Suggested Texts

Indigenous Peoples

The following books are recommended by for 4th - 7th graders by the First Nations Development Institute

• Hidden Roots by Joseph Bruchac (Abenaki)

• The Birchbark House by Louise Erdrich (Turtle Mountain Chippewa)

• In the Footsteps of Crazy Horse by Joseph Marshall III (Sicangu Lakota)

• Son Who Returns by Gary Robinson (Choctaw/Cherokee)

• Indian Shoes by Cynthia Leitich Smith (Muscogee (Creek)

• How I Became a Ghost: A Choctaw Trail of Tears Story by Tim Tingle (Choctaw)

Other books for different age groups can be found here.

Civil Rights Movement

The books below are a collection of nonfiction books suggested by the organization Social Justice Books, and all cover topics related to the Civil Rights Movement. These nonfiction books are appropriate for upper elementary students, but for fiction books or different grade levels, the full list is available here.

• As Fast as Words Could Fly by Pamela M. Tuck, Eric Velasquez (Illustrator)

• Birmingham, 1963 by Carole Weatherford

• Boycott Blues: How Rosa Parks Inspired a Nation by Andrea Davis Pinkney, Brian Pinkney (Illustrator)

• Evicted! The Struggle for the Right to Vote by Alice Faye Duncan and Charly Palmer (Illustrator)

• The Girl from the Tar Paper School: Barbara Rose Johns and the Advent of the Civil Rights Movement by Teri Kanefield

• Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez by Kathleen Krull, Yuyi Morales (Illustrator)

• John Lewis in the Lead: A Story of the Civil Rights Movement by Jim Haskins, Benny Andrews

• Let It Shine: Stories of Black Women Freedom Fighters by Andrea Davis Pinkney, Stephen Alcorn (Illustrator)

• Locked Up for Freedom by Heather E. Schwartz

• Malcolm X by Gail Fay

• Nobody Gonna Turn Me 'Round: Stories and Songs of the Civil Rights Movement by Doreen Rappaport, Shane W. Evans (Illustrator)

• The School Is Not White! A True Story of the Civil Rights Movement by Doreen Rappaport

• Selma, Lord, Selma: Girlhood Memories of the Civil Rights Days by Sheyann Webb-Christburg, Rachel West Nelson Milhouse, Frank Sikora

• Separate Is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and Her Family's Fight for Desegregation by Duncan Tonatiuh

• She Stood for Freedom: The Untold Story of a Civil Rights Hero, Joan Trumpauer Mulholland by Loki Mulholland, Charlotta Janssen (Illustrator)

• Streetcar to Justice by Amy Hill Hearth

• The Teachers March! How Selma's Teachers Changed History by Sandra Neil Wallace, Rich Wallace, and Charly Palmer (Illustrator)

• Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer: The Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement by Carole Boston Weatherford

• We Are One: The Story of Bayard Rustin by Larry Dane Brimner

• We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball by Kadir Nelson

Cuba

The books below are a collection of fiction and nonfiction books suggested by the organization Social Justice Books, and all cover topics related to Cuba. These books appropriate for elementary and middle school students, but for higher grade levels the full book list is available here.

• Alicia Alonso: Prima Ballerina by Carmen Bernier-Grand

• Drum Dream Girl: How One Girl's Courage Changed Music by Margarita Engle, Rafael Lopez (Illustrator)

• Forest World by Margarita Engle

• Island Treasures: Growing Up in Cuba by Alma Flor Ada, Antonio Martorell (Illustrator), Edel Rodriguez (Illustrator)

• Lion Island: Cuba's Warrior of Words by Margarita Engle

• Marti's Song for Freedom: Marti y Sus Versos Por La Libertad by Emma Otheguy

• Me Llamo Celia/My Name Is Celia: La Vida de Celia Cruz/The Life Of Celia Cruz by Monica Brown, Rafael Lopez (Illustrator)

• Morning Star Horse by Margarita Engle

• The Poet Slave of Cuba: A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano by Margarita Engle, Sean Qualls (Illustrator)

• Rima's Rebellion: Courage in a Time of Tyranny by Margarita Engle

• Singing with Elephants by Margarita Engle

• A Song of Frutas by Margarita Engle and Sara Palacios (Illustrator)

• The Surrender Tree /El árbol de la rendición by Margarita Engle

• Tropical Secrets: Holocaust Refugees in Cuba by Margarita Engle

• Under the Royal Palms: Childhood in Cuba by Alma Flor Ada

• The Wild Book by Margarita Engle

Independent Reading Choice Board