challenges our understanding of race, nation, and the stories we tell about who we are.
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Sarah Keys Evans: The Power of Quiet Courage

Book — Non-fiction. By Amy Nathan with Sarah Keys Evans, and illustrated by Jermaine Powell. 2025. 72 pages.
Chapter book about how Sarah Keys Evans was arrested at a North Carolina bus station in 1952 for not moving to the back of a bus. She went on to challenge the arrest in court.
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The Rediscovery of America for Young People

Book — Non-fiction. By Ned Blackhawk, adapted by Rebecca Stefoff. 2026. 576 pages.
Weaves five centuries of Native and non‑Native histories, from Spanish colonial exploration to the rise of Native American self-determination in the late twentieth century and its evolution in the twenty-first century.
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How the Word Is Passed (Adapted for Young Readers)

Book — Non-fiction. By Clint Smith and adapted by Sonja Cherry-Paul. 2025. 272 pages.
Takes readers to historical sites across America, exploring the legacy of slavery to help readers make sense of our nation's past and present, and be better stewards of their own future.
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