Shawn Pryor
Fighting for Freedom along the Underground Railroad
A vital, unflinching introduction to the human cost of slavery that treats young readers as capable of handling historical truth without sanitizing it.
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Coretta Scott King
by Lillie Patterson
Nonfiction · ages 8–12 · 750L · 1977
A solid, straightforward biography that treats Coretta Scott King as a historical figure and activist in her own right, not merely as Martin Luther King Jr.'s wife—a corrective many 1970s biographies lacked.
They Called Us Enemy
by rowspan="2" |Young Adult Literature
Nonfiction · ages 10–14 · 820L
The most accessible entry point to Japanese American internment for kids 10+; Takei's voice is warm and clear, the graphic format makes the history concrete rather than abstract, and it models how to tell hard truths with dignity.
Mississippi Challenge
by Mildred Pitts Walter
Nonfiction · ages 9–12 · 820L · 1996
A rigorous, unflinching introduction to the Civil Rights Movement through Mississippi—Pitts Walter centers Black activists and organizers, not white saviors, which is rare and essential for this age group.