Juneteenth 2023: A List of Juneteenth Books for the Entire Family

From the bestselling Who HQ series, “What is Juneteenth?” breaks down Juneteenth and its importance to Black history as a celebration of the end of slavery in the United States. Illustrations and a 16-page photo insert help bring the story to life for readers ages 8 - 12.

In “Jubilee,” readers meet Vyry, the child of a white plantation owner and his Black mistress. Using research she conducted on her own family history, Margaret Walker creates a beautifully-written work of historical fiction.

For “Lose Your Mother,” Saidiya Hartman traveled along a slave route in Ghana as she tries to reckon with the impact of slavery on Black history and the missing pieces of her own family history.

In “How the Word is Passed,” author Clint Smith takes readers on a tour of monuments and landmarks across the country as he explores the legacy of slavery in America.

If you don’t know why Harriet Tubman deserves to be on the $20 bill, “She Came to Slay” is the book for you. Erica Armstrong Dunbar’s book pays tribute to the woman who helped liberate slaves, was a staunch advocate for women’s voting rights and served as a spy in the union army. New photos, illustrations and a timeline of Tubman’s life, help show readers just how fierce Tubman really was.

“On Juneteenth” is historian, Texas native and Pulitzer Prize-winner Annette Gordon-Reed’s look at the origins of Juneteenth.

For “Wake,” Rebecca Hall studied court records, slave ship captain’s logs and forensic evidence to uncover information on female warriors who led slave revolts on ships during the Middle Passage. She combines her research with her personal story as the granddaughter of slavery and the illustrations of Hugo Martinez in graphic novel/memoir that should be on your Juneteenth reading list.

A is for anthem. G is for Great Migration. H is for Zora Neale Hurston. “The ABCs of Black History” is a colorful children’s picture book that teaches kids ages 2 - 7 about some of the most important people, places and events in Black history.

“The History of Juneteenth” breaks down the story that led up to the celebration of the end of slavery in the United States for kids ages 6 - 9. Colorful illustrations and a timeline of key events will keep young readers engaged as they read about this important part of history. And if you want to make sure they learned from what they read, there’s a quiz that tests their Juneteenth knowledge at the end.

“Light for the World to See” is a collection of powerful poems about the history of racial injustice in this country from NPR correspondent and bestselling author Kwame Alexander.

Part of the award-winning Revisioning American History series, “A Black Woman’s History of the United States” showcases the undeniable impact Black women have had on our country despite a history of systemic racism and sexism.

In “Stony the Road,” Henry Louis Gates, Jr. looks at the period between Reconstruction and the rise of the Jim Crow, with a focus on the impact the rise of white supremacy had on the period after slavery.

“Barracoon” is Zora Neale Hurston’s powerful conversation with 86-year-old Cujo Lewis, one of the last-known survivors of the Atlantic slave trade. Hurston writes about her 1927 trip to Plateau, Alabama to hear Lewis’ first-hand account of his experience being captured in Africa and brought to America as a slave fifty years after slavery was outlawed in the United States.

“Conjure Women” is Afia Atakora’s beautiful multigenerational novel set on a Southern plantation with a timeline that alternates between the period before and after the Civil War. The story follows a well-respected midwife and woman with healing powers and her daughter who is reluctant to follow in her footsteps.

“The Night Before Freedom” is picture book that tells the story of Juneteenth for young readers ages 4 - 8. With beautiful pictures and text written in the same meter as the classic The Night Before Christmas, families will love reading and learning about this important day in Black history together.