by: Kayla Gilmore
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ach year, the second Friday in March has been designated as Missouri school Read-In Day with the goal of increasing awareness of the importance of reading. This year, on March 10, teachers can make reading a priority in their classroom, but we can still focus on one more goal: introducing authors of color to our students. Below are a few options that you can use in your classroom to give a fresh perspective to literacy.
Kindergarten - 3rd Grade
Your Name is a Song by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow is about a little girl whose teachers have trouble pronouncing her name. When she goes home frustrated, her mother explains how her name is grounded in history and culture, changing her mind and bringing a sense of pride instead of shame.
When Tameika decides to try out for the role of Snow White in her school’s musical, the other students tell her that she doesn’t quite fit the part. Ashley Franklin’s Not Quite Snow White is a good match to pair with Disney’s recent live action version of The Little Mermaid, showing how skin color doesn’t matter when it comes to being yourself.
The Day You Begin is a great resource for students who are feeling a little shy or disconnected and encourages students to be brave and reach out to others. It is also available in Spanish and has its own episode in the Netflix show titled Bookmarks: Celebrating Black Voices!
If you’re looking for a great example of onomatopoeia, take a look at Everybody in the Red Brick Building by Anne Wynter. This book goes through the different noises that can be heard as apartment dwellers go to sleep and is a perfect way to get students engaged as they provide the noises.
A huge recent award winner, Samara Cole Doyon’s Magnificent Homespun Brown: A Celebration helps students feel comfortable with who they are, no matter their color or background. It celebrates students for their personalities, and encourages all students to show each other love, despite their differences.
Along the same lines is You Matter. The charming pictures in this book by Christian Robinson showcase people from many different cultures, giving students a look at what other people look like, and how we all have value.
Parker and Jessica Curry’s story Parker Looks Up: An Extraordinary Moment highlights how important it is for young girls to have a role model that looks like them. When Parker’s mom brings her to the museum, Parker sees that portrait and immediately feels empowered that she can climb just as high.
Black may not be in the rainbows of the sky, but Angela Joy’s award-winning book shows where else black is in our world, and how beautiful of a color it can be. Black is a Rainbow Color gives words to the cultures that people may not be able to see, but feel.
For a nonfiction text, look for v and Dr. Tamara Pizzoli. It follows Yolanda’s true story of how her Virginia school reacted to the Brown vs. Board ruling and how education should be fair for all.
Even before Rosa Parks’ famous refusal to give up her seat, there was Claudette Colvin, who still lives today. Because Claudette by Tracey Baptiste gives a voice to her heroic actions to stand up for herself and what was right while helping students learn the history of the Civil Rights Era.
Grades 4 - 8
Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes brings the ghost of Emmett Till to meet twelve year old Jerome after a police officer mistook his fake weapon for a real one, leading to his death. Layering history with the actions of today, this book is a haunting story about the injustice people faced in the past and are still battling today.
A beautiful book with a heavy meaning, The 1619 Project: Born on the Water gives slaves a voice. Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renee Watson bring out the ugly truth about America’s history in a simple but heartbreaking tale of loss and resilience.
For students looking for a graphic novel, New Kid by Jerry Craft follows Jordan, who finds he is the only student of color in his new school. Students who are feeling torn about their identities will be able to connect easily with him through the simple, yet powerful artwork in this story as he struggles to figure out who he really is.
Anything by Jason Reynolds is going to be a hit with students, but his recent publications Stuntboy, in the Meantime and As Brave As You will get readers thinking. Ain’t Burned All the Bright for slightly higher fliers will help students feel seen, heard, and spoken for.
Jacqueline Woodson’s poetry knockout Brown Girl Dreaming is an artful story about how it feels to grow up in the fallout of the Civil Rights Era. The voice in this book alone makes it worth the read for students to get a glimpse of this moment in history.
Students who love a good mystery will love The Parker Inheritance as Candice puts together clues about her grandmother and her town’s past. This book by Varian Johnson brings up an ugly history that the town has tried to hide and brings the truth to light.
Isabella thought her life was chaotic enough - her parents’ divorce means she must constantly switch between two very different houses. However, after a police stop goes wrong, her life gets uprooted once more in Sharon Draper’s novel Blended. So many students will feel seen and represented by Isabella as she navigates a whirlwind of chaos.
The death of Lolly’s brother has left him lost with no clear directions, just like the bags of Legos he got for Christmas. With multiple options - including replacing his brother in the neighborhood “crew” - students will root for Lolly to make the right choices in David Barclay Moore’s The Stars Beneath our Feet.
It’s always a struggle to get young boys to read, but an absolute win for them is anything by Kwame Alexander… so why not get them hooked onto two books? The two book Crossover series follows Josh and Jordan, their love of basketball and a lesson about breaking the rules.
Tami Charles set her story Like Vanessa about Vanessa Martin, who is inspired to enter her school’s beauty pageant after Vanessa Williams is crowned the first black Miss America. As she struggles with the racism blocking her way to the crown, she learns the true value of beauty.
It doesn’t seem like putting space and desserts together was possible, but Ibi Zoboi’s My Life as an Ice Cream Sandwich blends the two in this captivating novel. Sci-fi loving Ebony-Grace’s grandfather was one of the first engineers at NASA in 1984, but when this sheltered girl moves from Alabama to Harlem, she starts learning a lot more about planet Earth.
Students who like Black Panther will find themselves drawn to Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky, an epic that mixes Tristan’s imaginative journey with African American tales like Anansi and John Henry. Kwame Mbalia’s series will undoubtedly keep students turning pages.
In Alicia Williams’s book Genesis Begins Again, Genesis hates so many things about herself that she started keeping a growing list, but two of the biggest things on it are the dark color of her skin and her toxic family that can’t keep a consistent address. As she reaches #100 on her list, she battles identity and confidence as she is encouraged to stand up in front of others and show how beautiful and talented she really is.
High School
Blackout is a massive collaboration between six authors - Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk and Nicola Yoon. A summer in the city sparks a romance, bitter histories are brought up and the rest writes itself!
Ibi Zoboi deserves to be on this list twice for Pride, her retelling of Pride and Prejudice set in Brooklyn. Students will have no idea they’re reading classic literature in this modern-day romance that gives Jane Austen an upgrade.
Once again, Ibi Zoboi comes through in her chilling collaboration with Yusef Salaam that examines the injustice of America’s prison system when sixteen-year-old Amal is sent to prison for a crime he didn’t commit. Pair the novel Punching the Air with the nonfiction text Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson to have students thinking in no time.
A nonfiction book that teaches standards and life lessons is Tiffany Jewell’s This Book is Anti-Racist. There is no better tool to provide for students about equity, justice, racism and how to treat everyone with respect than this book.
Many teachers may have heard of Dreamland Burning by Jennifer Latham, but a second book examining the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921 takes a more nonfiction approach. Black Birds in the Sky by Brandy Colbert asks questions and examines the events leading up to this tragedy to answer how something this devastating could have happened and, more importantly, forgotten.
Students who loved The Hate U Give will be thrilled to see the prequel by Angie Thomas. Concrete Rose takes place seventeen years before the first hit novel, when Mav is struggling between King Lord life and how to be a loving father to his new baby, Seven.
A strong novel about identity and becoming your own self, Every Body Looking by Candice Iloh follows Ada. As a college freshman finally free from her parents and able to make her own choices, she becomes the person she genuinely wants to be.
In Brittney Morris’s novel SLAY, perfect honors student Kiera has a secret: She created an online gaming community that thousands of people use. However, after a real-life murder (in Kansas City!), her secret might not be secret for long as real world consequences come her way.
One trilogy that can easily get students talking about history is March, written by civil rights activist and congressman John Lewis, partnered with Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell. This set follows his life story and fight for equality, all the way from protests to Washington D.C.
All Boys Aren’t Blue: A Memoir- Manifesto is the emotional story of George M. Johnson as he recounts his life. From being bullied in his youth to exploring his sexuality, this true tale can help students find their own selves through his story and looks at difficult topics like family, race and gender identity.